Kurt Kolenda

Kurt Kolenda was seriously injured in a fall from his tree stand while hunting on November 16, 2020. While he regained feeling in his legs and is now able to walk, the surgical repair of five fractured vertebrae will require extensive physical therapy to restore his body to full function. The extent of long-term bowel function from severed nerves is still in question.

Kurt retired from the Grand Rapids Fire Department in 2019 to pursue his dream of owning his own concrete business. Business was thriving! Then came COVID,  and he was forced to wait out the shutdown of his industry as he watched his savings he’d worked so hard to build dwindle. Always a fighter, when things opened up, he “poured” himself back into his work, filling his calendar and booking jobs into the winter. Business was booming again! Then came the accident.

Kurt has health insurance but no disability insurance. He had begun to rebuild his savings; however, co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, trips to the doctor and projects will quickly eat away at that nest egg. As the sole bread winner for his family, his disability will leave them without an income for the duration of his recovery—currently projected at 18-months. Normally focused on raising their four daughters under age seven, his wife Elizabeth is now tasked with being a caregiver to Kurt as well.

Your donation to Kurt and his family will soften the blow to the savings he’s worked so hard to build. It will help take the financial strain out of paying medical bills that will quickly pile up. And it will help reduce the stress of watching their nest egg dwindle, allowing them to focus on their family and Kurt’s recovery.

Kurt would never ask for help, but he’d be first in line to give it. Here’s our chance to pay back (or pay forward) everything our brother and friend has done for us.