LOVELAND, Colo. - Tim Elliott is well known in northern Colorado for turning his musical passion into philanthropy.
"Watch out for your neighbors. Be kind. Pay it forward," Elliott said.
Words he lives by. You may recognize him as a recent Denver7 Everyday Hero.
Over the years, he's raised around $25,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through the Drumming up Hope program.
"We had a bunch of drummers come and play. All the drummers brought their own sponsors and had their friends and family sponsor them," Elliott said. "We set a world record for group drumming at 82 hours straight, which was immediately then broken by someone else. A lot of fun."
After playing a charity event for law enforcement, he met the Denver Police Department chaplain — an important connection to have following the Marshall Fire.
"He actually gave me names of people that had been on duty that night when the fire started and lost everything. So we raised money for those families over the course of five events. We called them Marshallstock," said Elliott.
The benefit concerts raised around $16,000 for impacted first responders and their families.
He's able to plan all these events thanks to his day job, Mr. Elliott's Lawn Care. He told us without that, it wouldn't be possible to have the time and funds to put on the charity events.
"It allows me the freedom to be my own boss, set my own schedule. And, you know, the connections I've made through music have made it easy to move in these circles and get these benefits going," he said.
But the landscaping job is about to get very difficult after thieves stole the trailer Elliott needs to tow his equipment. It was taken right from outside his home in Loveland near South Taft Avenue and 23rd Street SW.
"We woke up Christmas morning to find out that the trailer is gone. Of course, we were angry," Elliott said.
It's a standard Lamar utility 6X12ft flatbed trailer with a spare tire on what would be the passenger side.
Elliott posted about the theft on Facebook, expecting to ease some frustrations. What he didn't expect was an outpouring of support from the same community he has given back to over the years.
One of his bandmates sold a bass to give the profits to Elliott, others refunded gig payments. Another friend set up a GoFundMe to help replace the trailer.
"The outpouring of sympathy and donations has been kind of humbling. It's hard for me to be on this side of it because I'm used to being on the other side of it." said Elliott.
While he doesn't have a picture of the exact trailer, he's hoping someone will spot it before business picks back up in the spring.
