A personal message from Dr. Helmut Forren, state chair of the
Georgia LP
Dear Friends:
Ron Crickenberger has been diagnosed with a very painful form of
cancer in his bones. More specifically, he has melanoma, normally
thought of as skin cancer, in two lymph glands and in his bones.
(melanoma info: http://www.melanoma.com/melanoma/index.jsp)
Up until the mid 90's, Ron was a local Georgia activist within the
Libertarian Party. He did such a good job that the National
Libertarian Party hired him to be their Political Director. Since that
time, Ron has been both National Political Director and National
Executive Director.
This past July, Ron lost his job at LP National during the final
wave of cost-cutting efforts. Recognizing Ron's superior ability and
dedication, and in need of a new Executive Director ourselves, the
Libertarian Party of Georgia has been in the process of raising funds
to hire Ron -- a job that Ron has already tentatively accepted.
But then suddenly Ron fell ill. He won't be able to move back to
Georgia. He'll need to stay in Virginia. Having lost his job with the
national party, he also lost his health insurance. Fortunately, he was
able to get COBRA health insurance coverage prior to being diagnosed.
It's expensive, but at least he has coverage. But COBRA will only last
another year or so, after which Ron isn't sure how much his health
insurance will cost, if he can still get insurance at all.
(COBRA info: http://www.cobrahealth.com/thelaw.htm
Ron can't work due to the severe pain he's suffering, so his partner
Noelle has been stuck with paying the excessive financial costs -- not
to mention the emotional costs over the condition of the man she
deeply loves. There are complications that prevent her from simply
adding him as spouse to her own health insurance coverage. Their
future is clouded with uncertainty.
For now, all we can do is hope and pray for Ron and Noelle. Well,
that's almost all. We can also help them pay the premiums in order to
ensure that Ron always has the best medical care possible. The
Libertarian Party of Georgia is helping by administrating the Ron
Crickenberger Medical Fund at http://www.lpgeorgia.com/ron . You can
use this link to contribute by either check or credit card. We all
thank you for your support.