Boots for Our Troops comes to Yuma

  Richard Bank said he used to watch the news and see images of homeless and disabled veterans who needed help and care.

  The troops who came back from combat were not getting the care they deserved, he said. "I finally got to the point where I needed to do something."

  And that is when Bank, a former U. S. Air Force aircraft electrical repairman, decided to start a campaign called Boots for Our Troops, which will begin Monday and continue till July 6.

  The Boots for Our Troops campaign is being launched through Project We Remember - "a nonprofit agency that provides short-term housing for U.S. military personnel and their families during visits to V.A. hospitals," according to a news release. "Funds raised through the campaign will be administered by Project We Remember and will go to qualified 501(c)3 charities."

  To get Arizona businesses to participate, Bank traveled across the state asking them to sell paper boot-shaped cutouts to customers and employees who would like to donate to the organization.

   "We need to ask the general public to step up to the plate," Bank said. And it is a convenient way for the public to give back to the troops, he added.

  So far more than 75 Arizona businesses are participating in the
campaign, including two Yuma businesses: Day Breakers Cafe and Highway 95 Cafe.

  Sherry Gumm, manager for Day Breakers Cafe, said the company will be purchasing quite a few boots.

  "It's an opportunity to help veterans and troops that are from the community. Personally, I'm very proud of the military and I think everybody out there should be supporting our troops. We're back here enjoying the freedom that they are fighting for."

  And even though these boots are made of paper, they need to "be treated with respect for the veterans that have sacrificed and served this country," said Bank.

  The minimum cost to purchase a boot is $2, with no maximum limit, said Bank. For more information on Boots for Our Troops, call him at 1-480-967-5378 or e-mail him at richbank@projectweremember.org.

  Information can also be found at www.projectweremember.org.

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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.