Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends ..

We are fundraising for a Community Support Fund to assist Christopher Maxwell through the finale of his life as he contends with "Gleason Score 9 Prostate Cancer" metastasizing into his bones. Before we get to his final act, let me introduce the star of the show.

Imagine what you would have if you crossed the Energizer Bunny with McGyver? Behold Christopher Maxwell, widely known as "Max". His impossible dreams, his inventiveness, his capacity to learn and invent new solutions - and perhaps most of all, his unstoppable energy have changed the face of Richmond as you know it - and they've always and frequently changed it for the better.

Since he arrived in Richmond in 1984, Max has been an indefatigable crusader and insatiable dreamer. What makes Max different is his uncanny ability to make those dreams come true.

Time after time, no matter how big the challenge or how preposterous it may have seemed Max persisted.

With an alternative lifestyle devoid of the usual economic considerations constraining the rest of the world, Max succeeded where those of wealth and means would likely have bogged down, lost hope, and abandoned their quest.

Keeping hopes - and dreams - alive...

Even faced with the arrival of the inevitable, Max continues to dream - and to do! Eight years ago in 2016, Max was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. A community fundraiser at the time helped him through the initial period of diagnosis, exploring his options, and engaging in treatment.

Despite a serious disruption to his capacity to earn a living Max's deep knowledge and skills in solar energy, along with

his "Jack of (almost) All Trades" background, allowed him to cobble together a subsistence-level income.

Over time both his cancer and the treatment itself rendered him less and less able to eke out even this basic income, which brings us to the present.

Max needs our community support now more than ever.

As a friend said, we may not know how long Max has, but we do know how very much needs our assistance as he moves through this final phase of his life.

Please consider a contribution of any amount to help Max find comfort during his final act.

While Max appears to finally have been deemed eligible for disability payments, and this assistance will definitely help, his current benefit structure remains insufficient for his ongoing day-to-day needs. In addition, there is a backlog of bills, outstanding loans, and home repairs that are far beyond his current means.

This last August, Max got back his most recent cancer scans. As he described it on a FB post "I lit it up like a Christmas Tree... it has metastasized into many lymph nodes and bones including my spine and hips which is going to seriously destroy my mobility soon."

Recently, Max had kyphoplasty surgery which injects epoxy into the cancer-deteriorated vertebra. This is intended to reinforce the severely deteriorated, and now fracturing spinal bones.

The progression of his cancer and the effects of the medical treatments will consume much of Max's focus in the foreseeable future. Physically he will continue to be unable to work at producing income.

It ain't over till it's over...

While your support will help Max meet his basic needs during this difficult time, it also will help by giving Max the comfort and peace he needs to keep dreaming a little longer - and perhaps to change the world yet again!

Even as his life may be drawing to a close, in his inimitable fashion, Max has embarked on his final quest. One that, as with all his other endeavors, may appear quixotic. But never discount Max's can-do capacity. He describes it thus in his own very nerd-ilicious manner........ "'While I'm still functional, I have decided to scrap all my long-term hopes/dreams/plans and engage on a mission to slow down the de-oxygenation apocalypse as we experience the 6th Mass Extinction.

Oxygen production in tropical oceans has dropped 40% over the last mere 50 years. We now can stop the acidification of the Ocean which is dissolving the calcium-based shells of phytoplankton that produce 70% of the oxygen we all breathe,"

Max writes. "There are solutions such as Solar Synthetic Fuel. We now have the means to extract CO² from the atmosphere and in doing so "make" diesel and jet fuel using solar power. There is a bonus of closing the carbon loop. We will no longer need to extract any further carbon-based fuel from the ground ... CO² is everywhere. "

As with his past endeavors and their successful proof of concept, Max seeks assistance in conducting his research and tests.

"I am already organizing a build-out of a US-based demonstration project for CO² based synthetic fuel production," he reports.

"So here I am, heading into my life's finale. I'm flying my failing carcass on a kamikaze mission right into the oil industry gears. May my failing bones jam the gears of their planet-killing machinery, and bring it to a grinding stop," Max writes. "Please, help me if you can."

To learn about nearly 40 years of Max's legendary activities here in Richmond read this Richmond Times-Dispatch story from 2016

https://richmond.com/news/wrir-co-founder-gets-by-with-a-little-help-from-his-friends/article_39e62ae0-515f-52fa-9b27-00db211a0630.html

To understand more about making synthetic fuel from CO² see:

https://newatlas.com/energy/solar-jet-fuel-tower/

Disclosure:

The funds received under this campaign will be deposited into an account for the benefit of the Maxwell Community Fund, under the name of Farid Alan Schintzius, and an accounting of the actions taken by the Fund, information on the disbursements from the account, or any answers to a general question are readily available upon written request.

Please contact Mr. Christopher W. Roberson, Esq. at croberson@t-mlaw.com or [phone redacted].