First Fund Raising Effort for May trip...

This past weekend we began our fundraising efforts for the May trip. The committee worked Friday from 4-8 p.m. and on Saturday from 11-4. During that time, we passed out approximately 1,500 pamphlets describing the upcoming trip. The flyer outlined eligibility for the WWII and Korean War Vets, the trip itself, and the need for donations to pay to get these men and women there.

The Kroger people were very supportive, providing an indoor space for us, a table, and lots of support from the employees. The photo department of the store took pictures of us and sent them into their corporate office to show them our efforts.

We don't have a count on the money yet, but I think we were in the neighborhood of $1,000 being raised for the weekend. We still have a long way to go, but we are started and had a good response from the people of Sidney who shopped at Krogers that weekend. Times are hard for a lot of people, especially in this county. But as we were passing out the pamphlets, some people would stop and talk to us about the trip, some said their parents went on one of the earlier ones and had such a great time. I remember one guy who took one of the pamphlets, never made eye contact and kept on walking out the door. But I saw him looking at the pamphlet and about five minutes later he came walking back in and put some money in the donation box and talked with one of our guys for a couple of minutes. Those are the kinds of people we met this weekend, and we really appreciate them.


Our pledge to them is that as long as they support these efforts and as long as we don't run out of Vets, we'll keep doing this. We are just about out of WWII Vets. We've taken over 90 so far on these trips. So now we're taking Korean War guys and gals and will eventually make it to Viet Nam Veterans. We'll get there with the help of people like that guy, and the three kids who came up and put a whole handful of change in the box, and the lady who took a donor card when we told her about that aspect of the plan and plans to send in a sponsorship donation.

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. (William Penn)

Hooah