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Local foundation donates $30,000 to Fisher House

The Daily Advertiser
By Amanda Bedgood
03.08.08

Friday marked one year since the death of Pvt. Mark W. Graham of Lafayette, who died in San Antonio days after a roadside bomb struck his vehicle in Baghdad.

After Mark was injured, he was transported to Brooke Army Medical center in Fort Sam Houston.

For two days, his wife Stephanie of Lafayette was able to stay near her husband in the Fisher House - a kind of Ronald McDonald House for military families that allows them to stay near their loved ones as they heal.

On Friday, the foundation established in Mark's honor donated $30,000 to Fisher House.

Derek Donovan, Fisher House's vice president of operations, explained that their motto is that "A family's love is good medicine."

He said as more young soldiers return from Iraq wounded the need for more Fisher House facilities grows. There are 38 now, five under construction and another seven slated to begin construction this year. Fisher House operates solely on donations.

When Mark's family established the foundation, Stephanie and her sister-in-law Ally said donating to Fisher House was a no-brainer after their experience in San Antonio. And now Stephanie wants to pay that experience forward.

"It's an honor to help someone else," she said.

Marking the year of her husband's death had to be a painful day for Stephanie, but she said seeing the donation to Fisher House make it easier.

It's turning tragedy into a positive, Donovan said. One of Mark's fellow soldiers agreed - Sgt. Elijah Earle of Arizona. Earle was part of the First Calvary who were stationed in Iraq for 15 months with Mark. Stationed at Fort Hood, Earle and other soldiers joined the event Friday.

"It's hard," he said standing in his uniform in a crowd of supporters donning signature MG 20-20 T-shirts - the STM grad's nickname. "A lot of friends have come from this tragedy."

Donovan said he sees more military families turning adversity into something good, like the Grahams.

From the sounds of it, the Mark W. Graham Foundation is just getting started. Last year a character scholarship was awarded to an STM student in Mark's honor. This year there will be 10 such scholarships awarded.

At the close of Friday's event, the group of supporters stood in front of the Wetlands Golf Course waiting to release a bundle of balloons. With the wind whipping and a biting chill in the air the group held tightly to the green balloons with MG 20-20 printed on them. Each balloon had at least one index card tied to it with the thoughts of St. Pius Elementary School students about what it means to be a hero - Mark's niece and nephews attend school there.

"An American hero is someone who is honored," was written on one orange card.

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