To All,
I received the following from a friend, fellow motorcyclist, member of another motorcycle group I belong to and a Veteran. I think this is a great cause and wanted to share it with you to see if we can contribute to this project. If any of you are interested, take a look around in the next couple of days to see if you have of the items mentioned that you could donate. I know it is the Christmas, Hanukkah season and many of you are extremely busy. If you have items, send me an email. Let’s try to get things donated before Christmas, so send me an email as soon as you can and by next Wednesday, Dec. 19, at the latest. Let me know the area around the city/county you live in. I will then see where I should set up pick up points to collect items from members. I can then take them to donate on behalf of the chapter. I think we should continue to gather items, for our Veterans, throughout the year.
Stan Thibaut
President BKAZIX
____________________________________________________
Greetings All,
Dan Neal here.
There are some folks that very much need our help right now. At the Wilmot gate of Davis-Monthan AFB is a place called Esperanza en Escalante (www.eeeveterans.org ). This is a program for homeless veterans. I am honored and humbled to sit on the board of directors. This morning as we met, and I spoke with some of the Vets, a need was brought to my attention that I want to share with you all.
These men and women have just about nothing and as the weather has really taken a turn towards winter, there is a serious need for warm, winter jackets and coats. I saw a number of people that had on nothing but a light sweater.
As I was driving home I was really prompted to write to our BMW family and friends to see if putting this need before you could produce some results. I made a detour to Iron Horse Motorcycles (3444 E. Grant Rd) to speak with John Cartwright. And true to form, he agreed to allow IHM to be the collection point for this endeavor. He also started this drive by donating the first two coats. If you would be so kind as to look in your closets and see if there might be a jacket / coat that might just have some good miles on it that you, like me, have not worn in a while, please consider letting it put a smile on someone else’s face right now.
Jim Richardson of IHM said ” This is a group of people that should not be homeless, much less cold and shivering”. I couldn’t agree more. This nation will always be indebted to these heroes that served for our freedoms.
Throughout the year there is also a need for all sorts of clothing, socks, appliances and furniture to eventually set these people with their own housing. If you are interested in large donations, they would need to be dropped of at the Esperanza facilities or you can call Phyllis Russell, our program director at 520-571-8294 to make arrangements for pick up. The address is 3700 S. Calle Polar, Tucson, Arizona 85730
Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.