Helping kids, veterans
Published 10:36 pm Thursday, August 28, 2014
Military precision was applied to a backpack-stuffing exercise in North Suffolk that will send needy children back to school well-provisioned and increase awareness of nonprofits serving veterans.
On Thursday afternoon, representative of two nonprofits, the Wounded Warrior Project and The Mission Continues, met at Zoyo Neighborhood Yogurt in North Suffolk with owners Isaura Ramirez and Armando Velasquez — along with 20 U.S. Coast Guard members and family.
Their mission: Divide a batch of assorted school supplies into more than 40 backpacks, which ForKids Hampton Roads — yet another nonprofit involved in the initiative — will distribute to needy children before classes resume next week.
Danitza James, outreach coordinator for the Wounded Warrior Project in Hampton Roads, which supports wounded veterans rebuilding their lives — The Mission Continues, meanwhile, helps veterans adjust to civilian life and continue serving their country at the community level — saw it as a good opportunity to make new connections.
“We came out to meet other veterans in the area and share what the Wounded Warrior Project can offer them,” James said.
“We also know a lot of these backpacks will go back to our veterans in the area.”
Furthermore, James said, it is hoped that the Coast Guard members, who received information folders, will return to their base and “spread the word about what we have to offer all the Coast Guard members.”
A church anonymously donated most of the gear for the backpacks, Velasquez said.
“They came in one day when I wasn’t here,” he said. “All I got from my employee was that a church brought it by and wanted to get it into the hands of local families.”
Velasquez said he used social media to try to learn the church’s identity but wasn’t able to do so.
“Absolutely we thank them,” he said.
Velasquez and Ramirez, both combat veterans and also husband and wife, say they care deeply about helping post-9/11 veterans connect with their communities.