Dear Family, Friends, and Community,

We are close friends of the Bell family and we’re reaching out because Al Bell was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor at the end of May. Since that time, he and his family have been traveling to Boise, Idaho every-other-week for one-week chemotherapy treatments at St. Alphonsus Cancer Center, and also to Baker City for another kind of chemotherapy. Jennifer and the “kids” have been Al’s steadfast support and have stayed by his side. Their family is close and strong, and they are working hard to get Al better, but it has been a profound strain and financial hardship—travel, lodging, meals, and other incidentals—and an exhausting time.

As too many of us know, when something like this happens, it means forgoing income and digging deep into savings. For that reason, we are asking the Bells’ communities to come together and help them. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to help with transportation, lodging, and meals for the nine months they expect to be travelling back and forth to Boise and Baker City for the various treatments. Raising this money should help allay some of the financial concerns and allow the family to focus on getting Al better and reducing some of the many anxieties associated with this illness.

A bit about Al: Our group sat together at the Bookloft last week thinking about ways to capture Al's essence. We talked about his devotedness to his family, his larger-than-life and love-filled personality (just look at that smile). We marveled that he is self-taught in so many different arts and disciplines. We discussed his role in helping to build a robust and vigorous music scene in Wallowa County and that on his own, he's written two novels with another one in-the-works. There were so many wonderful traits being bandied about the table and then, Chris Geyer kind of paused, tilted his head, looked up, and said to the group: "renaissance man." He said "Al Bell is the quintessential renaissance man." That was it. That's Al. A truer renaissance man there never was, and we want to help him.

Please help to support Al and his family in this challenging and stressful time. Your donations, large or modest, will do much to ease the burden on this wonderful family.

In gratitude for your support,

Al’s Team

P.S. If you prefer to donate through Community Bank in Eastern Oregon or Eastern Washington, you can deliver checks or cash written or directed to "Al Bell GoFundMe" at one of their locations. You can also mail checks to:

Community Bank

P.O. Box 817

Joseph, Oregon 97844

Thank you!