The Jay Fortier Fund

   As some of you may know, our Dad, Coach Jay, was diagnosed with throat and mouth cancer almost one year ago. So far, he has gone through quite invasive surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment.    After a period of time hoping for remission, the cancer has returned and is more aggressive than we had imagined. Coach is now faced with a more difficult road than ever.    As a Teacher and a Coach his most important tool, of ...course, is his "gym voice" which he is in danger of losing.  This possibility of losing is voice and possibly the ability to swallow, has been very devastating to think about.    Because of the chemotherapy schedule, Jay was unable finish out the year at Mount Tom Academy and was forced to skip the summer at his beloved Camp Greylock.    We now find ourselves at crossroads. We have essentially burned through any savings that we had and now we enter a period of unknown. There is nothing more Jay would like to do than return to teaching in September and be back on the courts by winter, however the intense schedule of chemothearopy that is about to begin may make that impossible.   If he cannot return to work the financial burden will become tremendous. We know people face these crises every day and we are simply and humbly asking if there is any way you could help.