Catholic Vets Raise Money for Amputees

A number of our post members belong to St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill.  Each year, since 2006, these men have promoted a Veterans’ Day weekend fundraiser.  Their project benefits recent amputees who have returned from Afghanistan and other countries.  They are now in the hospital at Ft. Bragg or Camp Lejeune.

All of us remember military hospitals.  The care is great, but it is not home.  Imagine being there as an amputee.  They have self doubt, constant pain, and a longing to be with family. They are confined to the hospital at Christmas and the hospital is winding down for the holidays.  It will soon be a lonely place.  Getting these service men and women out of the hospital takes money.  Many don’t have enough to get home and back for more treatment.

The men of the Knights of Columbus have a project to get them home.  Working with the Military Order of the Purple Heart, they raise money around Veterans’ Day.   The parishioners have been very generous each year and this year donated over $3,200.  The Military Order of the Purple Heart matches each dollar collected!

Similar collections are taken throughout North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico are doing the same and thousands of dollars were collected.  Last year, 399 amputees were sent home through this effort.

 

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