Mountains For Blake...

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of DJD Fight On sponsors and volunteers, we are able to help a new family! DJD Fight On Foundation feels truly honored and blessed to help Deanna and Blake as Blake is battling leukemia.Please read this article about Blake!

About Blake Laurelli – The First One Year Recipient.
He is the classic American story of the times, struggling through the financial crises, a small business owner working in carpentry and Christmas decorating, he almost lost it all. He had smaller jobs, but not the bigger jobs that normally carry his business. There is no savings; there are no assets to sell as it is all tied up in bankruptcy. Jobs are on hold because one has to be complete so there is money to finish the rest and he is relying on others to get them done.

The house is in a state of disrepair because there were no funds last year to fix it, at this point the outside walls in some areas are so bad you can poke your finger though the wood. The carpet was to be replaced after Ophelia and Storm, his dogs, both destroyed it while they were sick in their last days.

Last year was tough, the house and truck have liens, he had no choice but to start bankruptcy proceedings…but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Before his diagnosis his business was picking up and calls were coming in from referrals. It looked as if this was to be his best summer in five years.

He started making plans to fix the house, the wood on the exterior was rotting and it needed to be sided. He priced health insurance and was finally going to be able to afford to purchase it; he even began making plans for a vacation in Maine with his girlfriend Deanna. He always plans his vacations around mountains. Excitedly he discussed their five year plan, to go on his dream trip across the country and up the coast to Alaska. He wants to rent an RV and travel across the country and then up the coast to Alaska. He saves all his change as part of the Alaska saving fund, every time he is out and he gets changes he shakes it and says....”that’s the sound of Alaska”.

Things were changing and the future looked brighter.

But he was always tired…he thought it was because he was working so hard and was so stressed about his circumstance. He started to feel sicker; finally after a week and a half of feeling bad he went to the E.R.

The doctor came in the room and with one small sentence changed his life, “Leukemia is on the table.”

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, normally a childhood or elderly disease, was confirmed days later. There were complications, clots in his leg, some of which had already traveled to both lungs. He was admitted, spent 9 days in I.C.U. the first few were touch and go but he pulled through and spent nine more days in oncology.









He was sent home to deal with the turmoil leukemia created in his life. His treatment will involve six months of chemotherapy, once every three weeks with every other treatment inpatient for 5-6 days and then a bone marrow transplant.

That means no work for well over a year, no health insurance and an enormity of bills, healthcare expense and living expense.

That is where his girlfriend, family and friends stepped in, even his 10 month old golden retriever puppy Pippin too! She missed him so much when he was in the hospital she cried for five minutes when he came home.

Who is Blake? He's never met a mountain he didn't love and would spend every day outside in the woods hiking, kayaking and around campfires as long as he had access to eagles and Phillies games.

He is a devoted Philadelphia sports fan, loves the Eagles and the Phillies and watches all the games. He was really disappointment when he understood leukemia would keep him from the games this year. While in the hospital the digital conversion went through and he was so upset, the one thing getting him through the days and making it bearable was the Phillies games, the nurses on the oncology floor who love his positive attitude brought him a radio so he could listen to the games.

He would love to live on a farm, and would raise pumpkins and Christmas trees and chickens. He has tried to convince his girlfriend he needs a tractor…now...but she isn’t sure Beesleys Point is ready for some crazy guy in an Eagle’s jersey driving around town on a John Deer tractor.

“Blake is one of those people who always wants to do right by others, his work is meticulous, his play is about enjoying the outdoors , the mountains, the woods and water. He struggled but was building back up and preparing for a bright future and now we want to give that to him.”

“When we discussed the possibilities of what this disease can do, he told me he was going to beat it. I asked him to create some goals to work towards, a personal goal and a goal bigger then himself. His personal goal is to climb Mt. Katahdin in Maine, particularly the knife edge. His bigger goal, is to take what we’ve created for him “Mountains for Blake” and turn it into a fundraising organization for helping others once he has won his fight with Leukemia” says his girlfriend Deanna. “We are going to only look at the positives, and take each day as it comes.”

He needs help…in so many ways. The expense of a disease like this is astronomical, but also he now has no income to pay daily living expenses.

Obviously, he needs a great deal of help, which is REALLY hard for him to handle. He puts on a brave front and acts as normal as possible, but he is struggling in many ways. Having to rely on so many people to get through this is really hard for him, and yet he knows he has no choice. He is in a tough place emotionally and he struggles to remain as much like his old self as possible.

Our goal as his support system, to raise enough funds for one year of living expense, get the house repaired so it is able to make it through the winter and give him time to fight this disease without the stress of worrying about where the money will come from to pay the next bill, so get the medication he needs.

Our goals is to help him win this battle so he can climb Mt Katahdin, travel to Alaska AND carry on his legacy by making Mountains For Blake a dynamic fundraising organization for people just like him.