FISHER HOUSE - HELPING MILITARY FAMILIES

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The Connecticut Military Order of the Purple Heart will join with the Friends of Fisher House in Connecticut Sept. 21, in an event at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville to honor Lt. Jason C. Redman, United States Navy.

Lt. Redman was commissioned in May 2004 as a Naval SEAL Officer. In May 2006, he graduated from the grueling U.S. Army Ranger School and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, the following year. On Sept. 13, 2007, while acting as assault force commander on a mission to capture an Al Qaeda “high value individual,” Lt. Redman’s assault team came under heavy machine gun and small arms fire and he was severely wounded.

Also attending the Fisher House gala will be Sen. Richard Blumenthal and candidates Linda McMahon and Susan Bysiewicz. There will be a silent auction and raffle tickets for a 2012 Mercedes Benz, 350 SLK Sports Coupe, plus many other fun surprises for the evening.

Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., with a silent auction, a live auction, dinner, award ceremonies and the Mercedes-Benz raffle to follow. A special Life Auction will begin at 9 p.m.

This event will benefit the building of a Fisher House on the grounds of the VA Hospital in West Haven. Working much like a “Ronald McDonald House” this 16,000-square-foot facility will provide free lodging to veterans and their families when facing a medical crisis. The Order of the Purple Heart Friends of Fisher House, Connecticut (FFHC) is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation.

The VA Hospital at the West Haven Connecticut location has been identified as needing a Fisher House as soon as possible. There are approximately 100,000 veterans eligible for treatment at the West Haven VA Hospital, including 8,500 from the current wars in Iraqi and Afghanistan.

After the facility is completed it is turned over to the VA, which then provides six permanent staff members. The FFHC will establish a Board of Trustees to ensure that the facility forever maintains its purpose and function. The project is “shovel ready” and Fisher House already has the land. Fisher House, West Haven, intends to break ground shortly. The total project is expected to cost $6 million, of which FFHC must raise $3 million and thereafter, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by national corporate sponsors

The Fisher House Foundation is a unique private-public partnership that supports America’s military in their time of need. Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful of times; during the hospitalization for combat wounds and unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

Annually, the Fisher House program helps more than 20,000 families and has made more than three million days of lodging available to family members since it originated in 1990. Once the service member is discharged—off active duty, he/she will continue to receive years of care and treatment at a VA Hospital and a Fisher House will be there to help and support. There is never a charge for any service member or a family member to stay at a Fisher House.

Dinner or raffle tickets maybe reserved by calling 860-583-4800. There are no administrative costs.

“If for some reason you cannot attend, then please consider sponsoring a table or at least a couple of seats, which will be used for some Connecticut Disabled soldiers or Marines who might like to attend this event,” stated Kelly Stevens, committee volunteer coordinator.

For more information, please visit www.fisherhousect.org.

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