DAV chapter hosting benefit car show at dealership Saturday to help veterans
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on November 11, 2010 1:46 PM
For a group of local veterans, the event taking place at Chevrolet Cadillac of Goldsboro Saturday will be more than just another car show.
It will also be a chance, they said, to raise money for their cause: looking out for those who need it when times get tough.
The commander of Donald H. Kirkman Chapter 45 of the Disabled American Veterans said Wednesday he is already preparing to participate in this weekend's festivities.
But for Greg Keesee and other members of the DAV, the show would be worthwhile even if all the proceeds weren't being turned over to their organization.
"We, as veterans here, we look forward to it every year," he said. "But it's not only because all the money comes to the DAV. It gives us a chance to get into the community. You'd be amazed how many veterans come to a car show."
So the event will be as much a recruiting opportunity for the organization as a fundraiser for it.
And it's a way for local residents to give to a group of men and women they might just call on for help one day.
"I like to say, 'Help us to maybe help you later,'" Keesee said. "By them donating to us, they are actually helping us to donate to veterans in this area. All the money stays in Wayne County."
Some of the proceeds from the car show -- the event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all cars, trucks and motorcycles can be entered for $20 -- will go toward buying the paper used by DAV members to help veterans file disability claims.
And another portion of it might pay for maintenance on the vans used to transport the county's aging heroes to VA hospitals across the state.
"We're a non-profit organization," Keesee said. "So anything and everything we have in our accounts is what we make."
So Keesee and his comrades are encouraging their fellow residents to come out and show their support this weekend -- if not for them, for the veterans whose lives the organization enhance every day.
"It fits that it's happening around Veterans Day," Keesee said. "What better time to have it?"