Everybody loves Joey. If you’ve ever met him, even just once, he’s your friend for life. Joey is the kind of person who can make a sincere connection with a fellow human being while standing in line at the supermarket...or even at the DMV! Friendly and warm, he’ll give you the benefit of the doubt while giving you the shirt off his back. Born and raised in Southern California and now appreciating the seasons in the Hudson Valley, Joey has always spread sunshine wherever he goes.

Now it’s time for us to be a collective ray of light and hope for Joey and his beautiful family — his wife and business partner, Lorelei; their daughter and first-year-college-student, Elliette (who wrote & performed the song in the above video); and their 15-year-old soccer-playing son, Lucca — all of whom adore Joey.

Joey was recently diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of liver cancer that often goes undiagnosed until it’s in its later stages. He went from working 12-hour days, seven days a week, for the first nine months of 2025 at DiNK (the new indoor pickleball facility in Kingston, NY, he built from scratch so people could laugh & play) to quickly losing thirty pounds in the last three months while navigating increasing nausea, food restrictions, coughing, and exhaustion. He is unable to work currently; Lorelei has tried to pick up the slack while also caring for him and their kids. But traveling to and from Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC for weekly tests, surgeries, and treatments (he had his first infusion of chemo- and immuno-therapy on November 24th) along with medical bills, new illness-related necessities, and even just opportunities for more quality family time, is all a big, daunting financial burden — the Shavelles need our help.

Joey once had an old car he could have sold for over $1000, but instead he gave it away for free to a single mom in need — because that’s who Joey is, a pay-it-forward kind of guy. During this season of giving and giving thanks, we would be so grateful if you’d consider paying it forward yourself by making a donation, in any amount, big or small, to help Joey keep spreading sunshine to his friends, his family, and his community for as long as possible.

Here’s a little more about Joey:

Joey was born to be a dad. The maternity nurse got teary-eyed when she saw how caring, cuddly, and present he was after his daughter Elliette’s birth eighteen years ago, explaining, “I have absolutely no doubt: you’ve got this.” He’s been a role model of kindness and patience for Elliette and Lucca (Lorelei would say he’s the "good cop" to her "bad cop"). And he’s never met a t-shirt with a dad joke on it he didn’t like.

Joey is a creative powerhouse. From working closely with Timothy Leary in the nineties at the end of Leary’s life; to expertly rocking the drums in several bands and doing the stage lights for Tool on tour; to designing the award-winning Internet darling of Silicon Alley, Nerve.com; to coaching his kids’ soccer teams for almost ten years straight with a smile; to organizing a weekly, over-40 community soccer game; to being able to fix anything himself; to creating a beloved live storytelling series upstate called The Porch; to building and managing DiNK Pickleball; to making the Shavelles' (in)famous tongue-in-cheek holiday cards for the past almost 20 years with Lorelei — Joey has always created community with good vibes and a sense of humor; he’s made space for connection, joy, and belonging. Creativity isn’t always lucrative, but it's fed The Shavelles' souls and their community (for years, they’ve offered local small businesses and non-profit organizations great deals and discounts on design and web development), even if it hasn’t fed their bank account.

Joey is a giver. He’s the kind of person who helps his friends move instead of pretending to be busy. He happily loans out even his most beloved tools. He will pick up his kids from parties or sleepovers in the middle of the night without question or complaint. And not only does he always wash the dishes and vacuum the floors when they need it, he (almost) enjoys doing it! So let’s give a little back to Joey now that he really needs it.

THANK YOU for anything you can do to help make this out-of-nowhere, scary, life-altering event easier for him and his family. Joey celebrated his 57th birthday recently on November 29th — we can give him the gift of worrying a little less about the future. Even if a donation is impossible for you at this time, we so appreciate you taking the time to listen to Joey’s story; hopefully, it makes you hug your people a little tighter this holiday season.

❤️

Allyson Sharkey

Joey's sister-in-law & Lorelei's sister