Hey everyone. As you all likely know, I have always been someone who likes to help others but never likes to ask for help. For once, I am asking. This GoFundMe is for a guy similar to me. He has always offered a hand but never asks for anything in return regardless of how bad things are. He is a neighbor and friend, who I would prefer to remain nameless at this time. Let's call him Jack Skellington since it is one of his favorite characters. (Referenced in the picture). Jack has been a neighbor for a number of years. A 57-year-old guy we can all relate to. We have always known him to leave the house at 5 am for work and not return home until after 7 pm. He is a hard worker with many talents and interests including gardening, music, arts, etc. He bought the house after a divorce which left him starting all over again from scratch. Keeping his pride intact, he walked away from the marriage with only his possessions. Jack has no family to speak of, no children, and few local friends after moving into a new town.

Over the past year, Jack has suffered some incredible setbacks. During the winter, Jack was not feeling well and realized he needed to get help. In typical form, he did not give us a call or ask for help. Instead, he drove himself to the hospital while realizing he was having a stroke. With half of his body numb and vision failing, he arrived at the hospital and was taken care of. When they were ready to release him from care, he attempted to get an appointment for physicians to assist with his recovery. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment was more than 6 months after being released from the hospital. During this time, he lost his job, benefits ran out and he could not afford his medication for diabetes. He lost his short-term disability and did not have the function to start making calls to extend his benefits to help keep him afloat. Over the course of almost 7 months, Jack did his best to stay afloat even attempting to hold a remote job since he could not drive. Jack's pride would even still not allow him to ask for help.

This past weekend, he stopped over to use our phone. He quite simply ran out of money, lost his phone service, internet, house in foreclosure and needed to call a friend to help sell his belongings. We had not seen him for a number of months and were shocked when he came into our house. Jack did his very best to stay afloat but had not eaten and was in terrible health (near death is not an exaggeration). He had lost 100 lbs since the stroke and was barely eating (no food or money). Normally 6ft, 230lbs down to less than 130lbs. We are so thankful he came over. After bringing him home, we discussed his health and denial of desperation. He agreed to let us call an ambulance. He will be returning home but is fighting for a new chapter doing everything he can to find assistance using the resources available so he can get healthy, back to work, and back to a normal life.

This is where all of my friends can help. I started this GoFundMe to source some money to help catch him up on some essential bills, stave off the foreclosure and give him a reason to push forward. Of course, those of us close to him are doing everything we can but we need your help. I am finally cashing in on my decades of being there for people in a blink. Not for me but for "Jack". He is also not yet aware of my efforts. I will let him know when he is released from the hospital. Please find it in your hearts to donate whatever you can to give a friend the help he needs.