Feeding Fisher House

John Millan served in Iraq then returned home to continue his service with the Washington Army National Guard.  But because he has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) it has been determined that he should medically retire from service.   As he put it "I needed to do something to allow myself to feel worthwhile as a Soldier, since I couldn't train with my unit".  The circumstances may have changed but John is still a warrior.  He has formed a team of individuals determined to raise funds equivalent to the annual grocery budget for the VA Puget Sound Fisher House (approximately $15,600).  To that end he has created a Team Fisher House donation page where individuals can make safe, secure online donations.   100% of all proceeds will directly benefit the VA Puget Sound Fisher House.  John is passionate about his new mission and has been an inspiration to all of us.    If you or your company are interested in partnering with John in this endeavor you are invited to contact him at jmillan219@gmail.com or call him at 253-217-7751. 

Food for the Soul

Jeanne, Lisa and Brent in front of the fully stocked freezer.

Guest Jeanne Coker had mentioned she was going to the grocery store.  "Is there anything you really need for the house?"    Staff replied, "We could use some onions".   Coker's nephew, Brent Tafoya, came to take her and his cousin, Lisa Mearns, on their shopping expedition.  They had told him how nice the Fisher House was but he was astonished when he actually saw the facility.  Moved to do something to help, Tafoya returned from Costco with over $300 of groceries, filling the house fridge & freezer to capacity.     When asked why he wanted to contribute he replied, "Because you took care of my family".   This generous gift has saved more than a week's worth of the Fisher House grocery budget as well as a couple hours of staff time.  "And all we asked for were onions," said Manager Cecile Bagrow.   "This is amazing!"    

Bacon for Fisher House

Bacon mamas Krystael Olafon & Kathy Rose pose with Manager Bagrow

Kathy J. Rose has been involved with VA Puget Sound Fisher House for nearly two years, as the local coordinator for Touch of Relief, a volunteer organization that provides free chair massage to the guests of Fisher House.   But when she's not providing healing touch, Kathy is also the entrepreneurial genius behind "What Do Bacon Do?", a fun website that highlights the adventures of her hand-crafted felt bacon people.  Kathy is now working on a bacon calendar to be sold to benefit Fisher House.  More details as the project evolves.    We love bacon!

Amazing Grace Christian School, Seattle, Washington

6th & 7th grade students from Amazing Grace Christian School pose with Hope the Pig

This beautiful story is best told in the words of the students who have adopted VA Puget Sound Fisher House:

14 April 2010

Dear Fisher House,

We are the 6th and 7th graders at Amazing Grace Christian School in Seattle, Washington.  We first started learning about Afghanistan and the soldiers when we started drafting letters in September to soldiers in Afghanistan.  We started doing research in school about Afghanistan as a country and the war.  We also learned more about Strykers, MREs, culture, various types of work the military does, and about IEDs.

In November, we served a meal in our school gym to honor retired Chaplains from WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam.  To thank us for serving dinner and appreciating the cards we wrote, they gave us a gift of $300.  Instead of using it for ourselves, we decided we wanted to give it to a new generation of soldiers.  At the time, our class didn't know a specific place to donate.  One of the soldiers that we wrote to in September had a friend who lost his legs from an IED.   He was a platoon leader in Afghanistan.  From his blog, we found your foundation to support and realized we wanted to raise more money on our own and set a goal of $50.  We researched each foundation in groups.  One of those foundations was Fisher House.  After a class discussion, we decided we would have a fund raiser for the whole school.

We set a goal for $200, by asking kids to find loose change.  We wrote letters to parents and other kids in younger grades about what we wanted to do and a little about Fisher House and Wheels for Warriors.  By the end of that week, about seven kids (families) donated and we already reached that ($200) goal, so we raised it to $500.  We decided to aim higher and raised it to $800 by the end of the day.  Someone even brought up the idea of $1000 but everyone thought that might be too high.  Our class made posters, wrote letters to families and fellow students and made a presentation on the computer to show to the school (there are only about 165 kids in our whole school).  One of our classmates told the school in an assembly that, "Even though you're a child, you can still make a difference by starting out small".  Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergartners brought money from their piggy banks to give it to the soldiers.  One even brought his whole piggy bank to school and emptied it.  We also served a breakfast at school to raise extra money.  We were so excited when we got to $1000, because we thought it wasn't possible.  On March 6th, when the fund raiser ended, we had a grand total of $2,556.33.

It was a group effort and it was worth it, because we learned a lot and we know we are doing what we can to give back.  Our school learned that the word "honor" can mean showing someone how valuable they really are.  We know your foundation honors soldiers and families and we want to do our part to honor them as well. 

Thank you, Fisher House, for helping our wounded soldiers and families.  You are awesome because you are sheltering the people who have sons, daughters, moms, dads, husbands and wives in the military.  We know your foundation is an encouragement for others who have been hurt in some way.

With love from the sixth and seventh grade,

We are grateful for the support of Amazing Grace Christian School and inspired by the generosity and commitment of its students.