HometownProud Supports our Soldiers

EVERY 65 MINUTES AN AMERICAN MILITARY VETERAN COMMITS SUICIDE....and guess what?  That is only data reported from 21 states.  Does this break YOUR heart as much as it does mine?  Just think of the collateral damage - the lives of the loved ones left behind who felt helpless to do anything about it.

In early July, our tiny town of Dillsburg, PA was shaken to its core when one of our town's veterans calmly walked into a restaurant full of patrons and shot and killed his former girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.  Fifty horrified diners and staff witnessed this carnage and the restaurant had to close its doors for several weeks while counseling was made available to those affected.  Tragically, the woman's daughter was now left behind to live her life without her mom.  More collateral damage.

On October 6, 2015, it will be three years since my mother moved into her heavenly mansion. She was the sweetest and most generous person I have ever met.

Before she passed, I made her a promise. I promised that I would create something that nobody else had...and I would use this creation to benefit humanity in some way.

Little did I know that a personal project that I began while she was still living would "morph" into the creation that I had promised.

Three years ago I built a website called Keystone Athlete Tracker. It was originally intended to track the college baseball careers of young men that I had coached through the years. However, I was encouraged by friends and mentors to expand the site to include more student athletes from the state of Pennsylvania, and as my project progressed, Eventually I changed the name of the site to HometownProud and it can be found at HometownProud dot org.

I became keenly aware that the site was missing an important component.  As I sent my son off to college knowing that I would see him at holidays and at his baseball games, many of my friends were faced with the reality of watching their sons and daughters enter into military service for our country. Ultimately, many of them have ended up being deployed to areas that are full of danger, loneliness and uncertainty.

I have been searching and searching for an organization that I could support through my website. I FINALLY found another one-of-a-kind organization - one that specializes in matching veterans who are suffering with PTSD with other veterans who can serve as mentors and just someone to talk to. The group is called Veterans Cause and can be found at Veterans Cause dot com. 

Would you help me fulfill my promise to my mom? Would you consider donating to this GoFundMe campaign so that I can channel the resources to Veterans Cause and at least for the next several months, also to the dear little girl that was left behind?  We cannot allow this collateral damage to go unnoticed.  NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL and you can even choose to be an anonymous donor.  Thank you so much for your consideration.

I will continue to search for corporate advertising dollars for my site that will also go to the project and in addition, I will make a pledge to eventually sell a baseball and football card collection that now sits at about 200,000 cards.  Let's make my mom super proud!

Thanks so much for considering this effort.

Kerry Miller
In Honor of Mary Jane Miller