Community Support for Alex & Marta
Donation protected
Dearest Friends and Family of Marta and Alex,
As you already know, Marta and Alex are two of the most wonderful, funny, caring, generous, and inspiring people you'll ever meet.
They've been a perfect match for each other from the start. They met working at Market Organics six years ago and fell in love after some adorable old-school flirtations at the store.
Just a couple of years later they were engaged, living in a cozy apartment, and working their butts off to open Railbender Studio in Hintonburg in 2014.
Their next challenge — Alex's stage 4 cancer diagnosis — took them by surprise in June of 2015 but these two lovebirds took it on with as much optimism and determination as everything else they do in life.
But despite Alex and Marta's most dedicated efforts to survive the disease, Alex's cancer has continued to spread very aggressively and he has now entered palliative home care. He is surrounded by his loving family every day, and he has an incredible team of medical care professionals to support them through his end-of-life journey.
Marta and Alex did not ask us to fundraise on their behalf and they're already very grateful for the support they've received over the years through your donations of money, services, food, gifts, time, and love. So many of you in their family, their circle of friends, and their community, have supported them more than they could ever have expected. Thank you so much!
They have also done everything they can to support themselves financially over the past few years. Marta continued to work as often (and for as long) as she could at Wheelhouse Cycle, and she has also applied for the EI Caregiver Benefit. Alex has been receiving the CPP Disability Benefit for a couple of years now as well.
Despite all of the donations, the CPP and EI benefits, OHIP coverage, and Marta's income; the reality is that they've been hit quite hard financially. At the time of Alex's diagnosis, they had just invested all of their savings to open Railbender, and they had cancelled Alex's insurance to cut back on their expenses.
Keeping a new business running, paying rent, buying the best foods, missing work for appointments, chemotherapy, surgeries, and clinical trials; and trying to fit a lifetime of memories into a few short years has taken it's toll.
This is a special time when we can all pitch in to make a difference in the lives of two people we care so much about. We can give Marta and Alex the gift of not having to worry about money during this important and emotional time.
Your donation will help to cover expenses like rent, food, gas, medical expenses, and end of life planning; and will also help reduce the debt that has crept up on them while they've been focussed on beating cancer.
Our first goal was to raise $10,000 for them, which would have put a significant dent in their expenses and debt. Thanks to your generosity, we reached that goal in less than 24 hours!
Our second goal was to raise $15,000 and we reached it just a few hours later!
After speaking with Marta, we realized that we are very close to being able to cover ALL of their expenses and debt (not just putting a dent in them), so our third and final goal is to raise $30,000.
We know it would give Alex peace of mind to know that Marta is being taken care of after he is gone. Thank you once again for your generosity, we could never have helped our friends without love and support from each and every one of you.
Please share this link by email or Facebook with anyone you think will want to (or be able to) help Marta and Alex:
https://www.gofundme.com/weloveyoualexandmarta
Thank you so much!
Danielle
---
PS if you'd like to send Alex messages of love, please feel free to post on his Facebook wall (but please don't tag Marta in your posts).
She will be able to see who has donated on this fundraiser page, but it can be difficult to watch people actively fundraise for you every time you open Facebook :)
There's also a way to hide Facebook posts from her feed if you want to be extra sensitive:
When you write your post, there is a "friends" button in the bottom right corner of the text box. If you click it, there is an option to post to all of your "friends except." If you choose this option, you can remove Marta from the list of people who will see the post.
Thank you again!
As you already know, Marta and Alex are two of the most wonderful, funny, caring, generous, and inspiring people you'll ever meet.
They've been a perfect match for each other from the start. They met working at Market Organics six years ago and fell in love after some adorable old-school flirtations at the store.
Just a couple of years later they were engaged, living in a cozy apartment, and working their butts off to open Railbender Studio in Hintonburg in 2014.
Their next challenge — Alex's stage 4 cancer diagnosis — took them by surprise in June of 2015 but these two lovebirds took it on with as much optimism and determination as everything else they do in life.
But despite Alex and Marta's most dedicated efforts to survive the disease, Alex's cancer has continued to spread very aggressively and he has now entered palliative home care. He is surrounded by his loving family every day, and he has an incredible team of medical care professionals to support them through his end-of-life journey.
Marta and Alex did not ask us to fundraise on their behalf and they're already very grateful for the support they've received over the years through your donations of money, services, food, gifts, time, and love. So many of you in their family, their circle of friends, and their community, have supported them more than they could ever have expected. Thank you so much!
They have also done everything they can to support themselves financially over the past few years. Marta continued to work as often (and for as long) as she could at Wheelhouse Cycle, and she has also applied for the EI Caregiver Benefit. Alex has been receiving the CPP Disability Benefit for a couple of years now as well.
Despite all of the donations, the CPP and EI benefits, OHIP coverage, and Marta's income; the reality is that they've been hit quite hard financially. At the time of Alex's diagnosis, they had just invested all of their savings to open Railbender, and they had cancelled Alex's insurance to cut back on their expenses.
Keeping a new business running, paying rent, buying the best foods, missing work for appointments, chemotherapy, surgeries, and clinical trials; and trying to fit a lifetime of memories into a few short years has taken it's toll.
This is a special time when we can all pitch in to make a difference in the lives of two people we care so much about. We can give Marta and Alex the gift of not having to worry about money during this important and emotional time.
Your donation will help to cover expenses like rent, food, gas, medical expenses, and end of life planning; and will also help reduce the debt that has crept up on them while they've been focussed on beating cancer.
Our first goal was to raise $10,000 for them, which would have put a significant dent in their expenses and debt. Thanks to your generosity, we reached that goal in less than 24 hours!
Our second goal was to raise $15,000 and we reached it just a few hours later!
After speaking with Marta, we realized that we are very close to being able to cover ALL of their expenses and debt (not just putting a dent in them), so our third and final goal is to raise $30,000.
We know it would give Alex peace of mind to know that Marta is being taken care of after he is gone. Thank you once again for your generosity, we could never have helped our friends without love and support from each and every one of you.
Please share this link by email or Facebook with anyone you think will want to (or be able to) help Marta and Alex:
https://www.gofundme.com/weloveyoualexandmarta
Thank you so much!
Danielle
---
PS if you'd like to send Alex messages of love, please feel free to post on his Facebook wall (but please don't tag Marta in your posts).
She will be able to see who has donated on this fundraiser page, but it can be difficult to watch people actively fundraise for you every time you open Facebook :)
There's also a way to hide Facebook posts from her feed if you want to be extra sensitive:
When you write your post, there is a "friends" button in the bottom right corner of the text box. If you click it, there is an option to post to all of your "friends except." If you choose this option, you can remove Marta from the list of people who will see the post.
Thank you again!
Organizer and beneficiary
Danielle Chabassol
Organizer
Ottawa, ON
Marta Jarzabek
Beneficiary
