Bowie resident auctions convertible for Katrina victims

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Barbara L. Salisbury⁄The Gazette-Star Phil Morelli (left) of Honda of Bowie and Sherman Ragland pose by Ragland’s 1996 Dodge Viper, which Ragland put up for auction on e-bay with all proceeds going to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The auction ended on Jan. 1, but the car will be on display at Honda of Bowie until arrangements are made for the new owner in Texas to pick it up. The car sold for $32,000.

That 500-horsepower Viper with the sleek red exterior and the V10 engine is now the property of a Texas resident, and the $32,000 in proceeds are all being channeled to Katrina victims.

‘‘One-hundred percent of the money is going to flow [to hurricane victims],” said Bowie resident Ragland, who donated the car. He said he had originally picked up the vehicle, which was sold from Detroit, to reward himself for ‘‘having done well in business.”

But looking at it today, he said, ‘‘It’s just a toy.”

The hefty contribution brought together a number of different parties in the effort to close the deal. Ragland posted the vehicle back on eBay, while Honda of Bowie’s president Phil Morelli agreed to display the car in his showroom. Ragland’s church, the Pathway Christian Church of Silver Spring, also advertised the sale on their Web site, and will distribute half the proceeds to an affiliated church in St. Louis, which has set up a Katrina relief fund.

The other half will go toward the Victims of Katrina Relief Fund, at the Shepherd’s Flock Church in North Carolina.

‘‘I’m glad Sherman’s decided to put this together,” Morelli said. He said his business partner’s family, which lived along the Gulf coast, was heavily affected and displaced by the storm as well. His partner works with the charity run through the North Carolina church.

The Viper was on display at the dealership for about a month.

‘‘This is certainly a very magnanimous gift,” Ragland’s pastor, Steven Heintze said. ‘‘That’s an awesome looking car.”

But soon Ragland will part ways with his prized ride, his sacrifice, as the winning bid closed out the auction this past weekend. After that, it’s back to the family SUV for Ragland.

‘‘It’s not quite the same means of transportation,” Ragland said. He looks on the bright side, though ‘‘I can probably get back and forth to work [with it].”

E-mail Judson Berger at jberger@gazette.net.