OxfordPress.com

If you want to get into an NCAA pool and help out a good cause, Katy Hines has your opportunity.

Hines is holding a NCAA March Madness pool to raise money for the PFC Tim Hines Jr. Scholarship Fund.

Hines' husband was wounded in Iraq on Father's Day 2005 and died a month later at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

"The main reason to have the fund-raiser is to honor Tim's memory so people will never forget what sacrifices he and all the other soldiers are making and have made," Hines said. "It's good too because his memory will live on and will be honored in a special way."

The annual scholarship will be awarded to a graduating senior from Cincinnati Christian Schools, where Katy and Tim Hines graduated.

The basketball fund-raiser is important because it was what her husband loved, and he played or watched it as much as he could, she said.

"He played basketball in high school, and we had to watch all the basketball games that were on," Hines said. "When we were down at Fort Hood (in Texas), we had to make sure we had ESPN and ESPN2."

Beginning after 8 p.m. Sunday, people can log onto NetPick.net to complete an online bracket.

Brackets are to be e-mailed to jwessel6@yahoo.com. Brackets must be received by noon Thursday and donation must be received by March 21.

The person with the winning bracket will receive a $200 gift card to Best Buy, which has been donated by the Hines and Wessel families. Pool results will be e-mailed regularly during the tournament.

Donations are $20 and can only be made by check, which are requested to be made out to the Fairfield Community Foundation with Tim Hines Scholarship written on the memo line. All donations are tax deductible and 100 percent of the donation will go to the scholarship fund.

Checks are to be mailed to Jim Wessel, American Metal Fabricators, 5574 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45227.

Anyone with questions may contact Wessel at jwessel6@yahoo.com.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.

SCORING

Scoring will be as follows:

• Round 1 - 2 points per correct pick
• Round 2 – 4 points
• Round 3 – 8 points
• Round 4 – 16 points
• Semi Final Games – 32 Points
• Final Game – 64 points

The person with the winning bracket will receive a $200 gift card from Best Buy, which has been donated by the Hines and Wessel families.

The tiebreaker will be total points in the final game.

Pool results will be e-mailed regularly during the tournament.