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VFW donates $1K to CHC Volunteers
VFW Saipan donates money to the CHC Volunteers Association to further their programs for the community. In the photo are the men of VFW Saipan headed by VFW quartermaster Mariano Fajardo, VFW commander Brad Ruszala, CHC hospital administrator Jesse Tudela, and the members of the CHC Volunteers Association headed by president John Oliver Gonzales. (Bea Cabrera)
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457 donated $1,000 to the Commonwealth Health Center Volunteers Association yesterday.
Members of VFW Post 3457 presented the check to the association at the canteen of the Commonwealth Health Center on Navy Hill.
VFW quartermaster Mariano Fajardo said the relationship between VFW and CHCVA in serving the community goes back a long time.
“This is our first donation of the year but when the community come to us and ask, we work on what we can do and we reach out to them,” he said.
VFW commander Brad Ruszala said that VFW was able to acquire the donation through a grant from the VFW Foundation.
“We were able to get this as a grant from the VFW Foundation and that is the charitable arm of the VFW. In order to get this, we had to apply for them and we were able to do that because VFW Saipan is in good standing. When we got it, it is up to us to determine who we are going to distribute the funds to or which kind of charitable organization,” he said.
“After working with CHCVA and getting to know more about them and the things that they do for the hospital and the community as volunteers, we couldn’t think of a better organization that we want to support for this year. So when we got the grant, we wanted to assist CHCVA’s mission and selfless efforts with this presentation,” he added.
CHCVA president John Oliver Gonzales said that donations like this inspire the CHCVA to do more and be more.
“I think CHC Volunteers Association exemplify what a community ought to be, one that is loving and caring for the community because we do work out of the goodness of our hearts. At the end of the day, everyone has a stake in the future of our lone public hospital,” he said.
“VFW Saipan’s donation today will go a long way in our efforts to find resources and to have a better community, our home. We hope that this will set the tone for this new year and we also hope that other stakeholders will follow the lead that the VFW is doing in terms of reaching out to the community,” he added.
