Fraternity fundraiser brings community together for Timmy McDonnell

Saddled with T-shirts, coconut water and a lot of pancakes, several greek organizations raised money for Timmy McDonnell, a School of Arts and Sciences junior who was struck by a car in October. 

Theta Delta Chi fraternity hosted the event, working closely with the McDonnell family to spearhead the fundraiser. Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity also helped organize the event.

A car struck McDonnell while he was crossing Easton Avenue in New Brunswick last year. He was placed in a medically-induced coma with severe brain damage, according to an article in The Daily Targum. 

McDonnell’s parents stressed the importance of the community coming together to support him, said Ryan Walker, president of TDX fraternity. 

“The McDonnells really wanted to stress that it wasn’t that we were raising money for Timmy,” he said. “It was that we were coming together for Timmy and showing him that we support him.”

The promise of “All You Can Eat Pancakes” filled TDX fraternity’s house for the brothers’ Nov. 17 fundraiser. 

In addition to pancakes, “Fight, Timmy, Fight” T-shirts were sold, as well as coconut water donated by drink company Vita Coco. A total of $1,745 was raised, Walker said.

Greek organizations running the fundraiser gave out information about McDonnell’s accident, said Pavlo Kravchuck, a TDX brother.

He said there was also a sign-in sheet for people to write thanks and prayers for McDonnell and his family.

The fraternity’s fundraiser was effective in several ways, said Jacob Friedman, president of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity.

“The fundraiser was successful in a bunch of different ways, all of which served to benefit Timmy and his family,” he said. “Pretty much every member of each organization involved bought the ‘Fight Timmy Fight’ T-shirts that we also made for fundraising.” 

Walker said students involved in greek life, as well as non-greek students and people unaffiliated with Rutgers, attended the event.

“The smile on [Timmy’s] father’s face during the event was priceless,” Kravchuck said. 

Friedman said TDX participated in the fundraiser because like other greek organizations, many TDX brothers were “very close” with McDonnell.

“It was more of everyone coming together, because it could happen to anyone, and that was the message,” Walker said. “It doesn’t matter what fraternity he was in … it was more of the Rutgers community coming together than the greek community.”

After 25 days at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, McDonnell was transferred to the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in West Orange, according to The Daily Targum. He has been recovering, but is facing an extensive and costly recovery. 

According to The Daily Targum, it is currently unknown when McDonnell will return to Rutgers. His doctors said they expect his full recovery in a Jan. 15 video. 

“Prayers for Timmy McDonnell,” a Facebook page dedicated to supporting McDonnell, updates regularly on his recovery status. More than $137,000 was raised on fightfortimmy.mydagsite.com.

According to a Facebook post from the page on Jan. 15, prayers from supporters helped McDonnell recover from his accident. 

“Prayers have clearly helped Timmy get this far, and we have no reason to think he won't continue to improve,” the post said. “The doctors and therapists all say Timmy's recovery is nothing short of a miracle.”

Several celebrities expressed support for McDonnell, such as sports announcer Joe Buck, Brooklyn Nets player Mason Plumlee, actor Franc D’Ambrosio and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. 

“[The fundraiser] tightened our greek community more because as more chapters either became involved or donated, we all had the opportunity to communicate [with] each other,” Freidman said. “[We got] one another through this hard time along with Timmy and his family.”