Cedar Creek Woodworkers make donations to veterans groups

Dec. 25--Gifts from the Cedar Creek Woodworkers will help support local veterans and service men and women.

Representatives from the group recently made donations to the Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project and Veterans K-9 Solutions.

Kim Elle, president and chief executive officer of the Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project, and Jerry Lydia of Veterans K-9 Solutions each accepted checks for $2,000.

The Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project, with an office in Augusta, is a nonprofit organization that serves the needs of all generations -- from World War II to currently serving -- of service men and women in the Aiken-Augusta area, Elle said.

"Our focus is education, employment, benefits and housing, but I like to say that we help to provide everything in between because that's what our warriors need," she said. "This kind of funding allows us to do the everything in between to help people create better lives for themselves."

Elle said donations from the Cedar Creek Woodworkers and other groups help the Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project provide one-on-one, holistic support for men and women who serve and have served in the military.

"The funds could be used for anything. It might be for someone with needs tied to employment and might help them with resume services," she said. "It might be helping someone get stable housing who maybe had not had housing before. It might be helping somebody with school -- all sorts of things."

For more information about the Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project, visit augustawarriorproject.org.

Veterans K9 Solutions is a nonprofit organization based in Augusta that is dedicated to rescuing dogs and helping disabled veterans. The organization's mission is "bringing canine and veterans together with the simple goal: rehabilitate a canine to rehabilitate a veteran," according to its website at veteransk9solutions.org.

According to the site, "Today, there are more and more veterans in need of help from emotional to physical disabilities. These veterans can range from any age and can be of any gender. Additionally, there are more than hundreds of dogs in shelters waiting and hoping for the chance to be rescued.

"The unique concept of Veterans K9 Solutions Inc. is by saving a shelter dog you can save a veteran. Saving a shelter dog and rehabilitating them provides them with a purpose, gives life back to them and enables them to provide an emotional and physical bond with the veteran in need."

Members of the Cedar Creek Woodworkers raised the money for the donations selling handcrafted wooden items, including clocks made from wood from the Maid Marion oak tree, at its annual holiday craft sale in November.

"We take a vote about who we want to give our donations to," said Art Storer with the Cedar Creek Woodworkers. "We're not all veterans, but there are quite a few veterans in the group; and we wanted to do something for them."

Elle said gifts from community organizations allow the Aiken-Augusta Warrior Project to help veterans and service men and women in need.

"Because of gracious people like this, we're able to continue to do great work that's recognized both locally and also nationally," she said. "We're very appreciative of this community and this organization. They've been generous for several years."

Larry Wood covers education for the Aiken Standard.

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