OCW donations make grants possible

The American Legion’s Operation Comfort Warriors (OCW) program is fulfilling grant requests monthly to meet the needs of recovering wounded warriors and veterans receiving care at VA hospitals. For example, OCW recently paid for the startup cost and a yearlong membership to Bookshare, an online library of more than 530,000 books for “people with print disabilities,” to help Afghanistan veteran Kyle Anderson, who suffers from a  severe traumatic brain injury, to read again.

OCW depends on donations to ensure the program continues to serve our veterans, and Post 64 in Indianapolis is making that possible.

Legion Family members of Post 64 showcased their fundraising efforts April 2 when they raised more than $24,000 during their fifth annual OCW fundraiser, bringing their total OCW donation for the year to more than $55,000.

The event, which was open to the public and has raised more than $150,000 over the past five years for OCW, included a $5 all-you-can-eat ham and bean dinner, raffle prizes, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. And to surpass last year’s OCW donation of $50,000, Post 64 Legion Family members have been donating proceeds from 50/50 raffles and other community fundraising events throughout last year to the cause.

The OCW fundraiser was initiated by Post 64 Adjutant Danny Rice in 2012 upon the election of Indiana native James Koutz as national commander. Koutz made OCW his primary fundraiser.
“(Koutz) is a very happy man when he comes to Post 64,” Rice said. “We fell in love with the OCW program when he was commander and we have been supporting it ever since. We have just taken OCW under our wing.”

To donate or learn more, visit  www.legion.org/ocw.