Honored
guests for the evening included Joseph
Dryer, one of the few remaining survivors of the attack on Iwo Jima; Jerold Klein, Friends of Fisher House
Treasurer and recipient of the Silver Star for heroism in Vietnam; Daniel R. Baer who served in World War
II; Rodman Steele a Vietnam Vet, Desmond Price who was deployed five
times, and recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, and Ted Task and Frank Hogan who both served as US Marines during the Korean War. Also being honored were veterans: Leo Lezar, Scott Barber, and Patrick Rielly.
Arnold
Fisher, the Vice
Chairman of the Fisher House
Foundation and Chairman of the Board
of Trustees of the Intrepid Museum
Foundation, Honorary Chairman of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and heads
up the Fisher Brothers Annual Scholarship
Fund for military children was also on hand to discuss the Fisher House
organization and its growth in different markets throughout the U.S. As a
member of one of America’s philanthropic and patriotic families who direct most
of their charitable work to the men and woman of the United States Military, Arnold Fisher has overseen numerous
charitable projects. Most of his dedicated work was through The Intrepid Fallen Hero’s Fund. After
recognizing the need to provide specialized rehabilitation services to veterans
who are traumatic amputee and burn patients, Mr. Fisher became the driving
force behind private donations to build the Center for the Intrepid. He has
also been hard at work creating a state-of-the art Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Diagnostic Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Craig
Dickmann and Matt deFalco from
Hamilton Jewelers presented a special gift to each of the honored veterans
for their service and several Palm Beach
boutiques helped sponsor the event with raffle items. Juicy Couture and Sequin
Boutique extended their hours to co-host the event, offering their venue
for the Black River Caviar reception
and impressive Chinese auction. Christofle
presented the hard-working volunteers with beautiful sterling silver
bookmarks engraved with the American Flag. Included in the Chinese
Auction were Village Camps in
Switzerland and a Golf Foursome
at the Ritz Carlton Club in Jupiter. Participating Palm Beach organizations and boutiques included: Hamilton Jewelers, The Breakers, Stubbs
& Wootton, Christofle, Daniella Ortiz, Key Leaf, Emilio Pucci, Badgley
Mischka, Daniella Ortiz, Tito Vodka, Island Company.
Other
notables attending included: Congressional Candidate Lois Frankel, South Florida builder/developer/promoter Michael Capponi; President/CEO of
Douglas Elliman, Florida, Vanessa Grout;
American Le Mans race car driver Jay
Cochran and son Rafe Cochran;
Food Network Reality Show Personality Josh
Lyons, Production and Event Maestro, Bruce
Sutka, Television Personality Robert
Riva, CBS Technical Correspondent Herb
Tabin, HGTV Design Star Celebrity Miera
Melba, and Former MGM Actress / Vietnam Radio Personality for troops Chris Noel.
Local movers and shakers included: Philip Nicozisis, Brad Deflin, Carlos Morrison, Lucia Bonavita, Maribel
Alvarez, Jim Pappas, Arvo Katajisto, Jeff Koons, Leslie Linder, Ashley
McKintosh, Andres Fanjul, Daniel Jennings, Candice Jorritsma, Avery Dimmig,
Adam Lipson, Alexis Posada, Pamela Tombari, Marrisa Pepper, Reid Boren, Ronnie
and Jennie Hasozbek-Garcia, Diane Weiss, and Diana and Rich Horowitz.
If you would like more information on this topic or to
schedule an interview, please call Linda Soper at (612) 308.4159 or email: linda@lindalanemarketing.com.
About Fisher House:
The
Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports
America's service men and women in their time of greatest need. Families do not pay to stay at Fisher
Houses, which serve as a "home away from home" for them while their
loved ones are receiving medical care at major military and VA medical
centers.
The
program was the brainchild of New York real estate developer and philanthropist
Zachary Fisher and his wife Elizabeth who opened the first "Zachary and
Elizabeth Fisher House" at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda,
Maryland on 24 June 1990. There
are now over 50 Fisher Houses throughout the United States, and the program is
growing every year in response to the needs of veterans and their
families. More than 183,000 days
of lodging are provided by Fisher Houses every year.
The
local Fisher House is an eight-bedroom facility situated on the West Palm Beach
VA Medical Center campus. It has been in operation since 1995, and has
accommodated approximately 10,100 families. Each guest room has a laptop with Wi-Fi Internet, flat
screen TV, and a DVD/VCR player. Families are welcomed to use a fully stocked
kitchen to provide for their meals.
The homey living room has an extensive library of books, DVD's and
games, and the shaded patio overlooking the quiet lake behind the house
provides a much- needed respite for families after caring for their loved ones
at the Medical Center.
The
Friends of the Fisher House, a charitable corporation recognized under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, supports all the needs of the West Palm
Beach VA Fisher House. Board members volunteer their time and talents to raise
funds for food, supplies and necessary capital improvements. In the words of
Board President Joseph A. Tringali, "The expenses of the Board are zero
and will remain that way." The Friends of Fisher House have also
established a voucher program with selected area hotels to take care of
families when Fisher House has no vacancies.
The
Friends of Fisher House anticipates the demand for rooms will continue to
increase, especially now that the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center has a major
cancer treatment facility. They
believe that America owes a debt to its veterans and their families who deserve
to be fully supported in their time of need with safe and convenient lodging
while in the West Palm Beach area for medical treatment. One Board member
summed up our obligation to our veterans with one simple statement – “We have a
‘land of the free’ because of the brave!"
Photos
Courtesy of: Janis Bucher Photography and Michael Price Photography
####
No comments:
Post a Comment