Houston area Rotary clubs sold tent tickets at the World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest Feb. 22 at NRG Park in order to benefit Camp Hope and promote its mission.
Rotary District 5890 bought the VIP tickets at a discount from the Domino Effect cook-off team and in turn sold 48 of them for $100 each. Ticket holders were then served barbecue, enchiladas and drinks on the first night of the annual Houston tradition.
Camp Hope is a facility that offers temporary housing for veterans and their families as they seek treatment for combat-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Located in northwest Houston, the four- to six-month program provides peer to peer mentoring, weekly time with licensed professional trauma counselors, meals, housing, assistance with navigating Veterans Affairs and other services, said Camp Hope Executive Director David Maulsby.
The facility part of the PTSD Foundation of America is currently serving 70 veterans and their families according to Maulsby.
District 5890 includes Rotary clubs from as far west as Sealy, as far east as Clear Lake, as for north as Greenspoint and as far south as Angleton, said James Brown, Memorial-Spring Branch Rotary Club president-elect.
Brown said while his club raised the initial funds to get the project going, the effort was district-wide.
He said for him the fundraiser was personal and that he had encouraged the Memorial-Spring Branch club to get involved. Many soldiers come home with issues that are less visible, he said.
“I served a year and a half in Afghanistan. I was a navy chief,” he said. “I’ve lost friends to PTSD. The problem Ithink is facing America is we are perennial war fighters now. These wars never come to an end. We’re three administrations into the war in Afghanistan, and the parades have stopped, and people saying, ‘Thank you for service’ has stopped. When these soldiers are going and coming now, they’re not getting the same reception when they come back as well as the reintegration into society when they come back. A lot of the wounds aren’t physical. A lot of them are beneath the surface.”
Maulsby said the money raised would help the veterans and families at Camp Hope to understand that residents around them supports them.
“It shows them that there truly is a community of people that care about them and they are appreciated,” Maulsby said.
Funds raised will further Camp Hope’s mission by educating people about the organization and how they can help as well as providing for the its day-to-day needs and expenses.
“To our organization, these types of fundraisers do two very important things: first, they raise awareness in the community that Camp Hope exists and is saving the lives of our nation’s Veterans as well as serving their families, and second, they allow us to do what we do since we are totally dependent upon the community for funding as we do not receive government funding.
Brown said Rotary 5890 encourages community members to give generously to the cause and will continue to accept donations through March 15 at https://portal.clubrunner.ca/
Rotary International is an organization that raises funds, provides scholarship and does community service projects. The Memorial-Spring Branch meeting is held each Friday at noon at the Houston Racquet Club.
For more information about Camp Hope, visit http://ptsdusa.org/camp-