Fundraiser nets more than $5,000 for local veterans, families

Published 1:33 am Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Sequim Elks Lodge 2642 hosted a fundraiser for local disabled veterans and their families on July 4 with $5,496.40 raised going to the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 9, Port Angeles.

“We’ve shown that real Americans appreciate what these disabled veterans have sacrificed for us and how much we really care,” event coordinators Bill Ellis and Gene Mattson said.

The first of what organizers hope is an annual event, the “Americans Helping Our Disabled Veterans and their Families” saw several businesses, entertainers and other community groups donate services and prizes, and more than 50 Elks volunteers and their families turned out to assist.

Sequim Elks Lodge 2642 will be forwarding a CD of the event to the Grand Lodge for promotion to other lodges throughout the United States, event organizers said.