Bend Car Show Benefits ‘Caring for Troops’

An idea from a local college class at COCC helped raise funds for Central Oregon troops overseas.

Chad Owens, who is taking a communications class, was assigned to do a project that would benefit the community.

Owens, who has been deployed to war zones overseas four times in five years, received a box from Caring for Troops on each of his deployments.

So he and his classmates decided to throw a car show together Sunday, and donate all the money to Caring for Troops.

Owens couldn’t stress enough the importance the packages had for him while overseas.

“It means a lot,” Owens said. “It means there are people back here that care, that you aren’t forgotten about. And on top of that, there’s a lot of guys in the military that don’t have family and don’t receive care packages, and we got to share them as well.”

“In the beginning, the service members actually needed the items,” said Betsy Leighty-Johnson, a Caring for Troops volunteer. “Now its all about them understanding that we remember why they are there, and that we don’t forget about them — especially like this weekend,”

Every month Caring for Troops sends out 25 boxes, packing them the second Saturday of every month.

The postage alone is $15 a piece, so having fundraisers like the car show helps out a lot.

For more information, visit CFT’s Website at: www.caringfortroops.com.