Just a Man and His Guitar
No band. No lights. Just Tim Ullom in his living room in the Elm Grove neighborhood of Wheeling. Simple enough, huh? Well, there were dancers, now weren't there, so yes, Ullom did supply quite the show Friday evening when he took to Facebook Live for a two-hour “concert” to raise funds for the Augusta Levy Learning Center. And raise funds is what he did, so much so that he finished with a striptease of sorts. The idea for the event came from his good friend, Tim Haught. “He said earlier in the week that he was going to call me out on Facebook,” the 40-year-old said. “He posted something and said that if it got to 200 likes that I had to do the show. I was going to do something anyway, but I went with it. “I think between the likes and the shares, it got close to 200, but like I said, I was going to figure it all out and do something on Facebook Live,” he said. “And it turned out better than I ever could have imagined. So many generous people. I guess this world isn’t that bad a place after all.”
Tim’s son, Luke, had a lot of fun in front of the camera Friday night.
And Then the Dare
When Ulloms efforts neared $2,000, a viewer posted a dare. If donations reached $2,000, he would have to take off his shirt. “I was trying to keep up with all of the comments on the thread, but it was tough because there were so many of them,” he explained. “But I did see the one that said that I should take my shirt off if it reached the $2,000 mark. That’s when I said that if it got to $5,000, I would do it. I would take off my shirt and not even in my wildest dreams did I think it would get there. “I said $5,000, and I don’t know if that motivated more people to donate or what, but it just kept climbing,” Ullom continued. “I really didn’t want to take my shirt off because I don’t necessarily look good with my shirt off … especially when I am sitting down, ya know? But it came off. Everyone knows that by now."
It was a dare - $5,000 raised and his shirt would come off - and it did at the very end with Tim’s son, T.J., joining him.
There’s Still Time
Now that the money has been raised, Facebook will mail a check to the Augusta Levy Learning Center for more than $5,500, Ullom explained. He also said those wishing to donate today can by going to his Facebook timeline and finding the video on the page. “I checked it all out and I also contacted my friends at Augusta Levy to make sure it was OK to do it that way, and it was all good,” he said. “I’ve done other fundraisers for them because they have helped both of my sons so much. We feel we owe them everything because T.J. and Luke are great kids. “I heard from a lot of people that the kids stole the show, and that’s fine with me,” Ullom said with a laugh. “It was just me, my wife Kayla, and the two boys here at the house because we’re doing what everyone else is doing to keep each other as safe as possible, and the number of viewers was incredible. Those kinds of things are humbling to me. I can’t thank the people enough.” Read the full article
