(L-R) Post 178 members John Allen, Pete Abene, Tim Schmidt, Ron Bircher, and Marty Martel display banners made by elementary students for the veteran residents.
Peter J Courcy Post 178 has collected and delivered gifts each year since 2014 to the Clyde M. Cosper State Veterans Home in Bonham, Texas. The 152 men and women residents received and enjoyed items that the state does simply not provide.
Little Elm Oak Point and Brent Elementary Schools also collected donations. Jill Harrer, a dyslexia therapist at Brent and daughter of John and Vicki Allen, again led efforts to encourage student donations which included banners and personal letters to veterans written by the students. The Little Elm North Texas Collegiate Academy fifth grade class also donated boxes that included colored t-shirts and blue jeans.
Post 178 and its members donated funds to purchase items which included a Pop-A-Shot Arcade with seven basketball balls and two goals, as well as clothing and personal hygiene items. Donations from Post 178 and Auxiliary Unit 178 amounted to $3,000.
Post 178 members John Allen, Pete Abene, Tim Schmidt, Ron Bircher, and Marty Martel traveled sixty miles on December 4 to deliver seventy boxes of requested items along with more than four hundred home-baked cookies by the Dillingham family. After unloading the boxes of donations, the five Post 178 veterans cooked and served hot dogs and hamburgers for the residents and staff.