DAV gun raffle sets fund-raising record
By CHRIS BARBEE cbarbee@leader-news.com

L-N File Photo Doing Good Work David Melanson (left), and Leonard Sternadel are shown with the van the DAV uses to haul local and area veterans to the VA Hospital in Houston.

Semper Fi! It may be the motto of the Marine Corps, but when it comes to supporting worthy causes, El Campo residents are also always faithful.

A record $96,000 was donated Tuesday evening to Everyday Heroes Inc., a non-profit organization set up to fund the Disabled American Veterans van program to drive local and area military veterans to VA medical facilities in Houston.

DAV Commander Jack Fisk said about $72,000 was raised during a drawing for a number of guns, and a live auction brought in another $24,000. A silent auction raised $600.

As an example of how the auction went, a gun worth about $350 eventually brought in $4,000, a jar of cookies raised $2,050 and some homemade noodles netted $1,000.

Fisk reported 43 people bid on auction items with about 21 buying, 240 people signed in and 400 bowls of stew were served, along with two "huge cakes and 250 cookies!"

"These funds will be used to continue running the DAV van to Houston to the VA Hospital and clinics. Some 7,596 veterans have been carried to Houston since 2001 when we first started the van program," Fisk said.

Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Leonard Sternadel served as master of ceremonies.

"Absolutely awesome. I'm still in shock," Sternadel said of the outcome of the fund-raiser. "It absolutely amazes me what this community will do. Of course we also had a lot of help out of Richmond-Rosenberg, Wharton, Columbus (and other communities)."

Fisk complimented those who came to help. Boy Scout Troops 1251 and 33 were on hand to help where needed. "We couldn't have done it without the Scouts. They were so good to help," the DAV commander said.

Shirley Popp supervised the crew cooking the stew. Why? Because her late husband Wayne would have been there if he were alive, she said.

A special guest this year was Sgt. Clint Bain, who has served in Iraq and is now in the active reserves and going to college in Corpus Christi.

"For a lot of veterans this is their only source of medical attention and medications. This is it for them. They have no insurance or anything else. It also helps families because they don't have to take off work to take their family member to a VA hospital," Sternadel said.

The Wharton County DAV van service provides rides daily, Monday through Friday, to any veteran who can be at El Campo City Hall by 5:15 a.m., the time it departs every day for Houston. It makes only one stop on the trip to Houston and back - the front of Gulf Coast Medical Center in Wharton.

Sternadel said it costs about $2,300 to $2,400 per month to operate the van, and another $400-$600 per month in setaside to purchase the next van. He said the vans should get about five years of service before needing to be replaced.

Costs include fuel, insurance, two paid drivers, telephone line, cell phone to carry in the van, etc. The drivers alternate weeks.