Student veterans give gift to help fellow veterans

The Student Veteran Organization at Grand Valley donated $2,000 to the Wounded Warriors Traumatic Brain Injury Project, a collaboration between Grand Valley and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, on Wednesday, October 3.

Jean Nagelkerk, vice provost for Health, was presented with a check from SVO President Steven Brown and members Max Cerame, Tim VanAntwerp and Jeff Trytko.

Brown, a junior hospitality and tourism major who served a tour in Iraq in 2009, said SVO members organized several fundraisers, including T-shirt sales, to raise funds for the student group and to support veterans. “We’re very excited to see that the donations will be used to support our fellow veterans,” he said. “We always stress to each other that we never leave a man behind.”

Nagelkerk said, “We’re so happy to see that these funds will go straight to the wounded warriors student veterans who have the opportunity take advantage of child care, transportation and many different services the project offers.”

The Wounded Warriors Traumatic Brain Injury Project is supported with funding from the Department of Defense. It provides outpatient rehabilitation services to wounded warriors with traumatic brain injury, addressing their physical, cognitive and psychosocial needs. For more information about WWTBIP, visit www.maryfreebed.com/woundedwarriors.