For nearly 20 years, Eli has been serving up breakfast at his diner, Eli's Place, and giving back to the Merrimack Valley community by running fundraisers like the First Responder's Block Party. Now, Eli needs help from all of us in his community.

After a sudden emergency hospitalization, Eli was sadly diagnosed with Kidney Cancer (a particularly aggressive form of cancer). His right kidney has a very large tumor covering it and he is awaiting surgery to have that kidney entirely removed. The doctors also found potential signs of the cancer spreading to his IVC (inferior vena cava, a major vein) and some of his lymph nodes, which may also need to be removed. The surgery in this particular case is quite intense and will require at least a few weeks of recovery time.

On top of it all, right when the surgery was scheduled to be performed, the doctors found a pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung) that needed to be removed before the surgery would be allowed to proceed. With that procedure successfully behind him, Eli is now recovering before going into surgery to remove his affected kidney and any other signs of cancer in affected areas. Once the kidney is removed, the doctors will be able to determine the specific type of cancer and whether it's spread elsewhere in his body, which will help determine what kind of follow-up treatment Eli will need (i.e. chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc.)

If you've eaten at Eli's Place or ever met Eli, you know that he doesn't like to sit still and he doesn't like to ask for help. This GoFundMe represents a rare moment where he needs our help. Since Eli is an owner/operator and the main cook at his diner, it's been closed since his initial hospitalization and will likely remain closed while Eli deals with this life-changing diagnosis. With their only source of income down, Eli and Marcia need our help to lessen the financial burden of keeping the diner closed and the treatment costs that will inevitably add up.

Any amount you can contribute will go directly to helping cover the cost of Eli's treatment and helping Eli and Marcia weather this awful storm. If all goes well, your contributions will ensure that Eli can get back behind the grill and serve up your favorite dish again, whether it's the homemade hash or his jokes. (Probably the homemade hash.) If you're not in a position to contribute financially, spreading the word of this campaign is the next best thing. Thank you very much for your support.