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Father, son hope flowers, flags help fund Fisher House

The Times Tribune
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER, STAFF WRITER
02.21.08

OLYPHANT - John Vidota Sr. said he has been called many things in his 68 years, but it's unlikely anyone called him a quitter.

The Marine Corps veteran recently spent eight days in a hospital for pneumonia and heart problems. But after leaving the hospital, he was on the phone, setting up a fundraising event Friday for the Rockville, Md.-based Fisher House Foundation. Fisher builds community-style homes for military families to live in while their loved ones recover at military and VA medical centers.

"These poor soldiers, I'm gonna tell you something, when they're injured, they're forgotten about and I can't stand to think about that," Mr. Vidota said.

Mr. Vidota and his son, John Jr., will be spending Friday and Saturday at Boscov's in the Mall at Steamtown, giving out faux flowers and American flags in vases. They will ask people either to give a donation to the foundation, or take a brochure and envelope and consider sending a donation through the mail to Fisher House.

"Even if they give just a quarter, I know they will bring home the flowers, look at them and think of our soldiers and maybe say a prayer for them. That will make me feel good and it will make them feel good," Mr. Vidota said.

It is not the first time Mr. Vidota had come out of a hospital with a passion to raise money for the Fisher Foundation. While laid up last August, he and his son put together a plan to send out requests for donations for the foundation to local businesses. It was a huge success, according to the Fisher Foundation, which began receiving individual donations in the mail from throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Over the last several months, Mr. Vidota started working out other fundraising ideas, including giving flowers to students in schools throughout the county and asking them to consider donating to the organization.

"I just thought these kids should know more about our soldiers," he said.

The plan fell through and Mr. Vidota was left with more than $1,000 worth of faux flowers and vases his son had purchased with his own money. But after a short stay in the hospital, Mr. Vidota's spirits were renewed when Boscov's agreed to let him raise money for the foundation in its downtown Scranton store.

Since then Bernie's Flags in Dickson City has also donated flags to be given away with the flowers.

"I just hope people stop by and make a donation. They're welcome to give whatever they feel like they want to give," Mr. Vidota said.

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