The Campbell River Cricket Club is raising money for one of their own, who has also been a strong advocate for the Campbell River community.
Quintin Dodd, 77, is a former reporter who worked for the Campbell River Courier-Islander from 1977 to 1998, championed the environment and conservation, the Tyee Club, and made the Beaver Lodge lands a protected park for public use. His house on Ash Street caught fire on June 9. Dodd is also the cricket club's oldest non-playing member, who often helps the club with the scoreboard and sometimes travels to away games.
"He's doing okay," said Aaron O'Shannessy, a member of the club and the boyfriend of Dodd's goddaughter. "I'd say he's still in shock. I think he just realized he doesn't have home insurance, so he's trying to figure out what the next steps are from here, but he's pretty stressed about it."
O'Shannessy says Dodd is currently staying at the Anchor Inn, but it's a short-term accommodation from the Salvation Army.
Dodd was not in the house at the time of the fire.
"Luckily, being a social fellow, he was down at the library," O'Shannessy said.
He described Dodd as an active and healthy guy who is often mobile despite a couple of bouts with cancer.
"He's trying to keep up with his regular, normal activities," O'Shannessy said. "He wants to live independently, and he hobbles around and actually plays the odd game of cricket as well. So, physically, he's doing quite well."
The fundraiser was originally only open to people from the cricket club. But O'Shannessy said people outside the club had started to ask how they could help provide money for Dodd. So, the club opened it up to the public and started advertising the fundraiser on social media.
"We didn't realize it was going to be so big; otherwise, we would have probably set it up in a more transparent route like a GoFundMe, but just because people know that we kept up with it and are keeping track of his donations and depositing into his bank."
As of June 11, the fundraiser has raised more than $2,000. When it was just the cricket club, they raised $1,000 within a couple of hours. O'Shannessy was with Dodd when he found out about the fundraiser.
"I can tell you he was really overwhelmed with generosity and shed a tear."
People who would like to donate to Dodd can do so by e-transferring funds to the Campbell River Cricket Club's email address, crcricketclub@gmail.com, with "Quintin fund" in the notes.
