Source: Star-News, Wilmington, N.儲存C.Aug. 30–KURE BEACH — Step Up for Soldiers holds an annual fishing tournament at the Kure Beach Pier for the families of troops — Guardsmen or service members — who are deployed. It holds fundraisers to help wounded fighting men and women. It built a memorial for fallen National Guardsmen at the armory off North Kerr Avenue.Now, under the leadership of Director Thomas Russell, the organization takes on perhaps its most ambitious challenge yet: It plans to build a transitional home for the family of a returning veteran while he or she attends a local college or university.Tom Scuorzo, who owns Tom’s Marine Center, and dermatologist Dr. Jonathan Crane donated a lot near Monkey Junction. Mickey Webb, a general contractor, has pledged his services.Drawing on his experience volunteering for Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, Russell plans to ask volunteers to help build the house.Sponsors are sought for every piece of material that will go into the 1,410-square-foot house, from doors to floors, water heater to PVC pipe to closet hardware.Sponsors and the materials they donate all will be listed in a book.Russell’s commitment to service goes way back. He was a member of the Port Authority Police Department when the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993.He remembers standing in the garage after the blast.”I was looking up 12, 14 stories and it was gone!” he said.He was retired and living in Kure Beach by Sept. 11, 2001, but he was on Long Island for his grandson’s birthday. He was at Ground Zero the next day bringing supplies, and he worked there for three days. He lost 10 friends when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.Russell had retired in 1995 and bought a house in Kure Beach. About 10 years ago, he and his wife, Dianne, built the house where they live today, designing it and doing a lot of the labor themselves.His father taught him the fundamentals of building 新蒲崗迷你倉s a way of thrifty living.”My father built everything, and I built everything, he said. “You could build better than buy.”Russell was an Army combat engineer in Vietnam, keeping maintenance logs on assault helicopters.In 2004, two local National Guardsmen lost legs in an explosion while serving in Iraq. He did some work on their houses.Step Up for Soldiers grew out of that work and community efforts to help the families of “citizen soldiers” — people who leave careers and families for deployments — and active-duty military people serving overseas.Step Up received its 501(c)3 tax certification in 2005. In 2008, it built the Fallen Soldier Memorial and Garden by the National Guard Armory off Kerr Avenue. Step Up maintains the grounds and sells memorial brick pavers.The annual fishing tournament is eagerly anticipated by the children of service members. In June, 87 children cast their lines off the pier in Kure Beach.Step Up for Soldiers also sends packages twice a year to the troops.You can support Step Up for Soldiers by participating in a 5K Mud Run Oct. 19 at the National Guard Armory, off Kerr Avenue near the backside of Wilmington International Airport. The cost is $40, with an additional tough challenge called the “Meat Head Mile” for $10 extra. Disabled veterans get a 50 percent discount. Learn more, find starting times and register at combatmudrun.org.Russell believes he’ll have no trouble finding donations and labor to build the house. Call him at 297-4981 or visit stepupforsoldiers.org for more information.”I believe in squeezing people,” he said. “There are so many people who are willing to help veterans.”Column idea? Contact Si Cantwell at 343-2364 or Si.Cantwell@StarNewsOnline.com, or follow him on Twitter.com: @SiCantwell.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) Visit the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) at .starnewsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage
Star-News, Wilmington, N.C., Here Now column
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