I don't normally copy a news article to any message board but this was in today's edition of our local paper, The Orange County Register, and I thought it was a wonderful example of how many of us have made friends through the internet:
Net fan club gives hand to widow
Man's online friends donate $13,500 after he dies in crash.
By AMANDA BECK
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ORANGE – Candace Walker-Kilinski opened her mail Wednesday to find a $13,500 cashier's check sent by those who have never had the pleasure of her acquaintance.
Along with the money came a note:
"The Internet is a unique environment, one in which some pretty strong bonds and friendships can be established through nothing more than just cyberspace.
"Know that there are hundreds of us who knew (Henry) only through an Internet modem who will miss him in our own way."
The card was sent on behalf of 400 strangers who, in $5 and $500 increments, had donated the memorial to a man they had never met but had known through his online support of UCLA basketball.
A regular at bruinreport online.com and a die-hard fan, Henry Kilinski was killed Jan. 26 in the Metrolink train disaster in Glendale.
"It's just unbelievable," his widow, Walker-Kilinski, said Wednesday as she smiled and stared at a black express envelope, a surprise to her.
With a return address from Southern California Edison, Walker-Kilinski said she might have expected a large utility bill - never an anonymous cyberspace windfall.
"I think it shows whata tragedy this is and how people just come from everywhere to help," Walker-Kilinski said. "I wish I had everyone's names so I could write them all a thank-you note."
But in that moment, even she did not understand the number of 21st-century coincidences that had collided to bring this gift.
First, Henry's virtual friends learned about his death after a co-worker posted the information on the Web site. He could do so because Henry had used his co-worker's computer the previous day and had left an active logon.
Next, Internet banter began among screen names such as CanadianBruin22 and e pluribus Bruin, who said that something should be done for the family.
But no one had Kilinski's telephone number or address. No one had met his wife. And only a precious few had ever met Henry in person.
Still, there was no question to this community that they knew who he was.
"Even though you can't get nuance on a message board ... you can still get a sense of someone's personality," said Tracy Pierson, site owner. "Henry had a warmth about him, just a cheerfulness. And that came through."
It was finally online acquaintance Zach Buhler who hit upon opening his PayPal account and inviting fellow fans to, as usual, let their fingers do the talking.
"I was going to go to the funeral, but then I thought, 'They've got other concerns right now.' ... To me it seemed kind of awkward," Buhler said.
He contacted Pierson - electronically, of course - and once the account went live, donations flooded in from all over Southern California.
"There were a lot of fans - even USC fans - who put down their sword for a moment because Henry's story touched such a chord," Pierson said. "He was an Everyman. He was just a guy who hopped on a train to go to work."
After the one-week contribution period closed, Buhler and Pierson arranged for the card and the cashier's check. But as of Tuesday, they were struggling to pin down Henry's home address.
Walker-Kilinski said she would use the money to fund an athletic scholarship at Whittier High School, her husband's alma mater.
"Now I'll have to go on the Web site," she said tearfully. "He would have been so proud."
Original Post
Humanity is alive and well.