Residents support troops at Car Wash Barn event fundraiser

Residents support troops at Car Wash Barn event fundraiser Posted On: Saturday, Jun. 23 2012 10:35 PM By Sarah Rafique
Killeen Daily Herald

Scott Sturgeon planned to wash his car at home Saturday. But when the Killeen resident drove down Veterans Memorial Boulevard and saw Michael Sanchez holding a sign reading, "Support Wounded Warriors today at Car Wash Barn," Sturgeon made a U-turn.

Sanchez, marketing manager at Car Wash Barn, said Sturgeon was one of dozens of passersby who turned around when they saw him standing along the highway during the all-day fundraising event.

"It's a good idea for a business like this to give up their profits for a day to help out the soldiers," said Sturgeon, who is a military contractor for General Dynamics. "The military can't be the only people who help. This is a military community, so everybody has to be involved."

The car wash donated 100 percent of Saturday's proceeds to wounded warriors at Fort Hood. Donations at the event benefited the Central Texas-Fort Hood AUSA Chapter and Military Homefront Services, which provides counseling to soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001.

It's not just physical wounds that matter, but also mental ones, said Sanchez.

"There's no prosthetic for mental wounds," he said. "It's one thing to be an amputee, but psychology isn't being addressed."

Many soldiers act differently when they reunite with their families after yearlong deployments, he said. "It's not their fault. It just has to be addressed, and that's what the funding is for."

Sanchez said there is always a need for more funding. Since Fort Hood is the largest military base, he said health care for soldiers should be a big focus.

"We kind of want to set the standard and make people aware of what's going on.

"I don't know what it's like to be (a soldier), but I know they go through a lot; and when they come back wounded, we need to give back to them," he said.

Retired Staff Sgt. Edwina Bivins, a human resources assistant for the Fort Hood Warrior Transition Brigade, knows what it's like to have a family member return from war in a different condition.

Her daughter, Spc. Andrea Bivins, deployed to Afghanistan two years ago as an administrative assistant and still is recovering.

"She was affected mentally (and is on medication)," said Edwina Bivins.

Events like Saturday's are a reminder that the U.S. is still at war, people are sacrificing and soldiers sometimes return with mental or physical problems.

"The war has been going on for so long and most people tend to forget," she said. "The main thing is that people just should not forget."

Contact Sarah Rafique at srafique@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7549.

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