At the annual Veterans Day dinner dance in Southold last weekend, American Legion Post 803 auxiliary president Joan Cochran presented a check for $6,000 to Boots on the Ground NY founder Frank Bania.
All of the money was raised through last year’s field of poppies memorial at the Southold American Legion.
Boots on the Ground NY is an organization whose mission is to “leave no veteran behind.” The group works to ensure that the daily struggles veterans face are not faced alone.
The Ronkonkoma-based organization provides a wide variety of services for veterans across Long Island including a Veterans Activity Center, food pantry, furniture pantry, care package and holiday programs, welcome home escorts and an annual PTSD benefit.
According to Holly St. Pierre-Johns, liaison between Post 803’s ladies auxiliary and Boots on the Ground NY, the Legion was looking for a local organization to donate proceeds from the memorial field of poppies to.
“In June we were able to get in contact with Boots on the Ground and they came to a joint meeting of the auxiliary and the post and gave a detailed presentation about what they do,” explained St. Pierre-Johns, whose father, Joseph, created the field of poppies.
“We donated the money to them to help with their efforts and asked that some of the money be put towards working with PTSD issues. Our goal is to establish a long term working relationship with them because Boots on the Ground does have several active members that live on the North Fork. Helping them out and being involved with them might also get us new members for our post.”
For more information about Boots on the Ground NY, visit their website.
