Dennis Defrain (left) and Michael Kramer
Linda Rowe
The PC Quilters Club has a long history of supporting our veterans by making quilts and sponsoring a veteran’s luncheon. For the last few years, we have also donated a quilt to the Luke Chapter of the Military Officers Association of American (MOAA) for their annual fundraiser. PC Quilt Club member Cynthia Schwartz presented this year’s quilt to Michael Kramer and Dennis Defrain, both members of the Luke Chapter MOAA.
The Luke Chapter Community Fund is a national 501(c)(3) organization and a subsidiary of Luke Chapter MOAA. It is not only non-profit; it is nonpartisan. It includes members from all branches of the military and three uniformed services. The Luke Chapter has 200 members. About half of the Luke Chapter members are PebbleCreek residents.
The Luke Chapter raises funds with two primary objectives. First is a scholarship fund for high school and college students. In the last year, Luke Chapter MOAA provided over 20 grants worth $34,000. Another objective is to provide emergency funding to both active-duty troops, their families, and retired veterans. So far this year, they have provided over $30,000 for food, housing, moving expenses, medical expenses, apartment deposits, and more. They also have an annual Turkey for Troops event that provides canned food donations and gift cards to the commissary for active military members.
Like so many in our country, military families and retired veterans have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our active troops have spouses who lost jobs and needed additional assistance to get through these challenging times. The same is true of retired veterans.
I was surprised and saddened to learn that the compensation for many active military troops is such that, at times, they need organizations such as MOAA to help meet some of their basic needs. If you would like to learn more about the Luke Chapter of MOAA, their webpage is www.lukemoaa.org. If you would like to donate, you can send a check made payable to Luke Chapter Community Fund to P.O. Box 5072, Sun City West, AZ 85376, or donate by credit card on their charity website at www.luke-fund.org.
Our military troops past and present have done, and continue to do, so much for us. When I hear the jets fly overhead, I always think, that is the sound of freedom. We should all show our gratitude and donate if possible.