Onaway veterans raise money for National Home for Children

?A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.? Anonymous

Members of the Onaway VFW Post 5857 shares that vision and are doing their part to support the VFW National Home for Children in Eaton Rapids. Last Thursday, in celebration of National Home Awareness Week, the veterans and their families raised more than $1,100 from a spaghetti dinner. In attendance was Barry Walter, the public relations coordinator from the National Home, who has ties to Onaway. The National Home for Children is a private, non-profit, residential child care agency providing long and short term residency to children and grandchildren of VFW and Ladies Auxiliary members.

AT THE TIME the home was developed in 1925 there were limited social service agencies to help children and families in need. The widows and orphans of deceased veterans of World War I needed somewhere to go. For example, the very first family who came to live at the National Home was the Pollett family. While crossing the street in Detroit, Sgt. Edward Pollett, Ret., was hit by a streetcar and later died at a nearby hospital. Mrs. Pollett and her six children were left with no income because Sgt. Pollett?s retirement pay stopped upon his death. With the mission of preserving the family circle, the National Home took in the Polletts, and it continues to care for many families from across the country.

WITHOUT THE HOME, many of the children who have passed through the doors of the National Home, would have fallen through the cracks. As a private, non-profit agency, the National Home receives no state or federal funding. The success of the home is the result of a group of men and women who have banded together to take a stand to care for children and families, and at the same time, honor the dead by helping the living. VFW Post 5857 members were honored to tell the community about this unique, living memorial to honored veterans. Onaway post commander Ray Roberson called the facility ?our best kept secret.?

IN PREPARATION for the dinner, workers spent four days making sure everything was in place. The dinner was labeled a tremendous success, as 50 pounds of spaghetti were served to 200 people at the event. Post members will be chartering a bus to Eaton Rapids, which is located between Jackson and Lansing, in May, to present a check for the money raised. The VFW National Home for Children aims to provide children with the atmosphere and environment typical of the average American home. Services also are available for children of active duty military service personnel who are not able to provide adequate care for their children through the approved family plan arrangement.