Golf tournament raises $7,600 to benefit injured soldiers
A fund raiser to provide aid to two soldiers injured in Afghanistan raised $7,600, organizers said.
The charity golf tournament was held to jointly honor two U.S .Army soldiers from Cape Coral, PFC Corey Kent and SPC Michael Araujo.
The men were seriously wounded by IEDs in separate incidents.
The event was co-sponsored by the Cajun Classic and Operation Open Arms with 100 percent of all proceeds from the sold-out event going directly to Kent and Araujo, according to Operation Open Arms founder Capt John “GiddyUp” Bunch.
In total, more than $7,600 was raised by “countless enthusiastic patriots attending the event,” Bunch said.
Meanwhile, working through the office of Congressman Connie Mack, R-FL, Bunch and Fort Myers City Councilman Tom Leonardo, Ward 2, worked to have Kent removed from the VA in Tampa back to Walter Reed Hospital for better care.
Kent was critically injured, suffering the loss of both legs and part of one hand as well as internal injuries.
In addition, a charitable fund raiser was held for Operation Open Arms at Roger Dean Chevrolet by Corvettes on the Gulf on Oct. 23.
Corvettes on the Gulf raised $3,200 of the registered charity.
All proceeds were donated to Operation Open Arms, the primary purpose of which is to offer local services to men and women home on R&R from a foreign duty station.
Meals, hotel stays and fishing charters are among the free services offered to military personnel through Operation Open Arms, which also has begun offering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder counseling on a same-day basis through a similar donation of services.