This week's Forum - AFTER YEARS OF LENDING HANDS, BROAD CHANNEL VETS NEED HELP FOR THEMSELVES

June 13, 2013

AFTER YEARS OF LENDING HANDS, BROAD CHANNEL VETS NEED HELP FOR THEMSELVES

Members from VFW Post 260 in Broad Channel held a fundraiser at Paddy G’s in Elmhurst on Saturday to raise money for their building that was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup

For the veterans gathered in the backyard of Paddy G’s Sports Bar in Elmhurst last Saturday, serving – whether it be their country or their neighbors – has come the way the summer seemed to arrive that day – naturally and making everyone grateful.

For years, the former military members, who served in places like Vietnam and Korea, and auxiliary members of Broad Channel’s VFW Post 260 have donated countless hours helping disabled veterans at the St. Albans Community Living Center, which is run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. They have made Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, played round after round of board games, and spent uncountable hours talking to the younger veterans who have recently returned from Afghanistan and Iraq and the older individuals who served in World War II and Vietnam.

Then Hurricane Sandy came – and their post and nearly everything in it was destroyed, leaving them without the stoves they once made dinners on, without the space in which they – and other community groups – held their meetings, without a place the more than 130 post members had called home for years.

“We got four feet of water through the building – now the back yard’s usable but not really anything else.” Kevin Bautz, the auxiliary president of VFW Post 260, said at a fundraiser his organization held at Paddy G’s last Saturday afternoon. “We need help.”

Other VFW posts, as well as Habitat for Humanity, have lended their hands to Post 260, including financially and by providing such material as sheet rock and a new lawn mower, but the group still needs a number of items, including a new bathroom, new floors, light fixtures, stoves, a refrigerator, and more. Members said the fundraiser last weekend will help to go a long way towards renovating the post, and they plan to hold another fundraiser at a barbeque on June 22 at the Post. VFW Post 260 is located at 705 Shad Creek Rd. in Broad Channel.

Saturday’s event included music by a Broad Channel band, Flashback, as well as food, drinks and raffles.

“We want to raise as much money as we can to rebuild,” said Bob Prokopowicz, the men’s auxiliary quartermaster. “The government never came to our aid; they forgot about us – so now we have to support ourselves.”

Bruce Fuller, the past commander of Post 260 who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967, said it is especially important to get them fully operational in order to be once again throw all of their efforts into support those at the St. Albans VA.

“Most of the men there are from other states, and their families can’t afford to come see them,” Fuller said. “We become their family. We don’t forget one another.”

Matt Conklin, the commander of Post 260 who served in the Navy in Vietnam, too stressed the role they play in other military members’ lives.

“We try to make them happy,” Conklin said. “We try to make them feel at home.”

Those interested in donating to Post 260 can call (718) 634-5106.

By Anna Gustafson