After a trip to Rockaway Beach last summer, where he learned about the WWP, Long Beach City Council member John McLaughlin was inspired to reach out to wounded veterans. The City of Long Beach is sponsoring its first Wounded Warriors Weekend, in which 10 such soldiers and their families will spend a few days on the barrier island. The weekend retreat is planned for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, and the city needs volunteers to assist with the event.
Herald reporter Ariella Monti spoke with McLaughlin to find out more about his Rockaway Beach inspiration and what he hopes he will achieve with this new undertaking.
How did you get involved with the Wounded Warriors Project?
Well, my daughter and son-in-law live in Rockaway Beach and I had noticed that the community had a tremendous amount of American flags set up along Rockaway Beach Boulevard. When I asked about it, I was told it was for the Wounded Warrior Weekend.
After further research into this group, I realized that this is a tremendous organization that reaches out to our wounded servicemen/women. It's a sort of, "you're not forgotten" type of group. It has been in the back of my mind to try to get something like this into Long Beach, and this year I just said to myself, "Let's do it!"
I believe the people of this community will embrace these veterans with tremendous enthusiasm. It is a chance for all of us to give back a little.
Where will the families be coming from?
The Wounded Warrior Organization has a master list of alumni from the different hospitals, and also men and women located in the transition facilities on the East Coast. I would imagine that we will get some veterans from the tri-state area and maybe a few from the general Northeast.
How can residents help?
We have been working on setting up a network over the last months and are pleased to announce that there will be a public meeting at City Hall on the sixth floor on April 23 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. If anyone is coming from work, we welcome late-comers.
We are also in the process of trying to access a venue for a fundraising event. During that time we will present a CD of the Rockaway event, which will give everyone the flavor and rewards of a community task such as this.
Anyone can help. This is, first and foremost, a community event, which I hope will grow on the scale of the Rockaway weekend. We are in need of housing for a few of the larger families and sponsors for these service people. We will be selling T-shirts and other assorted merchandise as a way of generating funds to cover the expenses. We are looking for local restaurants to be kind enough to seat one family over the weekend, so they can enjoy a quiet night out in town with just their families. Any little bit will help.
What has been your experience with this undertaking so far?
So far, the experience has been just what I would expect. Every single person that I have asked for help has jumped on board. There hasn't been any negative feedback at all, which is very exciting. The people of Long Beach are just unbelievable! We have a great core group working at this time, doing the grassroots stuff and, I think, as a group, we’re really looking forward to the whole process. As is the usual with Long Beach, these people have just taken the ball and run with it. It seems that as the word gets out, the enthusiasm builds. My experience with the Wounded Warrior Project has been only positive.
What do you hope comes from
the project?
I'm hoping for a community event that just grows each year and allows the community to have a common goal in embracing these great people. It's a great opportunity for different parts of the city to work together, share ideas and do something nice for someone else. I think it will add a bit of sunshine to these hard economic times and at the same time add some sunshine to someone's life.
For more information visit the city’s Web site at longbeachny.org and click on the Wounded Warriors icon or email waterfrontwarrior@lb.ny.org.
