Three benefits set for Harvey Morsette

Harvey "Mush" Morsette, 38, and his family are holding several fundraisers thoughout the next month raising money to pay for a kidney transplant he will have in Seattle.

After battling kidney disease all his life, he said, he has stage four kidney failure and requires a transplant. He said his sister, Pearl Morsette, has just finished having the testing that proves she is a match for the transplant and now he and his family are waiting for the call to schedule the operation.

"My sister Pearl Morsette has demonstrated a very selfless and truly compassionate act of love by volunteering her kidney to me," he said in a Facebook post.

Harvey Morsette said he was raised in both Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and Havre.

He has been fighting kidney failure his entire life, he said, and it has worsened in recent years until he could no longer work.

Morsette has made his living and supported his family by fighting fires for the past 20 years in addition to working various other jobs, such as in law enforcement and at Northern Montana Hospital.

Two years ago, his doctor denied to sign off on approval of him continuing working, he said. Morsette added that since then the office of Social Security has denied his receiving disability benefits. Unable to receive disability, he has relied on odd jobs and the support of his family and tribe.

"It kind of sucked, to tell you the truth. I wasn't even supposed to be working, but I've got to support my family somehow," he said.

Morsette is married to Lanea Selage Morsette, 34, and has two children, a son and a daughter, Jordan Bauer, 17, and Kathren, 15. He added that his wife is also pregnant with his second daughter. Her due date is June 22.

October of last year, he was unable to work any longer, he said, having to go through kidney dialysis three days a week in Great Falls. He said his wife and daughter spend their time taking care of him. Dialysis takes a lot of energy out of him, he said, and afterward he often feels very weak.

"It drains you," Morsette said. "... But my daughter and my wife, they help me out a lot."

He said before his kidney failure became severe, he enjoyed riding horses, traveling, hunting and fishing with his family.

"I'm an outdoor guy," he said.

Morsette said he and his sister are very close and his whole family is supportive and closely knit.

He added that the transplant he will be receiving will have to be in Seattle, and his family will travel with him during that time.

"It was a bitter-sweet realization to hear such great news all the while knowing how much it will cost to travel to Seattle and stay up to three months," he said in his Facebook post.

Morsette will be having a fundraiser today as well as one Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Havre Eagles Club and a Pizza Hutt fundraiser Feb. 28.

The fundraiser today will be a stew and fry bread event at Stone Child College from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stew and fry bread will be $6.

The Havre Eagles Club event Feb. 16 will include a silent auction as well as Indian tacos for sale for $5. He said his wife and his grandmother Elaine Healy-Berger will be making the tacos. He added that they are still looking for donations for the silent auction.

For more information on the event or to make a donation to the silent auction people can call Healy-Berger at 301-1907.

Feb. 28, when people making a purchase for dine-in or carry-out food at Pizza Hut and say they are donating to Morsette, 20 percent of the purchase price will go to his Independence Bank account.

All donations will go toward the medical expenses for Morsette.

Morsette said people can also go to Independence Bank and make their donations directly to his account and can make a donation through his Facebook page.

After the transplant, he said, and the doctor clears him he is hoping to be able to get back to working.

He said he wants to thank everybody who has been helping out - all the businesses that have agreed to do the fundraisers and his family, who have been helping and supporting him.

"I'd just like to thank everyone who has helped thus far and a future thank-you to all the people that will find it in their hearts to contribute to my fundraiser," he said on Facebook. "Thank you for your time and consideration may God bless you and yours."

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Morsette's Facebook Donation page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/donate/1719678558178342/2112385885507286/.