Burglary wipes out donated cash.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - In retrospect, putting the money in the aquarium on the bar at the OK Tavern in Springfield for everyone to see was a bad idea.

But the folks at the OK don't think of their place as any old lounge. Tucked off Main at 28th Street, it's a cozy, laid-back joint with two pool tables and guys in plaid shirts who stop in for a nightly brew and a friendly chat. Everybody knows everybody. They play league pool together and share good times and bad.

"This is a family bar," said patron Helen Shaffer.

But in the wee hours of Monday morning, somebody broke in, scooped up the money that patrons had been raising for a dying woman and made off with it. The burglar took the Toys for Tots donations, too.

"They used a crowbar, and they just splintered the whole door," said bar owner Marcia Kivela. "I'm just sick about it."

And so is bartender Jean Bailey, who organized the fund-raiser.

The money was meant for 24-year-old Ashleigh Hall, a single mother diagnosed with a rare disease - nasopharyngeal cancer - whose prognosis isn't good. Hall was born and raised in the Eugene-Springfield area but is now living in Boise.

Bailey knows Hall and her parents, and easily talked bar owner Kivela into doing the benefit.

Kivela raises money for good causes at the OK Tavern two or three times a year. Right now, there's a barrel beside the pool tables where people can donate to FOOD for Lane County. Previous benefits have helped homeless families and their children.

"We've always done it," Kivela said.

For the Hall benefit, Bailey brought an empty aquarium from home and taped a picture of a thermometer to the outside with dollar amounts ticked off along its side.

She got vendors to donate things such as tools and dinners, which she raffled off.

And two bands agreed to perform and donate the $1 cover to Hall. Local taxi drivers promised a portion of their earnings, too.

After a couple of weeks, Kivela estimates, about $500 half filled the aquarium. It came mostly in $1 and $5 denominations, Bailey said, a reflection of the blue-collar roots of the bar patrons.

But some folks threw in $10 or $20, and one man dropped in a $50.

Bailey figured that Hall could do as she liked with the money, pay medical expenses, take a trip with her daughter, maybe even set up a scholarship fund for her.

"Whatever she wanted to make her life better for the short time she has," Bailey said.

That dream got dealt a setback Sunday night, and Bailey blames herself for her naivete in not being more careful with the cash.

"I believed that nobody would steal something that was meant to help others. But that was stupid," she said, especially considering recent news of thieves who made off with firefighting supplies from the Mohawk Valley Rural Fire District.

But Bailey and Kivela haven't given up, and hope that people will be generous again. Another band will perform on Saturday night with the $1 cover going to Hall.

"I truly believe what goes around comes around," Kivela said. "Sometimes miracles happen, and I hope we'll be able to give this family something that will help them."

This time, though, they'll keep the donations somewhere safe.

HOW TO HELP

OK Tavern at 2816 Main St. in Springfield offers a benefit show Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. with the band Jet Harris and his Hotrod Hellcats. Cover is $1. For more information: 988-3178.

CAPTION(S):

At the OK Tavern in Springfield, bartender Jean Bailey sits next to the aquarium that someone emptied of hundreds of dollars Sunday night.