By ANTHONY CARDINALE
News Staff Reporter
8/25/2006
Akron VFW post raises $40,960 for Alden Marine wounded in Iraq. Outpouring stuns veteran, wife
Marine Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers of Alden was handed a check for $40,960 Thursday evening from fellow veterans at Akron Post 3180, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"I'm still trying to take it in," he said as the three-hour party was breaking up. "I love the military family, I love the VFW, I love the community."
Beyers, 27, who lost his right arm and leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq a year ago, was attacked and robbed of $300 with his wife, Denise, on July 22 as he was taking a break from rehabilitation in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Beyers began work last week as an estimator with his family's business, Beyers Construction of Alden. He and his wife, who is an X-ray technician at Mercy Hospital, will use the money toward buying or building a handicapped-accessible home. "We're going to look around right away," Beyers said. "We're not going to waste an opportunity like that. We want to try to get our life started again."
Nancy O'Hara, president of the post's women's auxiliary, said the fund drive for Beyers began last February and culminated with a silent auction on Aug. 12. "The money is still coming in," she said. "I called the bank today and learned that another $400 has come in. We'll keep the account open for a while longer."
Most of the veterans at the party weren't acquainted with Beyers before this all happened, but they donated just the same.
"No matter what branch you served in," said Bill Ward, a Marine veteran of World War II and the Korean War, "if you've been there, you're part of the brotherhood."
Thanks to everyone who participated in helping this couple. I call that a successful fundraiser.
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