thedrifter
08-23-05, 12:18 PM
Non-profits fill gap in care for wounded
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
In his spare time while deployed to Iraq, Marine Reserve Col. John Folsom runs a charity supporting wounded troops.
Using his computer and the help of people all over America, he answers the call from military hospitals nationwide, as well as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and the 86th Combat Army Support Hospital in Baghdad.
“The hospitals tell me what they need, and I order it from Army and Air Force Exchange Service” or other companies, he said.
Dozens of nonprofit groups like Folsom’s are making life easier for wounded, injured or sick troops returning from the war. They range from Folsom’s one-man show to large organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Fisher House Foundation.
The assistance takes a variety of forms. Marine Reserve Staff Sgt. Paul DiPierro, who hurt his shoulder in a Humvee accident in Iraq in March 2003, had trouble making his mortgage payments because of financial issues related to his injuries and medical treatment.
He received $1,500 from the Helping Our Heroes Foundation, and $2,500 from the Family and Friends for Freedom Fund. “This was much needed to help us keep our house,” DiPierro said.
A number of nonprofit organizations offer their assistance to troops and their families through the Defense Department’s Military Severely Injured Center and the services’ programs for the severely injured. The groups provide a variety of services, including financial assistance, transportation and care packages, said Cmdr. Dave Julian, director of operations for the center.
The center, which opened in February, is a resource, referral and assistance center for injured troops and their families.
Although different people help with fund-raising activities in different locations, Folsom is a one-man show, operating the Wounded Warriors Hospital Fund from his computer at www.woundedwarriors.org.
“We don’t supply necessarily directly to the [service members], but send things a lot of soldiers can use,” he said. It’s mostly things for entertainment, he said, such as televisions, computers and DVD players.
Groups that support the troops are themselves receiving support. Individuals, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, and others have raised and donated money to relief organizations.
The private groups fill an important need because military hospitals are limited by law in what they can provide for troops.
In July, Army wife Jennifer Jahnig’s Muchachas Motorcycle Club in El Paso, Texas, began helping wounded soldiers in Beaumont Army Community Hospital at Fort Bliss after learning of troops who had been in the hospital since May and still had nothing to wear but their hospital gowns.
A friend of hers called and said three soldiers were receiving the Purple Heart, but could not have a ceremony unless they had some sort of uniform, she said.
The Muchachas, which include two Army wives, and three other clubs in the Coalition of Motorcyclists in El Paso, pitched in to help.
When they took the uniforms to the soldiers, Jahnig said, “I asked them, ‘If you could have anything you wanted, what would you ask for?’ One soldier said, ‘A decent deodorant and some soap.’
Ellie
http://p089.ezboard.com/bthefontmanscommunity
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
In his spare time while deployed to Iraq, Marine Reserve Col. John Folsom runs a charity supporting wounded troops.
Using his computer and the help of people all over America, he answers the call from military hospitals nationwide, as well as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and the 86th Combat Army Support Hospital in Baghdad.
“The hospitals tell me what they need, and I order it from Army and Air Force Exchange Service” or other companies, he said.
Dozens of nonprofit groups like Folsom’s are making life easier for wounded, injured or sick troops returning from the war. They range from Folsom’s one-man show to large organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Fisher House Foundation.
The assistance takes a variety of forms. Marine Reserve Staff Sgt. Paul DiPierro, who hurt his shoulder in a Humvee accident in Iraq in March 2003, had trouble making his mortgage payments because of financial issues related to his injuries and medical treatment.
He received $1,500 from the Helping Our Heroes Foundation, and $2,500 from the Family and Friends for Freedom Fund. “This was much needed to help us keep our house,” DiPierro said.
A number of nonprofit organizations offer their assistance to troops and their families through the Defense Department’s Military Severely Injured Center and the services’ programs for the severely injured. The groups provide a variety of services, including financial assistance, transportation and care packages, said Cmdr. Dave Julian, director of operations for the center.
The center, which opened in February, is a resource, referral and assistance center for injured troops and their families.
Although different people help with fund-raising activities in different locations, Folsom is a one-man show, operating the Wounded Warriors Hospital Fund from his computer at www.woundedwarriors.org.
“We don’t supply necessarily directly to the [service members], but send things a lot of soldiers can use,” he said. It’s mostly things for entertainment, he said, such as televisions, computers and DVD players.
Groups that support the troops are themselves receiving support. Individuals, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, and others have raised and donated money to relief organizations.
The private groups fill an important need because military hospitals are limited by law in what they can provide for troops.
In July, Army wife Jennifer Jahnig’s Muchachas Motorcycle Club in El Paso, Texas, began helping wounded soldiers in Beaumont Army Community Hospital at Fort Bliss after learning of troops who had been in the hospital since May and still had nothing to wear but their hospital gowns.
A friend of hers called and said three soldiers were receiving the Purple Heart, but could not have a ceremony unless they had some sort of uniform, she said.
The Muchachas, which include two Army wives, and three other clubs in the Coalition of Motorcyclists in El Paso, pitched in to help.
When they took the uniforms to the soldiers, Jahnig said, “I asked them, ‘If you could have anything you wanted, what would you ask for?’ One soldier said, ‘A decent deodorant and some soap.’
Ellie
http://p089.ezboard.com/bthefontmanscommunity