Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.
People say they support the troops, but when the only VFW post in Aurora put out a call for help on Contact7 Gives last week, our community put their money where their mouth is.
People like Sam Hamer, a member of the VFW auxiliary who wrote a check for $250 in honor of his father, who has a ceiling tile in his memory at the Post.
The cards and checks started pouring in the mail, some veterans, some strangers, showing what support really looks like.
"People in our community and state cared enough about the veterans to help us in our time of need," said Gary Anguilm, a former post commander.
What these veterans didn't know, though, was just how many people stepped up to help.
Contact7 Gives cut a check for $6,500, and there is another check coming.
"That is just so amazing," said Cody Burrows, the current post commander. "This is going to allow us to continue serving our country and serving our community so we do appreciate it."
In a post that usually gives to the community, the donations not only pa the utility bills and insurance, they promise a future to the veterans who call the building a safe space.
"I'm very thankful for 7News and Contact7 Gives because it's going to give us a lease on life," said Bill Pursel, the Quartermaster for the post. "It's so important to me to come here on a regular basis and to spend time here with friends that I consider to be like family."
