David Reed's cancer and family fund
Donation protected
This was not David Reed’s idea.
Friends and family had suggested he start a Go Fund Me page for months. He and his wife, Jennifer Loparo, were emphatic. No.
What started as a pain in his kidney area was diagnosed just before Christmas in 2014 as Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Tests showed to everyone’s shock that cancer had formed around his internal organs and arteries.
Loud, outspoken and independent, David, 37, does not like to take handouts or ask anyone for anything. One of his favorite sayings is, “I’d rather struggle on my feet than live on my knees.”
He also sees himself as the giver, not the taker. Dave is the one who steps in to help. For six years, he’s been actively involve in the Extra Innings Foundation, a two-day softball tournament at Mentor High School in April that raises money for a local softball player in need.
But Joanne Sadar, his accountant, encouraged him do this.
Dave was one of her students in her accounting class at Lakeland Community College, and Joanne grew to admire him. He was not only a bright student but he has a strong work ethic, good nature and a big heart.
At her urging, Dave lamented.
“You can’t walk away from an open door,” Dave said.
Like others who know him, Joanne knew what Dave, Jennifer and their three daughters, Alessandra, 14, Audrianna, 11, and Aaliyah, 4, had been dealing with the past 2 ½ years.
In January 2015, Dave started chemotherapy at the Cleveland Clinic. By July, he had a clear scan. His doctors told him he would need to stay on low-dose lymphoma treatment for five years.
To celebrate, the family took a vacation to Florida and, at the urging of their daughters, Dave and Jennifer were married.
Dave is a roofer. He would work an eight-hour day as a union roofer with T&F Systems of Cleveland, only to come home and do side work for his company, 3 Daughters Construction LLC, which he launched in 2013.
Business was steady and Dave was working steady and long hours.
How hard does Dave work? His oldest daughter, Alessandra, plays on a travel softball team, which often appears in weekend tournaments. It was common for Dave to watch a game, then do a job, and return to her next game.
In the off season, the Oakland Raiders fan would work as many as four jobs a week to pay the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Mentor, pay utilities and keep up payments on his Chevy pickup truck and his wife’s van.
But his cancer treatments derailed his plans for the future. He worked sporadically. The family got by.
Then last April, Dave, who had been feeling more and more nauseous, which he attributed to the ongoing low-dose chemo therapy, contracted pneumonia, which knocked him down for battled for five months. He worked on-and-off as he could, making just enough to cover his health insurance.
The family took another hit last spring when T&F Systems closed and he lost his union job.
By fall, he was not making enough money to cover insurance and the household bills.
And in October, a checkup showed his cancer had returned.
He was forced to resume his heavy chemotherapy.
And now he has a decision to make: Does he finish this round of chemotherapy, which he started in January, or move to stem cell therapy.
Either choice remains expensive.
The couple paid their March bills using short-tem disability check and tax refund.
But now they are nearly out of options.
As some of the people who have grown to love him, we wanted to share his story. We long to see him strong again and back to work.
But until then, can you help him? Any donation would be appreciated.
On the softball field, he’s known “Spaz.” He wears a pink tutu, pink jersey, socks, even softball cleats. He wears the “girly” uniform for his girls, but also to show them it does not matter what other think of you. Be yourself.
But now, instead of pink he’s wearing lime green, which is the color of lymphoma awareness.
Friends and family had suggested he start a Go Fund Me page for months. He and his wife, Jennifer Loparo, were emphatic. No.
What started as a pain in his kidney area was diagnosed just before Christmas in 2014 as Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Tests showed to everyone’s shock that cancer had formed around his internal organs and arteries.
Loud, outspoken and independent, David, 37, does not like to take handouts or ask anyone for anything. One of his favorite sayings is, “I’d rather struggle on my feet than live on my knees.”
He also sees himself as the giver, not the taker. Dave is the one who steps in to help. For six years, he’s been actively involve in the Extra Innings Foundation, a two-day softball tournament at Mentor High School in April that raises money for a local softball player in need.
But Joanne Sadar, his accountant, encouraged him do this.
Dave was one of her students in her accounting class at Lakeland Community College, and Joanne grew to admire him. He was not only a bright student but he has a strong work ethic, good nature and a big heart.
At her urging, Dave lamented.
“You can’t walk away from an open door,” Dave said.
Like others who know him, Joanne knew what Dave, Jennifer and their three daughters, Alessandra, 14, Audrianna, 11, and Aaliyah, 4, had been dealing with the past 2 ½ years.
In January 2015, Dave started chemotherapy at the Cleveland Clinic. By July, he had a clear scan. His doctors told him he would need to stay on low-dose lymphoma treatment for five years.
To celebrate, the family took a vacation to Florida and, at the urging of their daughters, Dave and Jennifer were married.
Dave is a roofer. He would work an eight-hour day as a union roofer with T&F Systems of Cleveland, only to come home and do side work for his company, 3 Daughters Construction LLC, which he launched in 2013.
Business was steady and Dave was working steady and long hours.
How hard does Dave work? His oldest daughter, Alessandra, plays on a travel softball team, which often appears in weekend tournaments. It was common for Dave to watch a game, then do a job, and return to her next game.
In the off season, the Oakland Raiders fan would work as many as four jobs a week to pay the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Mentor, pay utilities and keep up payments on his Chevy pickup truck and his wife’s van.
But his cancer treatments derailed his plans for the future. He worked sporadically. The family got by.
Then last April, Dave, who had been feeling more and more nauseous, which he attributed to the ongoing low-dose chemo therapy, contracted pneumonia, which knocked him down for battled for five months. He worked on-and-off as he could, making just enough to cover his health insurance.
The family took another hit last spring when T&F Systems closed and he lost his union job.
By fall, he was not making enough money to cover insurance and the household bills.
And in October, a checkup showed his cancer had returned.
He was forced to resume his heavy chemotherapy.
And now he has a decision to make: Does he finish this round of chemotherapy, which he started in January, or move to stem cell therapy.
Either choice remains expensive.
The couple paid their March bills using short-tem disability check and tax refund.
But now they are nearly out of options.
As some of the people who have grown to love him, we wanted to share his story. We long to see him strong again and back to work.
But until then, can you help him? Any donation would be appreciated.
On the softball field, he’s known “Spaz.” He wears a pink tutu, pink jersey, socks, even softball cleats. He wears the “girly” uniform for his girls, but also to show them it does not matter what other think of you. Be yourself.
But now, instead of pink he’s wearing lime green, which is the color of lymphoma awareness.
Organizer and beneficiary
Joanne Sadar
Organizer
Mentor, OH
Jennifer Loparo
Beneficiary