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Support VFW Post 9857: Help Veterans in Need

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We are the combat veterans of Paul S. Lawrence Memorial VFW Post 9857. We have veterans of every war from Vietnam through Iraq and Afghanistan. This year we completed our 75th year as a VFW Post. To enable us to continue our mission we are launching a "$75K for 75YRS" campaign to raise $75,000 in the coming year. This money is needed to update our facilities and equipment.

Our mission is simple, to help veterans in need as well as others in the community. We assist ANY veteran in need. We provide home-cooked meals to resident veterans in the VA hospital, assist with obtaining veterans benefits, legal assistance, and other support our veterans need. We maintain a supply of wheelchairs, hospital beds, and other equipment to loan to veterans so they don't have to buy or pay to rent what they need. We are open 365 days a year so that veterans always have a place to go where they are understood, and so that none need be alone on the holidays (when depression and suicide is higher). Every Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Easter and Memorial Day we provide free, home-cooked food to ANY veteran and his or her immediate household. We partner with Treats4TheStreets to help feed the local homeless and those facing food insecurity. We donate on average more than $5,000 every month to various charities. And we do this all on a volunteer basis - we are not paid.

We make our Hall available for memorial services following veterans' funerals. And we provide an Honor Guard to present Military Honors at veterans funerals. By federal law, every veteran is entitled to Military Honors at his or her funeral. But the military branches lack sufficient personnel to provide them for all, and when they can the administrative hurdles and time delays prevent many from receiving them. We fill that gap.

"We support the troops" became a popular refrain during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. When our troops are deployed they appreciate the sentiment, but that's not when they really need the public's support. The United States has the best trained, best equipped, and best battlefield medicine of any military in history. When they need your support is when they come home!

You may have seen this summer, aged veterans in their late 90s walking the cemeteries in Normandy. You may have seen some overcome by emotion with the memories of combat and fallen comrades, even 80 years after the invasion. This is just one example of why veterans organizations, such as the VFW, will remain needed far in to the future. PLEASE, help us continue our mission of supporting our veterans. In WWII, 11.2% of the entire U.S. population serviced in the military. During Vietnam that percentage fell to 4.4%. In the last 30 years it has been less than 1%. There are fewer of us to do the work necessary. That will not deter us, but we would be grateful for any help you can provide.

My name is Rodger Eckelberry, and I have the privilege and responsibility of being the Commander of VFW Post 9857. I never ask of anyone anything I an unwilling to do myself. So I will make the first donation of $5,000. UPDATE - After donating $5,000, gofundme informed me that I cannot donate to my own fundraiser (even though it's set up for the organization and not me). So I've made my $5,000 donation directly to the Post.

Anything you can donate will be greatly appreciated, and I promise you will assist veterans in need. And as a 501(c)(19), your donation is 100% tax deductible. They fulfilled their mission and endured hardships most cannot fathom for all of us. Please, do not forget them now simply because the wars have ended and are no longer on the nightly news.
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    Organizer

    Rodger Eckelberry
    Organizer
    Columbus, OH

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