Generous members of the Taft and Bakersfield communities have gone above and beyond to help send members of local Olympian Billy Nelson’s family to Beijing in order to see him go for the gold this August.

Nelson flew out of San Jose, CA last Wednesday and arrived in Beijing on July 31st to begin his training. He is now eagerly awaiting his competitions, and the arrival his excited family members, mother Rhonda Blythe, step father Bill Blythe, fiancé Alisa Crane, and daughter Arabella.

Josh Bryant and Don Schock, Nelson’s best friends from Taft Union High School, knew as soon as they saw him qualify that they’d do whatever they could to help. “It was like a reflex”, said Bryant. “I knew we had to make this happen for Billy and his family.”

Around $16,000 was raised to send Nelson’s family to China with him. Large donations from TRC Operating Co., General Production Services, Kern Street Pharmacy, and Huddleston Crane among others were great contributors to helping our local star’s family.

In a recent e-mail, Bryant wrote, “We did it! We achieved our goal of attaining enough funds to send his family along with him to China through the generous donations and outpouring of support that each of you (and many more elsewhere) have shown over the last few weeks. All in all, we raised approximately $16,000, which was enough to provide adequate travel & hotel accommodations (along with funds for event tickets, food, and transportation around Beijing) for Bill, Rhonda, Alisa, and Arabella. So, on behalf of Billy, his family, Don, and myself, I’d like to say Thank You to you all -- without you we would have been able to make this happen.”

Nelson’s first race will be on August 15th at 6:20 PM, and his final race will be on August 18th at 6:10 AM.

“We cannot begin to express how appreciative we all are of the generosity and support the community has given us. This was to celebrate Billy and his accomplishments, and to send his family with him to share this monumental occasion with him”, said Bryant

Pride athletics will continue to sell T-shirts in support of Billy, and to commemorate this achievement.