Vetwife needs no introduction to the Daily Kos community. From helping raise funds for Netroots For The Troops to helping out veterans daily, including many here, she's always going the extra mile for somebody else. She just did it again, for another veteran family that had come seeking her help, handing over money her family really couldn't spare. It's one of her signature achievements that she will not turn away from a veteran or veteran's family when they come.
Now her beloved veteran Jack and Vetwife's family are the veteran family that needs help. A mere hundred miles away from where Jack and Amanda (Vetwife) are now, his brother Robert lies dying. Jack and all the rest of his family deserve the right to be there when he goes and for any funeral or memorial services that follow. It's going to take days, and it's going to take, in her estimate, about $1500.
Come with me below the Orange Squiggle of Bliss for more.
You probably know that Jack is a Vietnam veteran. What you may not know is why, and why his brother, also a veteran, isn't a Vietnam veteran. Seems back in the day, one brother got orders for Vietnam and the other got orders for someplace a lot safer. So Jack went to his Dad, his Dad went "upstairs", and orders got changed. Jack took Robert's place in Vietnam and Robert was sent instead to Germany. This is the act of a hero.
This hero and his family deserve our help. Last night, Vetwife was online here, telling a few of us about the veteran family that had come to her because their Dad, a vet, had just died. Amanda gave them hours of her time, pulling up and printing out information on the specific kinds of help they could get and where to get it, but was concerned because she truly wanted to give them some money to help out (they had about 49 cents, IIRC) and didn't know where it was going to come from. Several of us said she should do what was needed and I offered to run a fundraiser, so here I am and Charles and I will have already sent in $100 from our own tight finances. Vetwife can out-plan and out-budget Charles and me, any day of the year, and she'll use the funds we all raise well.
A lot of it will get Jack and Amanda and their kids to Robert, enabling them to take the days they need for his crossing and funeral. A bit of it, if there's enough, will go to things like keeping her 97 car running and getting one of her kids his school yearbook, something she couldn't otherwise do. A bunch of it may go for Jack winding up in the hospital again after Robert goes, and Amanda knows and is planning already for this real possibility.
Please, let's make this happen. Vetwife gives until Lincoln screams, every single time a veteran or veteran family comes to her. As of last night, she's done it again, with her husband's brother lying in a hospital and dying. If there was ever a time for the community to come together for one of us, this is one of those times.
Her PayPal email address is amandakato[at]msn.com (replace the at and the brackets, of course), or use the donate buttons here: http://forum4.aimoo.com/...
And thanks.
3:11 PM PT: We have a $100 match going right now. The next $100 donated will be matched 100% by LucyGoose.
3:40 PM PT: The first match has been met! Thank you to both SallyCat and LucyGoose!
5:20 PM PT: We have a new match! TigerMom is matching the next $50 to come in, as well as donating $50 right away.
6:03 PM PT: TigerMom's match has been more than met; thank you.
6:29 PM PT: I got a kosmail from Amanda. So far, as of fifteen minutes ago, about $850 has come in. We are over halfway there already and I know we can do this.
9:15 PM PT: Just got off the line with Amanda. She and Jack and the kids are driving up to Gainesville as I write this. As of the last look that she did before leaving, we are up to about $1200. Everything helps.
9:24 PM PT: Another match! This time it's from asym, for $250. Huzzah!
Wed May 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM PT: I am heading to bed and will check in in the morning. I also expect to be able to call Amanda at some point and get an update. I think we may have made it but am not sure; please don't stop here.
Thank you all, and goodnight.
Wed May 16, 2012 at 9:38 AM PT: We made it and surpassed it. Amanda checked in below with a comment that said we raised $2800! That is superb and will ensure that they can do this free of financial worry. Thank you all. Amanda sends her love to each of you.