Heroes Helping Heroes

July 17, 2012 10:27 am CT

By Guest Blogger Megan McDowell, OTOH military round  winner

About a year ago, a few neighbors and I thought it would be nice to organize a race within our community. My husband Steve is an Iraq war veteran, so I wanted to do something to benefit military members and their families. We decided on a 4th of July race to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. This non-profit organization provides programs and services to severely injured service members, as well as provides assistance for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

While we were busy organizing the race, I was honored to be voted the General Motors Our Town, Our Heroes award winner. I received a Chevrolet Suburban for a week, a $500 gift card and an additional gift card from Bill Stasek Chevrolet.  While using these gifts for a family trip was tempting, I knew I wanted to pay it forward to an Illinois veteran wounded in combat.

We were honored to have a Wounded Warrior at our event, and I was happy to award him with one of the gift cards. I used other gift card to provide snacks and drinks for participants, a DJ for entertainment and medals for all the top runners and children who participated.

We are proud to announce more than $4,300 was raised for the Wounded Warrior Project. After the race, the entire group came together to sing the National Anthem.  This was a 4th of July I won’t soon forget.  Thanks so much to General Motors and Bill Stasek Chevrolet for making our race such a success!