You wouldn't know he had been injured practically from head to toe, requiring lengthy hospitalizations and rehab.

But it was those wounds, gotten during deployment in Iraq, that brought the Army lieutenant to Gainesville to help raise money for a Fisher House — a home for families of veterans getting treatment at the Gainesville VA Medical Center.

"I hit an anti-tank mine ... broke my back, tore my rotator cuff off, bruised my frontal and rear (brain) lobe, lost the vision in my right eye," Donarski said. "I spent 13 months in Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital."

Donarski has had four traumatic brain injuries through combat and sports. His wife, Tara, and children McKenzi, 13, and Maya, 6, stayed in a Fisher House during some of his hospitalizations.

Later this year or in early 2012, ground will be broken on a 20-suite, 16,000-square-foot Fisher House at the Gainesville VA. Donarski was in town this weekend to join in a Saturday night gala and golf tournament today to raise money.

"Fisher House is important because they were there for my family. When my family was away from my home, they were in Fisher House," Donarski said. "They provide room and board, a place to store food, places for my kids to play."

Donarski enlisted in the Marines 14 days before Christmas in 1987, leaving his small hometown of Roseau, Minn., just south of the Canadian border.

He was injured during a training incident and was medically discharged from the Marines in 1998. He rehabbed for several years and joined the Army, serving in Iraq in 2005-06 and Afghanistan in 2007-08. He is now stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and often travels to events to raise awareness for wounded veterans.

Many of those events involve golf, and he is trying to spread his love of the game to other wounded vets. He gave a clinic Saturday for several of them.

"Coming from combat and dealing with the stress of trying to relate to everybody again, I couldn't keep up. So I used golf," he said. "My goal is to help out wounded soldiers and raise awareness among the American people that there are wounded soldiers who need their support."

Fisher Houses were started by the Fisher Foundation, named after Zachary Fisher, a New York developer and military supporter.

Gainesville resident Rick Fabiani, who has spearheaded the drive to get a Fisher House locally, said the building will cost about $6 million, with the cost split between the Fisher Foundation and local fundraising.

The Cade Foundation in Gainesville has donated $1 million toward the project. More fundraisers are planned, including a 5K race on Veterans Day in November.

"The real momentum came from the Cade Foundation. When they gave us that first $1 million, it gave us a big old smile," Fabiani said. "We knew we had some strong help behind us."