In The News: VFW Post 1090 Gives Back
The Ohio Veterans and Fraternal Charitable Coalition (OVFCC) is never surprised to hear about veteran and fraternal organizations giving back to their communities. We’ve seen it many times. And many more.And more still. The generosity of veterans and fraternal groups to not only their members, but also their communities is truly something to behold, especially in our current age of economic uncertainty.
That’s why it shouldn’t come as a shock that the Warren, Ohio VFW Post #1090 has continued this tradition of compassion by donating money to fund a funeral and military honors for a recently deceased veteran.
Russell Benson died suddenly in June, and after calls to different national organizations fell upon deaf ears, Benson’s nephew, himself a Staff Sergeant in the US Army, called the VFW Post. And the VFW took up arms for one of their own.
“‘[Benson] needed help,’ said Rolla Airwyke, VFW Post 1090’s Quartermaster. A former Marine and veteran of the Vietnam war himself, Airwyke uses his position to distribute charity funds to veterans and their families in times of need…
Airwyke invited Benson to meet him at the post, 611 High St., and after talking with the soldier wrote him a check from the charity fund to cover half of the bill from the funeral home…”
Post 1090 is also one of many state-wide posts suffering due to recent judicial and legislative rulings with regards to charitable gaming, and the post itself, a town mainstay for 90 years, is running out of time and money, much of which was brought in by electronic charitable raffle machines that the State’s Attorney General has declared illegal.
Stories like the one above are good, and speak to just how great the support of veterans and fraternal organizations can really be. But the postscript – the AG’s decision, and a VFW Post clinging to financial life – is really the issue that should be addressed. Else those like Staff Sergeant Benson might still be on the phone trying to find a way to bury his uncle.
Read the full article, embedded below:
“‘[Benson] needed help,’ said Rolla Airwyke, VFW Post 1090’s Quartermaster. A former Marine and veteran of the Vietnam war himself, Airwyke uses his position to distribute charity funds to veterans and their families in times of need…
Airwyke invited Benson to meet him at the post, 611 High St., and after talking with the soldier wrote him a check from the charity fund to cover half of the bill from the funeral home…”
Post 1090 is also one of many state-wide posts suffering due to recent judicial and legislative rulings with regards to charitable gaming, and the post itself, a town mainstay for 90 years, is running out of time and money, much of which was brought in by electronic charitable raffle machines that the State’s Attorney General has declared illegal.
Stories like the one above are good, and speak to just how great the support of veterans and fraternal organizations can really be. But the postscript – the AG’s decision, and a VFW Post clinging to financial life – is really the issue that should be addressed. Else those like Staff Sergeant Benson might still be on the phone trying to find a way to bury his uncle.
Read the full article, embedded below: