Pitch in for Popeye!

12/17/24 UPDATE:

Friends, 

On behalf of Marino (Popeye) and his family, his friends, and us, his RK family, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the financial and moral support you offered during Marino's illness last summer. There is no more apt word for that level of generosity than beautiful. Truly. Marino was positively gobsmacked by the generosity of so many, and at all of the inquiries and well wishes. Beautiful.

With your help Marino was able to get the care he needed to get stronger at home, to rally and turn a corner in his fight against cancer. Not only did he come home from the hospital but he came back to work! The band was back together again, so to speak!  Our corner of the world was back on its axis!

Until it wasn't. Marino began feeling unwell again at Thanksgiving and after another 2 weeks in the hospital he was told that his cancer has indeed progressed significantly. He is home now with family, who are trying their best to make him comfortable and enjoy their time together. 

Marino is one-of-a-kind and we are at a loss to find the words to describe how much he means to us : an absolute top-notch human being and wonderful friend, for starters.

As you can imagine, all of this makes the holidays an especially difficult and bittersweet time. We know you are asked to give in so many places and so many ways, especially now, but if you feel so inclined, please help us provide some extra financial support for Marino and his family during this time. We want to Marino and his family to enjoy the beauty of Christmas together and not worry about hospital and medical bills. You can donate to the fundraiser here or drop off donations to the store. Everything goes directly to Marino and his family each day as they are received. 

And of course, if you are unable to give financially, we understand. All good vibes, prayers, thoughts, and good juju are welcome and appreciated!

Thank you for truly being the most Righteous People around!  

___________

Our friend Marino received some devastating news and needs our help right now.

Marino has faithfully worked alongside us for nearly a decade - literally since the first week we were ever business owners. We desperately needed help then and someone “knew a guy who could help”. Enter Marino. He was the guy. And we’ve been lucky enough to work with him ever since.

He has grown with us as our company grew. Part of our business includes making nearly 800 school/camp meals per day, and as the lead, Marino is responsible for the lion’s share of those. It’s a lot! He’s moved kitchens with us 3 times and has been a constant in the evolution of our business, through the good and the difficult times. We would’ve been lost without his expertise, knife and food prep skills, experience, and most of all his sense of humor, loyalty, and kindness.

If your child ever ate one of our lunches at school or camp: Marino hand-made it. If you enjoyed any of our Feed the Frontline meals during the Covid pandemic: Marino helped make it. If you ever wondered who fixed the wiring on appliances to keep them running? Marino. Who hung the lighting in our new store? Marino. Anyone need their phone fixed? Marino is your guy. Need your party DJ’d? Marino is your man (stage name Popeye. He's also a professional DJ). Marino is the epitome of a Renaissance Man; he’s "that" guy, and we love him for it.

He’s also filled the role of translator, advisor, and he’s the guy that makes sure our staff eats lunch when we’re all working so hard we forget. He’s come to our house on Christmas Eve with gifts for our kids and is always there for a birthday celebration at work.

When we call Marino he answers on the first ring, “What do you need?” is how he answers. And he shows up. Every. Single. Time.

But Marino is so much more than just skilled in the kitchen, a trained electrician, or a lit DJ - he’s a wonderful friend, and most of all, a beloved brother and uncle. He recently began feeling quite unwell and after spending over a week in the hospital he has learned that he has stage 4 stomach cancer. It happened fast - too fast - and he’s now started rigorous cancer treatment.

Despite this devastating shock, Marino has managed to keep his unsinkable sense of humor. Marino is a very private man. He doesn't like attention or fuss of any kind, and he kept telling us he wanted everyone to just think he was on vacation. Typical Marino. But this is no vacation, and we're going to make a fuss.

He and his family have other things to worry about and the one thing we can help do is help alleviate some of the financial worry for our friend and colleague. But we can't do it alone.

If you know Marino, then you surely love him as much as we do. If you don’t know him, you’ll have to trust us on this one: he’s one of the good guys. Please help us help him in any way you can, every donation helps. If you are unable to contribute financially, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and he embarks on this unexpected journey. He needs those too. And please feel free to share this.

