Norm Martindale, left, and Franklin Danley, right, present a check to Sheila Jones with Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care on behalf of the American Legion Riders Post 123.
In only its second year in Surry County, the American Legion Riders of Post 123 have made their mark on the community.
Within the past couple of weeks, the organization has doled out $1,500 to three organizations in the county as well as making a donation to the troops serving overseas.
Monday rounded out those efforts as two members of the post traveled to Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care to present a check for $500. This donation came after a $500 donation to Yokefellow Ministries and a $500 donation to the Mount Airy Police Department. They also teamed up with Food Lion in Sparta to provide more than 200 boxes of chocolate for troops serving overseas and money to a family whose child needs major surgery.
In order to come up with the ideas for these donations and to decide who will receive them, the Legion Riders met to discuss the possibilities.
“We wanted to try to keep some of the money here in our own home,” said Norm Martindale, president of Post 123 and one of the cofounders. “Who knows, later on we might need them.”
The donation to Mountain Valley Hospice will go towards helping the facility fulfill its mission of not turning anyone away, regardless of their financial situation.
“This will help with our indigent population, those people who don’t have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. We don’t turn anybody away based on their ability to pay,” said Sheila Jones, director of development.
It is because of donations such as the one provided by the Legion Riders as well as donations made in the form of memorials that the center is able to provide the services it does.
“We could not serve the community without that support. We would have to turn those folks away,” said Jones. “It is definitely a necessity that people give.”
The donation to the police department was earmarked for Explorer Post 522 to sponsor any activities the post undertakes during the year.
To learn more about the American Legion Riders, visit the group’s Web site at www.alrpost123.com.
Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.
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