Some families face a storm. The Everett family is facing two at the same time.

Joel Everett is a 44 year-old husband, father, and beloved teacher and head football coach at Central High School in Monmouth, Oregon, where he has shaped young lives for more than 15 years. For the last year and a half, Joel has been fighting stage four colon cancer that spread to his liver with everything he has, enduring chemotherapy, navigating treatment decisions, dietary changes and pursuit of clinical trials, all while trying to be present for his family and his community. Anyone who knows Joel knows he doesn’t quit. He never has.

Then, on February 25th, their five year-old son Jack (“Jack-Jack” to everyone who loves him) developed a lump on his neck. Within days, a biopsy confirmed what no parent should ever hear: high risk neuroblastoma. Cancer.

Joel and his wife Barbie are now fighting on two fronts simultaneously; a father battling for his own life, and their little boy beginning a fight of his own.

Jack is the kind of kid who makes a room louder and brighter the moment he walks in. He is passionate, articulate, funny, and full of opinions. He’s a five year-old who will look you in the eye and tell you exactly what he thinks. He loves dinosaurs, monster trucks, football (Go Ducks!), and Bluey. He loves his big brother Landon. He loves his dad with everything he has.

That photo above? That’s Jack. In a hospital bed. Grinning. Ready for whatever comes next. He doesn’t know any other way to be.

Barbie is an elementary school teacher in Salem doing everything in her power to hold the family together. She’s  working to protect the family’s income and insurance while managing appointments, diagnoses, and the emotional weight of supporting both her husband and her son through simultaneous cancer battles. There is no roadmap for what she is navigating. She is doing it anyways, with grace.

Landon, their 8 year-old, is watching all of this unfold and showing up for his family every single day.

The financial reality is staggering. Medical costs, travel to treatment centers, lodging, copays, and the daily expenses that don’t stop just because a family is in crisis.  These costs accumulate fast and hit hard. Barbie’s income alone cannot carry what is coming. Joel has transitioned from curative treatment to management of his cancer, meaning the road ahead is long. Jack’s treatment plan is still being determined as imaging is completed, but neuroblastoma in children often requires aggressive, extended treatment protocols. Every dollar raised here goes directly to this family. It goes to keep their lights on, their car in the driveway, food on the table, and their focus where it belongs: on fighting.

Joel has spent 15 years investing his life in other people’s kids. He has coached students through hard losses and harder moments. He has shown up, year after year for his community. Now it’s our turn to show up for him. For Barbie. For Landon. For Jack-Jack. Joel and I need your help.

My brother has been fighting stage 4 liver cancer for 18 months. Last month, his 5-year-old son Jack was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. A father and his little boy are fighting cancer at the same time. I’ve set up a GoFundMe to help the family with what’s ahead.

Just sharing it means the world.