Veterans aid Charley victims

Veterans aid Charley victims

BY BRITT KENNERLY

When a hurricane blows life to pieces, it’s truly the little things — like toiletries and a meal — that people often need most.

Today, several truckloads of life’s necessities, delivered by Vietnam veterans from across the state, will wheel into southwest Florida.

Fresh from delivering ice, food and more to storm-battered residents of Oak Hill in Volusia County, local members of Vietnam Veterans of America will offer aid to more Floridians…..

The veterans will unload their gifts in the heart of Fort Myers, offering such items as water, baby wipes and formula, canned goods and plastic sheeting.

The VVA’s Florida State Council, which has about 800 members statewide, spent $10,000 toward assisting those left in need by Charley, said Bill Chapman, the council’s second vice president and leader of the Cocoa chapter.

“We couldn’t think of a better project we could get involved in,” said Chapman, a Cocoa resident who does contract work for Space Coast Area Transit. “We’re a community-service organization, and this is what we do.”

Friday, Chapman loaded his vehicle for the trip, filling it with goods dropped off by SCAT employees.

“I put out boxes, and they filled them up,” Chapman said. “This whole truckload was donated by bus drivers and dispatchers.”

On their way to Fort Myers, Chapman and other local drivers will hook up with veterans in Orlando and Tampa, taking about 10 truckloads of goods to the ravaged area.

“We’ve been getting spots on radio and TV, so people know we’re coming,” Chapman said. Tuesday, he and others spent about three hours handing out 60 cases of water and 500 pounds of ice in Oak Hill, just north of the Brevard County line.

The veterans plan to choose another area to assist next week, Chapman said.

Such volunteers “will never know what they mean to the people who need this help,” said Tricia Molzow, chief of staff for Mayor Jim Humphrey in Fort Myers.

About 10,000 homes in Cape Coral, a city of about 150,000 people across the river from Fort Myers, were damaged.

Molzow said offers of help ranging from roof repair by church groups to food deliveries have poured in during the past week, and many people still are waiting for electrical service to be restored.

“There are certainly a lot of groups coming into the area, and there have been a lot of calls,” she said.

“We’ve gotten calls of assistance that we’ve handed off to other communities. . . . If the Cape can’t absorb it all, there are other communities around here who really need it.”