Of the 72 Army Emergency Relief offices worldwide, Redstone’s is the only one that raises more money in donations than it gives out to Soldiers and Soldier families.
“This is the biggest installation for donations based on per capita,” retired Sgt. Maj. Glen Wellman, assistant administrator for AER, said. He and Andrew Pike, chief of campaign, represented AER headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, at an annual Redstone event last week that contributes to AER.
The Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center 12th annual AER Golf Scramble drew 120 golfers, 30 four-member teams, on Thursday to Colonial Golf Course in Meridianville.
“On behalf of our director, Lt. Gen. retired Ray Mason, I would just like to thank everybody that participated in this golf tournament,” Wellman said. “Since Army Emergency Relief was founded in 1942, we’ve assisted over 400 members of the Army family with over $2 billion in assistance and we couldn’t do that without the generous donations of the people who participate in this tournament. There’s literally thousands of veteran assistance organizations out there but Army Emergency Relief is the Army’s nonprofit. And by donating to Army Emergency Relief, the funds go directly to Soldiers and Soldiers’ families.”
Laura Bequette, tournament organizer along with Matt Boenker, said they had to turn away a team because the tournament sold out 30 teams in 72 hours.
“I think we’re going to do $22,500 (in proceeds for AER),” she said. “We did $20,000 last year.”
Wellman and AER coordinator Capt. Jeremy Myles, commander of Headquarters & Headquarters Company AMCOM, thanked the participants during the steak lunch after golf.
The winning team of Anthony Jones, Jamie Santiago, Jody Maxwell and Jim Knaur shot a 14-under 58.
“You can’t do this without a lot of helpers,” Boenker said. “And I want to say thank you.”
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