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| Four Seasons Hemet Herald | October 2014 | 22 The following is a copy of the letter from John Baranek to the Four Seasons Board of Directors, Rick Ruth, and Glennon Gray of Euclid Management. First, let me say thank you for your support and co-operation in allowing the Veterans Committee to solicit the support of our community to put on the Veterans BBQ last month and to then plan for the U.S. Vet's Christmas Party and future activities to support them. The office and front desk staff did an excellent job in keeping track of the volunteers and donations. Not wanting to diminish anyone's help, because it was all appreciated, but two people also went out and solicited extra donations of funds and a musician. They also came to help work and serve the veterans at the BBQ. They were Mari Salazar and Louise Ceccarelli. Our residents also made extraordinary efforts to support this group and event. First on the calendar was the Blue Thong Group, led by Karen Brown who made hygiene kits for the vets. Their plan was to put together 100 kits. They finished by making 150 kits and it took a van and a pick-up truck to deliver all the kits and left over's to the Vets. The Golf Club held a tournament to raise funds to pay for the BBQ. Initial estimates were that they could raise $2,000 or maybe more. Well, just under $4,000 later they were the largest single contributor. Then we had outside contributors like Rancho Foods for over $500 worth of chicken, hamburg, and hot dogs, Bud's Tires with over $500 in value of prizes for the golf tournament, and Soboba with $500 in cash to spend as needed. Riverside Transit Agency contributed $1,000 worth of bus passes and Ramona Bowl contributed passes for Bowl events to be raffled off. Our biggest contribution came from the residents of Four Seasons. All together we raised just under $10,000 and we were able to feed approximately 280 people and have many raffle prizes for the veterans. With funds left over we are planning a Veterans Christmas Party for their children. Linda Krupa provided the $1,000 in RTA bus passes and helped us get the Thank You Veterans Banners, that we will be able to use at future events. The hall was beautifully decorated by a crew of our ladies that was befitting a celebration for U.S. Veterans. Our menu was outstanding, as was the reaction from our guests. This was due to a staff of 100 cooks, table captains and servers made up our awesome residents, some outside helpers and the CMI Cadets from Perris. After dinner we sent them home with home baked goodies from our Sunshine Club and helpers. There was enough left over's of both baked goodies and menu items that they feed the barracks vets over the weekend. We had many raffle prizes for the Veterans, starting with four TV's and a $25 gift cards for each child. We had our own Scotty the Clown making balloons and face painters from CMI, both were a huge hit with the children and even some adults. There were fire trucks for the kids to climb on. It was very fortunate that we had the fire trucks there, as one of the Vets had a seizure and had to be transported to the hospital. They are saying the firemen on the scene saved his life by being there. Thank God for that. Exiting comments from many of the Veteran's and families as they were leaving were that they had never been to an event that was so nice and how much they enjoyed it. In closing let me say be thankful as I am for living in a caring and giving community that does not just talk the talk, they walk the walk. A big "Thank You" to all of you. Thank you for a successful Veterans BBQ

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