May 30 am update: I got a call from Amanda (Vetwife) this morning. The goal of $2500 has been not only met, but surpassed significantly; we've raised nearly $3000 for their family, coming in at $2987. You guys are outstanding. She is overjoyed; so many of the things she'd had to go into the hole for, like her own father's funeral and medications no longer being covered, have now been dealt with and they have a degree of breathing room.
I'm going to ask now, if any Kossacks live near her or can get there and cover themselves completely in getting there, staying there, and getting back, I think she could use a hand from time to time, especially now with her coughing her head off from environmental allergies (likely to Corexit dumped by BP). Please send her a Kosmail or email if you can help out.
Thank you, all of you who have helped or will help. You've done a mitzvah!
This is a fundraising diary. If you don't like this kind of diary, please stop reading now. If you choose to comment, please be kind. If you aren't, beware; some of my family have sharp wits and tongues and trolls will not be spared.
Thank you, Republicans. Thank you ever so much for the sequester. Thank you for cutting the amount of money this nation spends on her disabled veterans. Because of it, beloved Kossack Vetwife and her 100% disabled Vietnam veteran husband had to pawn their wedding rings.
Their 23rd anniversary took place May 3. For this anniversary, their fingers were bare. I strongly suspect they couldn't celebrate by doing anything special together. This is not right.
Jack, Vetwife's husband, has had to be hospitalized twice over the past six weeks, neither time at a VA hospital. They've had to attend her father's funeral. The sequester has meant that some medications that were previously covered for him aren't covered now. Moreover, her older daughter is now 18, so the support funds covering her have stopped coming. From her rec-listed diary today, I've learned that she can't even afford to get her younger daughter a Happy Meal.
Here are a few things she's shared with us today:
I knew she [her younger daughter] noticed my wedding rings were missing because she wanted to know where they were. I told her I was getting them worked on. She said, "Dad's too" ? I said no more.
This hit me particularly hard; it would about kill me to have to pawn ours, and I know Charles feels the same way.
Then, from comments, there was this:
My daughter got a card for graduation because I had to get cap and gown too... she got nothing but a few things from CVS for her achievement..A venus razor and some shaving gel and body spray. made me feel worse than I already did..
And this (emphasis mine):
I promised someone I would not pawn them...but I had to, to get the extra for the out of hospital meds and cap and gown I figured rings on fingers did not mean as much as the medicine and milestone in life and it five days from payday and I did not want to be burden..
That Vetwife, who does so much for others, who gives and gives and gives from her own family's meager resources, should feel like she is possibly a burden to anyone, breaks my heart.
So let's do something for her. Let's get those rings back. Her PayPal address is amandakato@msn.com.. There's also the lefthand Donate button on United Veterans of America, which goes to the Vetwife Relief Fund. She needs $350 to get their rings back, and with the sequester taking more and more from them the longer it goes on, and with prices of everything increasing but incomes never keeping pace, she needs a strong financial cushion, too. I hope we can raise at least $1000 $2500 for our sister and friend Vetwife, and will post how we are doing as I find out.
Speaking of United Veterans of America, she needs someone to take it over. If there's a person or group out here in the wilds of Kosland who has or cares enough to acquire knowledge of how to help veterans in need with all sorts of things, esoecially navigating the system, please contact Vetwife at the address listed for PayPal or by KosMail. The first thing that is needed is an irganizational name change; someone calling their organization (if indeed it is one and not a scam) has started using the name United Veterans of GA, and Vetwife has no idea who they are or what they're doing. Apparently she is not able to stop them from using the name, extremely misleading though it is, and rather than seeing her organization's good name be besmirched by scammers, she says a name change is in order. She can't do this work any more; she can't afford to carry it. Someone with fundraising talent and a love of our country's veterans in need is needed to carry on what she's started.
But this diary is primarily to fundraise for her so she can get Jack's and her own wedding rings out of pawn, rather than only being able to pay the interest on them just after the beginning of the month. Please help out with this. Vetwife's one of our best, and nobody should have to pawn their wedding rings because the Republicans are breaking our government!
7:56 PM PT: Vetwife reports $1010 in donations as of a few minutes ago. That's terrific! She's going to get the wedding rings back tomorrow. Several people are also offering gifts for her daughter's graduation. If possible, let's keep going, because I know she needs a solid financial cushion, and the help she gives to vets often comes straight out of her own family's budget. Thank you all; you're wonderful.
8:58 PM PT: I checked with Vetwife. She and her family are really in the hole, and I'm guessing a lot of us know how that feels. Can we get the total up to $2500? That would get them out of the hole and allow necessities that have been put off or stopped to be restarted. Thank you. You guys are awesome!
Thu May 30, 2013 at 12:06 AM PT: I believe we are somewhere between $2250 and $2300. I'm sure I'll hear from Amanda in the morning. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she could wake up with this at or beyond goal?