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May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
In honor of Memorial Day, I'm asking you to help Vetsville Cease Fire House keep it's doors open at least a little longer.
Shelter for Vets in Danger of Closing
Founder Chris Noel said Wednesday the shelter may not survive through the rest of this turbulent year. She held a fundraising luncheon at The Ritz-Carlton in January that left her in debt.
Noel said she'll need $25,000 through the end of the year to pay for utilities and to maintain the shelter that vets have called home over the past decade at 291 NE 19th Ave.
"My prayer to God is, 'If you still want me to do this, please make it happen. If you want me to keep doing this, please help me,'" she said. "'If you don't want me to then I know you'll close the door.'"
Noel, 67, an avid veterans' advocate from West Palm Beach, ran a radio show on Armed Forces Radio from 1966 to 1971 and even traveled to Vietnam to boost troop morale. She began opening shelters in 1993 in Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach before branching off into Boynton Beach.
Today, the south county shelter is the only one that remains. It's a place where there is food, clothing, clean showers, a garden, fruit trees and companionship for veterans. They've also enjoyed pet therapy from cats and dogs and even a docile dove and rooster that co-existed with the four-legged creatures.
"It becomes their home while they're there," Noel said. "So they feel stabilized."
It's a small slice of paradise for Don Marlowe, a 74-year-old who joined the Army in 1956 and served for almost 20 years. He's lived in Vetsville for the past 10 years, he said.
"I'm going to stay here till it's closed and I don't know what the rest of the men are going to do," said Marlowe, one of about a half dozen residents.
Among them is a Vietnam veteran who has deformities on his back and was exposed to Agent Orange, an herbicide used in Vietnam that proved deadly and caused birth defects, Marlowe said.
Send the price of a package of hot dogs if that's all you got, but give a little something, please. It would mean another month off the streets for a veteran and that matters, it matters a lot. If we can help Chris keep the doors open a little longer, maybe she can raise the necessary money to keep Vetsville open for the rest of the year, and beyond.
You can mail your check directly to
Vetsville Cease Fire House
291 NE 19th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Thank you. and enjoy your Holiday.
Posted by LindaSoG at May 25, 2009 09:41 AM