A San Mateo sports memorabilia shop has raised thousands of dollars for the families of two cousins who tragically died in car accident in San Bruno in July.
ManCave Memorabilia—whose president grew up with the cousins, Arnulfo Picazo and Usbaldo Gomez—recently held a fundraiser to help the cousins' young children. Picazo had two kids and Gomez had three kids.
Gomez and Picazo had just left the baptism ceremony for Gomez's 1-year-old daughter and were on their way to get some items from the store when they were rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.
By holding an online auction to raffle off several sports items, the store raised nearly $16,000, ManCave said on its Facebook page. The store is pitching in a little more so that both families can receive $8,000 each.
"I would personally like to send a big ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone who supported our raffle-fundraiser for the Gomez & Picazo family fund," ManCave President Tony Rohatch said on Facebook. "I am overwhelmed by the effort and generosity of so many people from all over the bay area and country as well. Although this was a sad and tragic event and it still hurts us all, it is truly amazing how so many people pulled together and raised a tremendous deal of money for both Arnulfo and Usbaldo’s families.
Four people, including some from San Bruno, won the following prizes:
- a Matt Cain autographed jersey
- a Frank gore autographed jersey
- a Buster Posey autographed baseball and shadowbox
- a John Madden autographed football
Rohatch said more events are being planned to support the Picazo and Gomez families.
A silent auction will be held on Oct. 29 at the San Mateo County Event Center Jockey Club during ManCave's Monday Night Football event, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the families.
A co-ed softball tournament will also take place in December at Lions Field in San Bruno.
For information about the other events planned, visit ManCave's Facebook page.
