Racine Fundraiser for Home-Away-From-Home for Vets’ Families

Racine Fundraiser for Home-Away-From-Home for Vets’ Families

The Journal Times

By Lee Roberts

03.04.11

Riding motorcycles is their hobby. Supporting and defending fellow veterans is their mission.

They are the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association and their recently-formed Wisconsin Chapter (Ch. 45-1) is focusing its efforts on serving veterans at Milwaukee’s Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The goal of the Wisconsin chapter, which was organized in August 2010, is to help build a Fisher House on the VA Medical Center grounds, according to Steve Jensen, a local CVMA member. They will hold their first public fundraising effort toward that goal in Racine on March 19 — a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for the Fisher House, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Racine Moose Lodge, 5530 Middle Road. 

All are invited to the benefit which will include music and raffle/door prizes, as well as food provided by Greg’s Catering. And all monies raised at the event will go toward building a Fisher House, which is a home-away-from-home for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers, according to Jensen, a U.S. Army veteran who served during Desert Storm. 

Started in 1990 by New York real estate developer Zachary Fisher, the Fisher House program is a private-public partnership that supports American military in their time of need. There are currently more than 40 Fisher Houses in operation throughout the U.S., with more under construction. And the program serves more than 11,000 families annually at its facilities, free of charge, according to its website (www.fisherhouse.org).

All Fisher House programs are made possible by public support and the CVMA Ch. 45-1 has received authorization from the Fisher House foundation to assist in raising funds for the house it plans to build at Milwaukee’s VA center. The chapter has also registered with the IRS and Wisconsin’s Department of Financial Institutions for its fundraising efforts. 

Being able to help build the Fisher House is one of the reasons local veteran Gary Anderson said he joined the CVMA. 

“It’s important that we take care of the people who volunteered to die for our country and our freedoms, so that they don’t get forgotten about,” said Anderson, who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy in 1972-73.  

In addition, Jensen said he appreciates the camaraderie and feeling of family that the CVMA provides, which is much like that he experienced during his time in the military service. A non-profit organization, the CVMA includes veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and it supports a variety of veteran care facilities and veteran charities nationwide.