Hi Folks, I am reaching out to ask for some help for my friend, Michael McCarthy. He is a former '70s Long Island middle and high school teacher where he went by Henry (Hank ) McCarthy. Later he went west and helped Indigenous people including the Navajo around uranium mining issues, and the and the Lakota Sioux at The Black Hills Gathering, where he helped with security. He traveled internationally to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and England to promote peace and social justice causes. While living in Vermont, he became part of the well known puppet theater in Glover, VT called Bread & Puppet . He and his wife ran their Bread House . We met while playing on a softball team in Vermont in the late '70s where everyone knew him as Michael, including all the students he coached on The Putney School tennis teams for ten years. Over time, we enjoyed so many sports and adventures together. His friendship is one of the most cherished things in my life.

He recently slipped on ice, and fractured two vertebrae. This has prevented him from being able to work at Keene State College where he is an adjunct member of the Communication Faculty, supervises Teaching Assistants, and serves as a Fraternity Advisor. The injury has kept him from working; he is on unpaid medical leave. This semester, his inability to work is costing him $15,000 in salary.

Additionally, he has paid $3,000 out of pocket for a back brace, and nearly $3,000 for household help while he is laid up. He may require surgery going forward, and may not be able to return to work again. His wife has MS, which is a progressive, degenerative, neurological disease. He is her primary care giver, and can't function in that capacity now, and his ability to do so in the future is is question.

He is hoping for help to replace his lost income, pay for his back brace, and funds to provide a substitute care giver for his wife while he is incapacitated. A full time, daily, non-medical caregiver costs approximately $48,000 a year in New Hampshire. So, I am trying to raise $102,00 for his un-reimbursed medical costs, household help costs, lost wages and care-giver salary funds. Please give what you can to help this great guy who has given so much to help others!