Rene Mendoza & Family

Hi, my name is Anthony.

I started this fundraiser to help support Rene Mendoza and his family who have been serving the community that I live in for the last 20 years. Rene and his wife Vicky own a deli across from the elementary school that my kids attended when they were younger. I've been a customer for as many years, and throughout that time I've come to respect Rene and his family as hard workers who not only serve the community through the business that they own, but as kind people who have truly contributed to the community by feeding us food that they carefully prepared in their store, as well as with past donations supporting local school fundraisers. To me, they are an inspiration and representative of what a hard working family and upstanding members of a community look like. Following is a small, but important part of Rene's story that motivated me to start this fundraising effort.

Rene and Vicky have been serving the community of Ridgewood for the past 20 years as owners of Wilkes Deli & Catering on South Pleasant Ave. During the month of November 2021, Rene noticed a blemish on his face. After a few days the blemish grew to an abnormal size. As a result, Rene sought out medical advice from his primary care physician. His primary care physician ordered for a biopsy to be done. Two weeks later he received the news that he had been diagnosed with Anaplastic ALK-positive large cell lymphoma. Due to the mass growing to a size of a golf ball, his physician recommended the amputation of his bottom lip. The night before the surgery Rene’s doctor informed him that the scheduled surgery was no longer an option due to the results of other tests showing that the cancer had spread beyond the initial site. Rene was then notified that he must undergo chemo-therapy and radiation-therapy treatments. The additional out-of-pocket medical expenses have been a financial stress to the family.

Please consider donating, or if you are local, stop in as often as you can to order some good food, good coffee, or Rene's "Famous" Summer Mix! What does he put in that Summer Mix?!!!