Doreen Rivers-Graham (pictured above with Tres at an Oyster event in Asheville over Mardi Gras last February) I was fortunate enough to meet through one of my oldest friends on earth Tres Hundertmark.  Doreen, until recently worked at the UNC Flagler School of Business and was completing a move to a new townhome in the middle of October with Tres, her long time partner when back pain during the move prompted her to visit Urgent Care.  After being sent home from Urgent Care for strained muscles the pain got progressively worse over a short period of time and a feeling of immobilization started progressing through Doreen's lower extremities.   This immediately prompted them to go to the Emergency Room at Duke Hospital, where, after a battery of tests she was diagnosed with a somewhat rare form of Spinal Cancer called Multiple Myeloma.  This was October 14th.  Since that time Doreen has not left the hospital - and now rehab.  She underwent spinal surgery 2 days after being admitted to Duke Hospital to remove a softball size growth off of her spine and was subsequently moved to the oncology ward where she also endured the initial rounds of radiation and chemotherapy after PET scan showed signs of cancerous cells throughout other parts of her body.  Doreen lost mobility in her legs from the tumor that had grown unnoticed on her spine for many months and is currently in rehab working to learn the necessary skills to go home in a wheelchair next Friday.  The new townhome that she has not yet spent a night in since their scheduled move in date of 10/15, like many is a 2-story home with a single full bathroom downstairs that does not have adequate access for a chair and it is their hope to make their new home as accessible as they can afford to - or altogether abandon their new home and move to a single level, handicap accessible home.  Prior to her work at UNC Doreen worked in my office as a transitional position for several months where I had an opportunity to work with her full-time.  She is a kind, calm and generous spirit who would never ask for anything and hasn't changed her demeanor or outlook on life through this entire process.  Doreen was on the more quiet side in the office which allowed her to out-produce the rest of us through her steady work ethic and consistency.  There was not a day when she was not a welcome addition in our busy office environment.  Losing her to UNC was a blow to our small company but an understandable move for her professionally.  Her partner Tres Hundertmark I have known for almost 25 years and works with me side by side on my families Small, Bio-Dynamic Mixed Vegetable Farm.  Tres and Doreen also have their own small business; NC Oyster 365 that they use to promote, distribute and market NC Oysters direct from farmers on the coast into market streams and distribution chains that span the country.  They, as a team often worked 7 days a week spending their weekends promoting their farmers products, running pop-up oyster events throughout the state and even traveling around the country to organize the education about and distribution of the Green Gill Oyster native to parts of our coast.  These people are phenomenal,  kind, hard-working individuals who have rolled through every bit of bad news with their heads high and an attitude of they will overcome.  In fact if you look back through Doreen's IG @NCOyster_365 you will find posts all year long about gratitude and kindness and the diagnosis of cancer didn't change that.

They would never do anything like this for themselves but since October Doreen has lived everyday in a fight against Cancer while Tres finished moving their things (yes, they literally had not finished moving their possessions), continues to put in full-time hours on our farm and stays at the hospital every night.  On the weekends and some Friday nights Tres now runs their pop-ups and Oyster events that were already booked months in advance on his own, shucking, serving, educating, setting up, breaking down, condiment preparations, and even cashiering the pop-ups as a one-man show.  Their needs are immediate and increasingly urgent, mainly surrounding the home and accessibility expenses as well as some assistance with general expenses as the main breadwinner (Doreen) of their family is no longer working.  They already shared a car and lived very modestly as they pursued their own entrepreneurial enterprise.  But with little buffer and savings the health emergency of the last couple months has significantly impacted their ability to make ends meet while starting to address the need for medical equipment, treatment and on-going care expenses.  Until Doreen recovers the use of her legs and makes a full-recovery they face an uphill battle.  My hope is to jumpstart this campaign with a contribution and to share it throughout my network of friends, farmers, small business people and any other human that can picture the position they are in and who might be willing to help in ANY small way.  There is no gift too small, please share with your friends and ask the same of them this holiday season.  We have a network full of farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs, oystermen and professionals alike and we hope that you will all share this information on behalf of Doreen and Tres - they could seriously use your help this season.   Hopefully some of you receiving this have already met Doreen and Tres and can empathize first-hand.   Maybe some of you have met Tres at the Farmstand at Weaver Acres but not Doreen and maybe some of you know Doreen from UNC or being the voice on the other end of the phone or the name on the signature line of emails this past Spring in my office.  Either way I am asking on behalf of both of them to help out this season - no matter how small.  And if you can't help but could share that would be even more valuable!  Thank you all, in advance, on their behalf.

Warmest Regards and Happy Holidays,

Brendon C Cordell
Weaver Acres Farm
Durham NC