Help Me Save My Poppa Bear

Loving father, faithful husband, and all around inspiring man Jonathan Luckey, my Poppa Bear, received a grim diagnosis of lung cancer on February 21, 2019. He has never been a smoker, and this is not only the second time in his life facing cancer, but also a different type than the first time around, which he courageously faced and beat in 2003, almost 16 years ago. My dad means the world to me. Learning about the cruel nature of his diagnosis, being stage 3A adenocarcinoma, is heart-wrenching.

There's plenty more to the story and the circumstances driving this campaign, but to boil it down to the bare essentials, I have started this GoFundMe page in the hopes of making some sort of impact on the continually climbing medical expenses that accompany my dad's cancer diagnosis.

I personally will be contributing to this fund with every paycheck, but the harsh reality is that I'm only one person, a 20 year old working one full time and one part-time job to pay bills, and the cost of medical care is daunting. Through this project I am reaching out to YOU. I'm embracing vulnerability, by honestly asking for whatever degree of help you may be able to offer.

I know most of us don't have much to spare, after paying bills and seeing to our daily necessities, so I'm not asking for much. Twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars... Even one single dollar helps, as it all adds up quickly if enough people chip in. Any amount of support is appreciated more than you know.

My Poppa Bear has been the primary provider of income in our house, creating and maintaining a stable financial structure for my Momma Bear and myself, so that we could live comfortably over the years. I've since moved away from our family home in Pueblo, Colorado, but I continue to idolize his dedication to family, consistent work ethic, and unflinching integrity. These are lessons I've learned through exposure to him, that I do my best to implement in my own life every single day.

Between traveling across the country as a Journeyman Wireman in the IBEW (where he started in 2008), participating as an officer in his home local 113, and being one of the founders of the Colorado Springs chapter of the Electrical Worker's Minority Caucus (EWMC), not to mention all of the various events of activism he has been a part of, my dad has touched many lives across the country and been an inspiration to many. He's an active, upstanding member of the community, no matter where he may be staying, and it's my hope that in that same spirit the communities he's touched will reciprocate the participation.

With this diagnosis, and the beginnings of his treatments, however, it just isn't possible for my Poppa Bear to continue working. That being said, looking closely at the harsh logistics of insurance time left, short term disability, and eventually, long term disability, and the standing expenses for daily life including bills, housing, food, utilities, transportation, communications, etc. Unfortunately, even without the outstanding financial commitment of the treatments themselves, the disability funding he qualifies for is simply not realistic for meeting the necessary costs of living. The bottom line is that cancer is not only physically debilitating, but also financially crippling.

Besides the financial security my Poppa has provided, he is also a pillar of emotional support for the family, striking a rare balance between strength, lightheartedness, and sensitivity. At all times, he embodies every aspect of being “a good man” that I aspire to grow into.

I'd be lost without him. My Momma Bear would be lost without him.

I cannot stress enough the importance of everything realistically possible to help his journey through medical recovery, in order to come out the other end of the taxing processes of both chemotherapy and radiation, followed by immunotherapy, just as strong if not stronger than before this chapter began!

Anything possible helps, and it DOES add up.

So, I'll leave you with this, one last line asking you;

PLEASE, please, help me give back to my amazing Poppa Bear, so he can continue to do what he does best and give back to everyone around him.

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