SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Oliver Starr, better known to Tahoe residents as “The Wolf Guy”, started a GoFundMe for his recent diagnosis of head and neck cancer. His GoFundMe is nearly at 90% of the way funded, helping with stability through the “unglamorous realities of treatment.”

The GoFundMe was created a little under a week ago. A few months ago, Starr found a lump in his neck that was biopsied and discovered to be head and neck cancer. The funds will go towards medical and dental bills tied to treatment, trips to the cancer center and specialists, food costs for a limited diet, heating costs when he cannot do woodwork and extra help for days that he cannot provide for his family.

Starr also specified that the fundraiser is specifically for the medical costs and not for the Tahoe Wolf Center that he is well-known for. Donations given will not pass through the Tahoe Wolf Center and are not tax deductible. Starr also said that people who wished to donate to the Tahoe Wolf Center nonprofit could do so at the specific donation page.

According to his latest updates, the medical team at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have identified that the cancer likely has not spread. However, Starr will need a surgery to identify the primary site of the cancer and the lymph nodes involved.

“Your donations, messages, shares, and quiet check-ins have carried me and my family in a way I didn’t expect, and I won’t forget it,” said Starr in his update. “From me, my family, and the wolves: thank you for standing with us.”

You can find Starr’s fundraiser here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-oliver-the-wolf-guy-in-cancer-battle.

The donation page for the Tahoe Wolf Center is here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=MVZRQEL5F9GHC

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.