Giving Back: Community helps man with cancer costs

The recession has taken its toll on people in many ways.

Some lost their businesses. Others their homes.

For Neil Navratil, losing his health insurance has cost him dearly. Navratil, 59, had to let his health insurance policy expire five years ago. “It was either make an insurance payment or a house payment,” Navratil said. “Something had to go.”

Now the cancer in Navratil that had once been in remission is back and has metastatized, meaning it's not curable, only treatable. The costs have mounted for Navratil, who owns Great Northern Foods in downtown Bigfork. The restaurant and catering company are Navratil’s business and his passion. A benefit fund-raiser will be May 18 at BruMar Estate in Bigfork to help raise money for  Navratil’s medical costs. “There’s nothing associated with cancer that’s cheap,” he said. “Everything has just been stacking up.” Tickets to the event are $10 and are available in Bigfork at Great Northern Foods, Nancy O Interiors, Flathead Bank, Donna Shanahan Interiors, and at the Blessed Pope John Paul II church office. The event is 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Children under five are admitted free.

The event includes a spaghetti dinner, raffle and an auction of items donated by local merchants. BruMar Estate is at 29048 Broken Leg Road, six miles south of Bigfork on Montana 83.

The cancer spread so quickly that it indicates it could be an aggressive form of cancer. Navratil gets two shots in the abdomen that he said “Make me feel like I’ve been kicked by a horse.”

Navratil is known in Bigfork as a caring, kind soul, and feels a bit uncomfortable letting the community that he feeds and gives so much to, give back to him.

“I feel very fortunate that I have so many close friends,” Navratil said. The fund-raiser will have an auction of donated items, including artwork and a five-night stay at Flathead Lake Lodge.

Navratil’s church family at Blessed John Paul II Catholic church got the ball rolling on the fund-raiser. He was reluctant at first to agree to a fund-raiser, but he’s let go of that notion and is rolling with the flow. “I feel very humbled by it,” he said.

For more information contact Reggie Norrish at 837-4846.