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Veteran Greg Vanarsdel Home Fund

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I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!!! This is not a chain letter or a funny joke; this is the most serious situation I have ever dealt with in my entire life.
Veterans day is 11/11/2015, and my dad Greg Vanarsdel, is a Veteran and he desperately needs your help. He may get really mad at me for posting this, and I hope more than anything it does not embarrass him, or hurt his feelings, or make him upset with me. If you know my dad, you know, he is an amazing man. He is the kindest man, he will stop and help anyone, doesn’t matter to him if he knows you or not, by the time he changes your tire or helps you fix what is broken you will be his friend… , he would give away his last dollar to anyone who needed it.
We bought our families dream home in 2012, I was a sophomore in high school, my brother Garrett was in 7th grade and my baby brother Bryley Gunner was just in 3rd, I think. My Dad who had served 2 years in Iraq, had been home for almost 8 years, he was working making a great life for us. We lived in the “American dream” big house on a lake…. No one handed that to my dad, he worked very hard and made a great life for us, until he got sick.
In Feb 2013 we found out my Dad, had a brain tumor. It was caused from being in a combat zone, it had been there since he was in Iraq and it was just growing and growing. It was basically from the blast of being hit by mortars, multiple times, which is some type of rocket/bomb, so this really means he brain was shaken and shaken so bad he had several concussions, resulting in traumatic brain injury. The tumor attached to his optic nerve and then to his pituitary gland, which is a really important gland that controls all your hormones and where all the liquid in your body goes and it kind of oils your joints so they can move, without a pituitary gland it can really hurt to move or walk. My parents didn’t tell my brothers and I that the Neuro Dr in Tulsa said my dad had a 50% chance of making it thru the surgery and a 50% chance of living a year after surgery. But with the help of the best Neurosurgeon in the Nation, it is 2015 and my dad is alive.
I have learned that American is not the land of the “FREE”. My dad literally gave up his life. He lost his good job, his hair haha and now his home… some days he sees double, some days he’s too sick to do anything, even get out of bed, you can see the sickness in his big brown eyes. He never complains and always has a smile on his face… he sleeps a lot, but he doesn’t complain or ask for help.
My dad has lost his home, our home, although I am in college now, so it’s different for me, than it is for my brothers and my Dad. My dad doesn’t complain, although I know he is so over whelmed. He is going to stay with his cousin until he gets his social security, which is money (12.4%) they take out of every Americans pay check, in case you get sick and can’t work ( or that is what the government tells you they are taking it out for) Yet they have denied my Dad 3 times, the #1 Neurosurgeon in the nation said my dad would never be able to work again and yet they have denied him……. And he still doesn’t have a court date, they said he could find another job, he was making over 6 figures and now they want him to do what? Some days he can’t even see to drive...
My dad went away for almost 2 years, I was 8yrs old , Garrett was 5 and Bryley Gunner was only 2, he could barely walk when Dad left for Iraq and he was almost 4yrs old when Dad got home. I can remember Garrett crying every night for Dad to come home, he would try to hide and then he would get so sad he would either run and get in bed with my mom or with me. It was one of my first memories. Dad said one of his worse memories is me begging him not leave and telling him if he loved us he would stay!
My Dad is an American Hero, he is my hero and both of my brothers hero! He is just the nicest guy you have ever met and he’s so humble and he’s a Hero…. So I am asking you to help out… any amount of donation would be greatly appreciated and be put to good use. He would never ask anyone for help…. He needs a house. This is what we are working towards right now. He is out of time, and needs to be all packed up and out of our beautiful dream home he worked so hard for by Saturday, October 24th. Please message me on Facebook @ Lexie Vanarsdel if you would like to help or if you know of anything we can do to help him find a house or get social security! If you are unable to donate please just remember him in your prayers and all the Veterans who are dealing with this same issue! Thank you all and have a blessed day.


The photos on this page are from very different times in our families life. We took the family picture after we were picking him up from the airport when he came home on one of his two leaves. It was a surprise and we had no idea we would be seeing our dad that day. Bryley (the baby) was very freaked out because he didn't even know the man holding him was his own father.

The other picture is the day after the horrible surgery in Little Rock, Arkansas. We were so happy that he had made it through the surgery and so sad to be there at the same time.
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Donations 

  • Shawn Keefer
    • $100
    • 9 yrs
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Organizer

Lexie Nicole Vanarsdel
Organizer
Sand Springs, OK

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