Sun staff
On Sept. 11, two Goshen community groups came together to host a Patriot Day outreach and fundraising event to benefit the Goshen Warriors, a newly formed chapter of the Wounded Warrior Project.
The event, which was co-sponsored by the chapter and the Bruce Griffin Memorial Scholarship fund, was held from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Kathryn Stagge-Marr Community Park in Goshen.
In keeping with the mission of the WWP, a national, nonprofit organization that provides free programs and services focused on the physical, mental and long-term financial well-being of injured veterans, their families and caregivers, according to the organization’s website, the event honored the people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and offered support to area service members and their families.
The program for the day featured a silent auction, fishing, a fitness completion, music and food. Representatives from several groups, including the local facet of the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project, Goshen Warrior Packs, which provides students in need with six meals each weekend during the school year, Whole in My Heart, a support group for family members of deployed veterans, and Goshen War on Heroin were on hand to present and distribute information.
Throughout the day, nearly 100 people attended the event, which Scott Kube, chapter founder and event co-organizer, described as “awesome.”
He started the chapter in May as a way to provide “community resource services.”
“We’re not reinventing the wheel with anything; if you want to predict the future, create it,” Kube said. “There’s no substitute for action.”
Linda Creech, co-organizer and founder of the Bruce Griffin Memorial Scholarship fund, said she felt “emotional and thankful” during the event.
Creech’s brother Griffin was the first veteran from Clermont County to be killed in the Vietnam War, and she started the scholarship fund in his name six years ago to benefit students at Goshen High School. Each year, between four and eight students with average grades or better, financial need and who have been accepted to a secondary institution are selected to receive tuition money.
Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud spoke on behalf of Whole in My Heart at the event.
“When you serve in the military, your family serves right along with you,” he said. “And this group is a place where, if you have a loved one serving, you can go to talk with people who know exactly what you’re going through.”
He added, “It’s a great group, we’re a big family, and we’re not afraid to talk about tough topics.”
The group meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Union Township Civic Center, located at 4350 Aicholtz Road.
Proud also expounded on his passion for helping service members and their families.
“My military operation specialty is to support these veterans,” he said. “And the most effective things are local.”
For more information about the Goshen Warriors chapter of the WWP, visit their donation page at http://fundraise.woundedwarriorproject.org/rtt/Fundraising/team/GOSHEN-WARRIORS.