Lafourche council shoots down Company Canal deal
June 8, 2010Thursday, June 10
June 10, 2010With very little to keep the National Guard soldiers of Houma and Thibodaux connected to family and friends while deployed in Iraq, the ability to bridge the gap between foreign land and home has become a daily routine for the soldiers’ loved ones.
Operation Appreciation, a fundraiser organized by Scott and Tammy Ayo, parents of a soldier in the Charlie Unit, will be held Saturday, June 12, from 3 to 9 p.m., in order to raise money to send care packages to deployed soldiers from the Charlie and Delta units. The event is $5 per person, and will take place outside of The Brick House in Houma.
The $5 entrance fee includes a ticket to win one of 100 different door prizes, and extra tickets may be purchased for $1 each throughout the day.
“The care packages are something to break up the boredom from being out there,” Ayo said.
Each package is personalized for the 142 area soldiers serving in Iraq and costs about $12 per box. Approximately $1,775 is spent on shipping.
“The Family Readiness Group does all the shopping for the care packages to give them a slice of home,” Ayo said.
FRG helps support families of deployed soldiers, but has limited chances for fundraising. All the money raised during Operation Appreciation will help supplement the monthly shipping costs of these packages. Ayo said the goal is to raise $5,000.
Local businesses have also donated their services to ensure a successful turn out, including three Houma-based cover bands: Auto Pilot, Keith Pitre, and Overtime.
Mural artist Hans Geist will also be in attendance, and will be auctioning off a print of a mural he created in memory of the 256 infantry.
“I was a part of the unit from 1994 until 2000, and knew the guys that were in the unit. I wanted to do something like a memorial dedicated to the guys that served and gave their lives overseas,” Geist said. “When you join the military, it becomes a part of you. My heart goes out to the guys and their families, because they are over there giving it their all.”
Geist will not be the only one paying homage to the soldiers who lost their lives overseas – Ret. Gen. Hunt Downer will speak during the opening ceremonies and give a memorial dedication for area’s nine fallen Black Sheep soldiers: Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeaux, 34; Sgt. 1st Class Peter Hahn, 31; Staff Sgt. Christopher Babin, 27; Sgt. Huey Fassbander III, 24; Sgt. Warren Murphy, 29; Sgt. Armand Frickey, 21; Sgt. Paul Heltzel, 20; Sgt. Bradley Bergeron, 25; and Specialist Kenneth Vonronn, 20.
“This event is about making money, but also showing the guys first hand they are appreciated and they are not forgotten,” Tammy Ayo said, who also added that the soldiers will be watching the memorial dedication via Sykpe, so they can see the support they are getting first-hand.
“We can raise money a lot of ways,” she said. “But I want to show them that everybody out there will be cheering for them.”
