City staff rallies support for co-worker

When Les Urbanski found out he had advanced lung cancer in November, the first thing on his mind was family.

His family encouraged him to focus on the fight ahead of him, against a disease that would give him six months to live if left untreated, doctors said. 

But Urbanski, a husband and father of four, was accustomed to being the primary breadwinner, and prided himself on it.

And so he wanted to make sure his affairs were in order if the worst should come — so his family was still taken care of, to the best of his ability. He called up a friend who worked as a financial adviser. Together, they mapped out a plan as the cancer took its toll.

But he hadn’t been planning to get sick. Even with a financial road map, he was bumping into the hard realities that come with a major health setback. Weakened by the disease, he could barely talk, let alone work. He was eligible for disability benefits via Social Security, but not until June.

For six months, he had to make things work without a paycheck.

“What do I do, sell the house?” Urbanski asked, recalling the thoughts he grappled with. “What are my options?”

Urbanski’s co-workers noticed his absence at City Hall. Urbanski is a computer support specialist in the city’s information technology department, a role in which he earned recognition as employee of the year in 2011.

Kathy King, an executive assistant in the city manager’s office, was taken aback when she found out why Urbanski hadn’t been at work. King wasn’t in the same building as Urbanski when she started working, but they struck up a friendship through a carpool from Bradenton.

The carpool eventually stopped, but their connection didn’t. She knew Urbanski as a family man, met his kids when they piled into the car on Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. When she got a text from him in December telling her about his illness, she knew the challenges he was facing.

“I said, ‘I’ve got to do something,’” King said. “He’s going to be broke — I’ve got to do a fundraiser or something.”

King didn’t have much experience organizing an effort like this. But she had been to a similar event a few years earlier at Big Top Brewing Co., so she reached out to the business as a potential venue. Working with fellow city employees Michele Keeler and Karen Grassett, she helped set up a March 10 fundraiser — an opportunity to raise a glass to Les.

“I was hoping to get 50 people to come and spend $15 to get in,” King said. “I said ‘Wow, if I could raise $750, that would be really great.’”

When King asked Urbanski if he was OK with the idea, he gave the go-ahead, but he wasn’t expecting too much. He wasn’t in it for the money — he didn’t like asking for help. He saw support from friends as a valuable tool during treatment.

When he showed up to the brewery, more than 100 people were there to welcome him. Despite the circumstances that brought everyone together, it was a joyful atmosphere.

“It was just people who were so glad to see him because they hadn’t seen him in months, and really wishing him well and hugging him,” King said. “It was really heartwarming — it was like a family.”

When the night was over, the event had raised $4,282 for Urbanski. Since then, city employees chipped in another $150. As he goes through chemotherapy — he concluded a battery of treatment this week — the extra cash provided valuable peace of mind.

“I can sleep at night, stress-wise,” Urbanski said.

More significant, Urbanski said, was the knowledge that people cared about him. He draws strength from the people who showed up to the event at Big Top, from his church, from strangers donating to an online fundraiser for his medical expenses.

“It gives you a boost,” Urbanski said. “It’s like you’re drinking a Red Bull. It gives you the desire to keep fighting.”

Urbanski has kept a positive attitude. He’s found resonance in a poem “The Dash,” which tells people to value the time they have while they’re still living. The poem is named after the dash in between someone’s date of birth and date of death.

He wants to extend his dash. His oldest child is getting married later this year. He wants to be around for that, and for much more with the people he values most. He thinks the medicine can only go so far — and that his outlook is something that will help him get through a trying time.

“I have the desire to live,” Urbanski said. “I have so many goals. That’s what helps keep me going. And what I’ve learned so far is your family is really most important.”