Hello Everyone. This is a picture of Patrick “Rik” Henry. He is a valued Publix Associate and Publix Family Member.

I am Betsy, one of Rik’s Team Leaders at work. I am organizing this fund raiser for Rik because he is in the Hospital.

Yesterday, I visited Rik and dropped off some FMLA paperwork so that Rik would be able to come back to our Publix store #0681 on Holmes Beach without having to go through the process of interviewing and hopefully getting rehired again. Our store manager Kent Davis and our Customer Service Manager Katie Boone have told Rik that he is welcome back as soon as he is able and that we miss his smiling face at work.

Rik lives alone with his Senior Rescue dog named “Amaia”. Rik doesn’t have family in the area although I believe he has a sister who checks on him and keeps in touch with regular phone calls. We are Rik’s Local Family. Rik needs our help and the help of our community.

Rik recently fell at his home and was on the floor for 10-12 hours. Luckily he did not break anything. However he has been at the hospital for over a week now. He has hopes of being moved to a Rehabilitation Facility soon. As of yesterday he still was unable to walk due to pain and weakness.

Long story, I know. But the short version of this story is that Rik expressed to me how disappointed he was in himself for not being able to walk already. He got a few practice steps the day before yesterday. However, yesterday he said he was not happy with himself because the pain was so bad that he did not get any walking in at all.

We talked for a little bit more. I tried to encourage him and let him know he should take the time to heal right and don’t overdo it so that he puts his recovery backwards. That is when he said he Had to get back to normal as soon as possible. He was already behind on his bills from being out of work the week before he fell due to his medical issues. He told me, “Now I am afraid I am going to lose my Amaia, my car and my home because I can’t pay my bills if I am out of work. Not to mention the future medical bills that will probably be arriving soon in my mail box.” He told me his neighbor in the other side of the duplex is coming over to his home to feed, walk, and keep Amaia company for a little while each day. But he misses Amaia. “She is my Life” he has told me many times as we discussed our fur babies while we worked together.

This GoFundMe is for our Publix family member Rik to get caught up on his overdue monthly bills, medical bills and future monthly bills in case he is out for the next 1-3 months in a rehab facility.

Rik is always a smiling friendly, helpful and cheerful presence in our Publix store. He can be frequently found doing our weekly demos. Employees and Customers alike all

LOVE Rik. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Even small amounts are welcome as well as what may be even more important > please Re-Post this to your Facebook, NextDoor, and wherever else will allow it to help get the word out to a greater audience. If anyone has doubts as to this being For Real, you can reach out to the managers at Holmes Beach Publix to confirm this is Not a Scam. Thank you!