Hi, I’m Kevin Tucker. An anarchist writer, parent, farm-to-table chef and butcher, publisher, musician, and blah blah.

Last Saturday, I almost worked myself to death. I needed help before that, but I really need it now.

Let me step back a minute.

Working in kitchens is really, really hard. It’s hot, constant, unforgiving and massively unaccommodating. I work mostly doubles, and they are physically demanding. You get knocked down, and hopefully get up again, or you don’t. Cuts and burns just come with the territory.

My schedule is roughly 60 hours per week. Much of the time, it goes over. Almost never does it go under. But as a salaried position, the pay is always the same.

Long story short, I’ve been going too hard, too long. My body taking hits and I just have to work through them. That’s how it goes. I have been perpetually drowning for years now and took on a really demanding wedding to try and catch up. And it was extremely tough physically and mentally. The day of was working in a kitchen tent when it was blazing hot and brutally humid.

I came into the situation already overworked and overworn, but by the afternoon, my body was shutting down and screaming in pain, and I kept pushing till 10 PM. At which point, I went straight to the emergency room.

From there, it was basically all bad news. I had acute kidney failure. My brush with death was confirmed, and had I not gotten intervention, I would have died.

In summation, I spent three days on an IV and getting extensive testing done and constant medications and monitoring until I was considered out of the weeds.

It was a lot. I couldn’t afford to be down, but I felt the cold hand of death and now I’m having to figure out where things go from here.

I missed additional work. I have fallen further behind. There was no safety net before, there certainly is less now.

What I need is help.

I’m trying to get enough to stop shut offs on my electricity, water and pay off rent for next month. I’ve struggled with facing eviction threats from perpetually being behind, so I’m trying to at least get to zero for a second so I can breathe and reassess.

If you made it this far, I cannot thank you enough. Anything helps, and I can also take Venmo and PayPal (blackandgreen) or cashapp (blackandgreenpress).

Please help share this. I know times are tough all around in this dumpster fire of a reality. But helping each other is all we have. Given the chance, I’ll always pay forward with meals, books and any other mutual aid.

Thank you!