December 19, 2016

Legionnaire clips $1 million in coupons for military families

By The American Legion
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Legionnaire clips $1 million in coupons for military families
Legionnaire clips $1 million in coupons for military families

World War II veteran Pearl Dunigan of New Mexico sends more than 200,000 coupons a year to military families overseas for use in commissaries.

Over the past seven years, Legionnaire Pearl Dunigan has mailed more than $1 million in coupon savings to troops and their families stationed overseas for use in their commissaries. Dunigan, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran and member of American Legion Post 81 in Belen, N.M., said she does it because “our troops still need our support.”

At 92 years old, Dunigan spends about eight hours a day clipping manufacturer’s coupons from newspapers along the dotted lines, then sorts them by dollar amount and categories such as food, children and pets, and tallies them. A handful of people in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, including members of Post 81, also send Dunigan clipped coupons to add to her total of more than 200,000 coupons a year that she sends to military families overseas.

“Pearl is just a wonderful person and a joy to be around,” said Post 81 Commander Eugene Gorman.

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