The New York Irish community is rallying to support one of its leaders, former Irish Business Organization president Sean McNeill, as he battles cancer in the hospital.
A native of County Roscommon, McNeill is well-known in New York’s Irish community. A longtime member of the Irish Business Organization of New York, he served on the IBO board, was a three-year IBO president and is a member of the IBO advisory board.
He is currently in the hospital suffering from an aggressive and debilitating form of gall bladder cancer and faces an uncertain prognosis, and McNeill's friends and members of the wider community have established a GoFundMe to help.
As the page explains, "An entrepreneur, Sean ran his own real estate business and two online shopping start-ups, but now that he is incapacitated, his income has dried up as his bills are piling up--from his monthly rent to the staggering medical fees not covered by health insurance."
McNeill is someone who has always given back - taking part in Concern fundraising runs, Solace House Sunrise Walks, the Irish “Meitheal” to aid in the recovery of the post-Hurricane Sandy Rockaways, Irish County Association events, and other many fundraising events in the community.
Now, it is he who is in need of support.
"While we can’t provide the medical know-how to help Sean’s cause, we can provide a key part of the financial support he needs to pay for his costly treatments and to give Sean some peace of mind in the face of such financial stress," the GoFundMe page states. "Sean had been reluctant to be a burden on anyone, but now, faced with so many challenges, he welcomes our help."
His friends have established a fundraising goal of $50,000 and, at the time of publication, are past the halfway mark at $33,257.
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