‘We Are All in This Together’: UW-Stout Veterans Club Launches Clothing Drive for Afghan Refugees
donations of new or like-new clothing accepted through Nov. 8 for refugees at Fort McCoy
Eric Gritzmacher believes in the power of helping others.
President of UW-Stout's Veterans Club, Gritzmacher and other members of the club have started a clothing drive to help Afghanistan refugees restart their lives in the U.S. Some 13,000 Afghan evacuees are at Fort McCoy, a western Wisconsin military base, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The club is accepting donations for new and like-new clothing at the Memorial Student Center in bins located inside the Involvement Center and Stoutfitters, the university bookstore. The bins will be up until Monday, Nov. 8. Then, the clothing will be taken to the Methodist Church in Menomonie and transported to Fort McCoy.
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Though no longer in uniform, our veterans often continue to serve their communities and our nation in other ways.
Eric Gritzmacher
President of UW-Stout's Veterans Club
Many refugees arrived at Fort McCoy with only the clothing they were wearing when they evacuated to escape Taliban forces in August, according to Gritzmacher. They are awaiting resettlement in communities across the nation, according to media reports. Items most in need are new undergarments, shoes, and winter clothing for men, women, and children of all ages, Gritzmacher said.
“If we don’t help each other, we are abdicating one of the fundamental human duties of empathy and understanding and support for each other,” said Gritzmacher, a junior majoring in computer science, who is originally from Belvidere, Illinois. “We are all in this together.”
Vets Club members dedicated themselves to supporting and protecting civilians at home and abroad, and this is part of that promise, he added. The club currently has 42 members.
Gritzmacher, a Gunner’s Mate 2nd class, which is equivalent to a sergeant in other military branches, served for four years in the U.S. Navy from 2004 to 2008 with two tours in Iraq and one in Somalia. The Wisconsin winter will be difficult for Afghanis who are used to warmer weather, making winter clothing a critical necessity for them, Gritzmacher said.
“I can remember looking back and 120 to 130 degree days and coming back home in the summer, and I had to wear a coat,” said Gritzmacher, who is the comedy event director for Blue Devil Productions on campus.
Chris Engen, UW-Stout’s military education benefits coordinator, said many of the student veterans on campus experienced, or were influenced in some way, by Operation Enduring Freedom – the title used to refer to the United States’ response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent operations against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“This donation drive provides an opportunity to support those who often worked with and alongside the U.S. and our international partners in Afghanistan,” Engen said. “Though no longer in uniform, our veterans often continue to serve their communities and our nation in other ways.”
