The Connecticut Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Committee honored Operation Gift Cards by presenting the Bob Sheehy Humanitarian of the Year Award to the creator and chairman of the program, Al Meadows.
The award was named after a combat medic who died last year. His widow, Mary, presented the award to Al at the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Dinner held in Wallingford March 15. The dinner was also a fundraiser for the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, which will be held in Wallingford April 27.
Since October 2005, Operation Gift Cards’ 106 monthly/bimonthly visits have presented 18,870 thank you kits which contained $377,400 in post exchange (military department store) gift certificates to our wounded troops at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
An additional $372,122 in other gift certificates and special group product donations (Girl Scout cookies, laptops, corporate gift certificates etc.) have been delivered to the Soldier Family Assistance Center, the Fisher Houses, Building 62, the Navy Lodge, the Red Cross, and the Casualty Affairs Office on the base, along with over $50,000 worth items on the “wish list” for both the wounded troops and their families (approx. $799,522 total).
For more information contact Al Meadows via phone at (203) 929‑3357 or e‑mail at [email protected].
Facebook page: Operation Gift Cards Web site: ctveterans.org.
