Today the Harrisburg City Islanders held a fundraiser to support former player Jason Hotchkin.
Almost everyone who walked through the gate donated money to the veteran soccer player at the City Island game Saturday.
Hotchkin was shot multiple times last weekend after a fight in Chester County.
His condition was upgraded to good on Wednesday but Hotchkin doesn’t have health insurance.
Fundraiser organizers say they’re hoping to have more than 20,000 dollars total from all fundraising outlets after today’s game.
“Everybody know’s him, he’s a good guy and we all just want to do what we can to help him out,” says City Islanders General Manager, John Gregg.
Fans signed posters, and bought wristbands, and shirts with Hotchkin’s number, 11, and the hashtag: StayStrong, on the back.
Some even bid thousands of dollars on a 5 dollar t-shirt.
“When he found out everything that was going on it lifted his spirits up, maybe gave him a burst of energy to have a quicker recovery,” says Gregg.
Friends who’ve visited him say he’s doing better everyday.
“He’s about as good as we would expect at this point with the amount of trauma that he’s gone through and the amount of stuff that he’s had,” says a friend of Hotchkin, Dustin Bixler.
At halftime fans formed the number 11 on the field to send him a get well message.
“Stay Strong Jason,” screamed all the fans from the field.
It was something Hotchkin was able to witness from his computer in his hospital room.
“At least be able to celebrate a little bit of what’s going on here, I think his spirit is going to be much higher,” says Bixler.
The City Islanders say they raised $7,200 dollars just from today’s game.