As I think I’ve previously explained, Hubby moved from just helping with photography with our weekly community paper to being a photojournalist. He’s enjoying it and yesterday he attended an event at the Veterans for Foreign Wars (VFW) post where a check was presented to Rick Fit, a cyclist riding from New Orleans to Key West to Washington D.C., to raise awareness about homeless veterans. The full story will be in next week’s paper. The VFW held a Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday and raised a little over $1,000 for the cause.

Mr. Fit served in the Army for only a short while due to a medical condition that permanently disqualified him from continuing in service. As with certain other conditions, it did not preclude him from many types of employment or activities, yet was not compatible with the physical rigors of military requirements. He later became friends with veterans who suffered PTSD and became aware of the high correlation of PTSD and veteran homelessness. He lives in Louisiana and started looking into the issue more, and began to do things like create backpacks filled with items to distribute to homeless vets and help get them linked in with organizations that had resources available. After the premature death of one of the friends, both of whom spent time in Florida, Rick decided on this cycle venture. His original intent was to make it up to Philadelphia where the other friend lives. Others who support him in his efforts urged him to stop in Washington, D.C. to help add his voice and experiences to members of Congress and groups who are also engaged in veteran homeless actions. One of the things he mentioned to my husband during the interview is how giving people have been during this time in helping him make the journey.