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VOLUNTEERS LIFT SPIRITS OF WORLD WAR II VETERAN
AND
HIS WIFE -- "This is the first project in the
country funded
by Heroes at Home, which is a program started
by Sears
to fix up houses for veterans and their
families."
Rich Hamilton, right, and Bruce
Kuhnan, left, help Jim Daly install a post that will help anchor a
ramp that will allow Victor and Bernice Matkovich to live at their
daughter’s home. (photo: DAILY WORLD / DAVID SANDLER) |
For more about Rebuilding Together, use the VA Watchdog search
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Story here...
http://www.thedailyworld
.com/articles/2007/09/30/local
_news/01news.txt
Story below:
-------------------------
Volunteers lift spirits of WWII vet and his
wife
By Jordan Kline
Daily World writer
Victor and Bernice Matkovich spent part of Saturday witnessing the power
of human kindness.
They watched a team of volunteers build a new ramp at their daughter
Victoria Vincent’s Aberdeen home for wheelchair-bound Mrs. Matkovich.
The couple is moving from their Central Park home to the downstairs of
their daughter’s home. But without a ramp and a wider door, Bernice had
no easy way to get inside.
“In my 83 years, I’ve never had anyone be this kind to me,” Victor
Matkovich said. On top of the volunteer hours, someone donated the
$5,000 motorized lift needed for the end of the ramp.
The Matkovich project was one of six renovation projects tackled by 160
volunteers from Rebuilding Together on Saturday. Dick Brower, director
of the non-profit that provides much-needed renovations to seniors and
people with disabilities, said the ramp was a particularly special
project for Rebuilding Together.
“This is the first project in the country funded by Heroes at Home,
which is a program started by Sears to fix up houses for veterans and
their families,” Brower said.
Rebuilding Together has been helping Harbor families like the
Matkoviches for more than a decade, Brower said, and he plans on
applying for more funding through the program for veterans next year.
Victor Matkovich fought in the Pacific theater in World War II,
including an 11-month tour in Okinawa. His wife said he didn’t talk
about the war much, nor did he expect anything in return for his
service.
“To get funding, I had to prove he was in the military,” Vincent said.
“I looked at his service record and I found out he received four medals
he never told us about.”
Now he and his wife will be living with their family close to the
Aberdeen Senior Center, spending time with their 11 grandchildren.
“Pretty soon the kids will be asking, ‘Do I have to go see grandma
again?’ ” Mrs. Matkovich said with a laugh.
“This is going to be great,” Vincent said as she watched the progress
unfold. “We fixed up the downstairs for my parents to live in, but I
wouldn’t have been able to afford the ramp and the lift.”
Volunteers from the Aberdeen Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Grays
Harbor Fine Woodworker’s Guild spent all day demolishing some old steps
and building the new ramp.
“This is the first time I’ve installed a lift in a home,” said Jim Daly,
the house captain.
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