Marino is, and always will be, one of our very favorite people. There will be difficult days ahead but there's always reason to hope. He deserves it and we aren't giving up on him.

Thank you,

Mimi & Matt and the whole team at Righteous Kitchen

___________________________________________________________

Nuestro amigo Marino recibió una noticia devastadora y necesita nuestra ayuda ahora mismo.

Marino ha trabajado fielmente junto a nosotros durante casi una década, literalmente desde la primera semana que fuimos dueños de un negocio. Entonces necesitábamos ayuda desesperadamente y alguien “conocía a una persona que podía ayudarnos”. Entra Marino. Él era el chico. Y hemos tenido la suerte de trabajar con él desde entonces.

Ha crecido con nosotros a medida que nuestra empresa crecía. Parte de nuestro negocio incluye preparar casi 800 comidas escolares/de campamento por día y, como líder, Marino es responsable de la mayor parte de ellas. ¡Es mucho! Se ha mudado de cocina con nosotros 3 veces y ha sido una constante en la evolución de nuestro negocio, en los momentos buenos y difíciles. Nos habríamos perdido sin su pericia, sus habilidades para preparar alimentos y cuchillos, su experiencia y, sobre todo, su sentido del humor, su lealtad y su amabilidad.

Si su hijo alguna vez comió uno de nuestros almuerzos en la escuela o en el campamento: Marino lo hizo a mano. Si disfrutó alguna de nuestras comidas Feed the Frontline durante la pandemia de Covid: Marino ayudó a prepararla. ¿Alguna vez te preguntaste quién arregló el cableado de los electrodomésticos para que siguieran funcionando? Marino. ¿Quién colgó la iluminación de nuestra nueva tienda? Marino. ¿Alguien necesita que le arreglen el teléfono? Marino es tu chico. ¿Necesitas que tu fiesta sea DJ? Marino es tu hombre (nombre artístico Popeye. También es DJ profesional). Marino es el epítome del hombre del Renacimiento; él es "ese" tipo y lo amamos por eso.

También desempeñó el papel de traductor, asesor y es la persona que se asegura de que nuestro personal almuerce cuando todos trabajamos tan duro que lo olvidamos. Viene a nuestra casa en Nochebuena con regalos para nuestros hijos y siempre está allí para celebrar un cumpleaños en el trabajo.

Cuando llamamos a Marino, responde al primer tono: "¿Qué necesitas?". así es como responde. Y él aparece. Cada. Soltero. Tiempo.

Pero Marino es mucho más que un experto en la cocina, un electricista capacitado o un DJ: es un amigo maravilloso y, sobre todo, un querido hermano y tío. Recientemente comenzó a sentirse bastante mal y después de pasar más de una semana en el hospital se enteró de que tiene cáncer de estómago en etapa 4. Sucedió rápido, demasiado rápido, y ahora ha comenzado un riguroso tratamiento contra el cáncer.

A pesar de este shock devastador, Marino ha logrado mantener su inquebrantable sentido del humor. Marino es un hombre muy privado. No le gusta la atención ni el alboroto de ningún tipo, y nos decía que quería que todos pensaran que estaba de vacaciones. Marino típico. Pero esto no son vacaciones y vamos a armar un escándalo.

Él y su familia tienen otras cosas de qué preocuparse y lo único que podemos ayudar es aliviar algunas de las preocupaciones financieras de nuestro amigo y colega. Pero no podemos hacerlo solos.

Si conoces a Marino, seguro que lo amas tanto como a nosotros. Si no lo conoces, tendrás que confiar en nosotros en este caso: es uno de los buenos. Por favor ayúdanos a ayudarlo en todo lo que puedas, cada donación ayuda. Si no puede contribuir económicamente, manténgalo en sus pensamientos y oraciones y se embarca en este viaje inesperado. Él también los necesita. Y no dudes en compartir esto.

Marino es, y siempre será, una de nuestras personas favoritas. Se avecinan días difíciles, pero siempre hay motivos para tener esperanza. Se lo merece y no nos rendiremos con él.

Gracias,

Mimi & Matt y todo el equipo de Righteous Kitchen