Funds raised for Honor Flights of Northwest Ohio

Residents at two Perrysburg senior housing neighborhoods have raised $1,734.20

7/23/2013

Residents at two Perrysburg senior housing neighborhoods have raised $1,734.20 for Honor Flights of Northwest Ohio through a fund-raising campaign.

The effort was extremely meaningful to Jack Urely, a 92-year-old World War II Navy veteran who lives in one of the neighborhoods at Abundant Life. Two years ago he was able to take an honor flight and it was a day he will never forget, from his food choices, to volunteers he met, to moving moments.

"When we got off the plane and to the street ...there were 300 children from a school there to shake our hands and say they were proud of us," he said. "That was sentimental to me and brought tears to my eyes."

The Honor Flight program wasfirst created for WWII veterans to take a flight to Washington to see memorials and be honored for their service. Recently, veterans from other wars have gone, too.

At 11 a.m. July 31 the Wood County Airport will have several area organizations hand over their donations to Honor Flights of Northwest Ohio.  Abundant life is one of four organizations involved that also is comprised of the Maumee Senior Center, Waterford senior living at Levis Commons, and the Wood County Committee of Aging.

Two neighborhoods at Abundant Life, made up of 25 apartments each, competed against each other to raise the most money, for an ice cream party prize from the housing complex.

Mr. Urely's team won, as that apartment senior neighborhood as a whole raised $1,007.90.

"We got the ice cream but most importantly we raised over $1,000 for a great cause," he said. "[The honor flight] is worth the trip, and everyone who I talked to that has been on it says the same thing. I hope others can enjoy the trip I did."

Abundant Life director Liz Brown called it the best fund-raiser the complex ever had.

"Our residents went out and got donations from family and friends and were really excited about it," she said.

Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.