What Happened To Raven?

For nearly three years now, Israel 'Raven' Ruiz has been the smiling barista that greeted patrons of CUP on Montrose in the mornings. For those fortunate enough to know him, his generous spirit, wise heart, and universal geniality are always on display. Not content merely to pour coffee, Raven always has sage advice and kind words of encouragement to offer, and his loving presence deeply enriched the community around CUP. Having been missing from the bar for the last two weeks, many in our community are wondering, what happened to Raven?

While Raven has always been there to listen to and help others, he is a deeply private person. It will be a surprise to many to learn that over the past year and a half Raven has been battling stomach cancer. He arranged his schedule to make it to work while enduring weekly, debilitating radiation treatments. At the conclusion of the radiation treatment Raven's doctors removed the remaining tumor in his stomach surgically.

Having beaten cancer for now, Raven and his spouse planned a trip to Puerto Rico to have a spiritual reconnection to his homeland. On that trip, Raven had a terrible accident. He fell off a rocky cliff, at Cueva Del Indio, recieving grevious injuries to his face and body. His jaw was dislocated and broken, his molars were shattered, his left wrist was opened up by the sharp rocks as he fell, and he lost several pints of blood. 

The full extent of Raven's injuries, and procedures to restore his jaw can be seen here:(warning, these images are graphic)

While Raven's insurance is covering the bulk of medical costs, there are ancillary fees from the Puerto Rican emergency services, extended hotel stay, and car rental, and other travel expenses accrued while he was recovering. Raven is currently unable to work due to his injuries, and the schedule of reconstructive surgeries he is facing.

This is where we step in. My name is Orion Jenkins, I'm the manager of CUP on Montrose. I created this gofundme page on the behalf of the entire staff of CUP. We would like to help our brother Raven by covering the cost of the expenses listed above. If we can raise our goal of $1,300 it will give him enough of a buffer to cover his bills until such a time that he can return to work. Any amount raised over $1,300 will help to lengthen the amount of time Raven has to recover without worrying about bills. 

If you cannot give money but would like to help, please come by the store, and we can arrange to put you in contact with Raven. Otherwise please share this page with anyone who might know Raven, or anyone with a generous heart that would like to help a cancer survivor overcome a second challenge.