Yankee Trails

02 A P R I L 2 0 1 8 The Villages ® Community yankeetrails.com | 352.633.4643 E C L U B O F T H E M O N T H Marine Corps League ight thousand and ten child- ren. That's how many children the Marine Corps League in The Villages presented Christmas gifts to last year. Every year since 2007, when the Marine Corps League at The Villages was chartered, the community group hosts a large golf tournament in September, and all the proceeds benefit the group's Toys for Tots endeavor. This resulted in helping 2,607 families to celebrate Christmas. The Marine Corps League com- munity group's 190 members are made up of anyone who served in the Marines or attended boot camp. There are about 28 mem- bers or so who come from other branches of service because the group will allow Navy corpsmen and chaplains membership as an associate member. Current Commandant, Reginald Nealy, who will wrap up his second year in this role in May, becomes so animated when he speaks about the work the group does to benefit the neighboring Lake Hill School. "We've changed their lives," he said. This school caters to those individuals who have an IQ of 35 or less. Many of the attendees are non-verbal and do not have motor skills. Through the Rose Program, where Marine Corps League mem- bers ask for donations outside of local stores, the group has raised enough money to supply the school with computerized mechanisms that will allow these students to communicate or become mobile in ways that would have been impossible before. Prior to this technology, the money raised went towards renovations of local parks that would allow the students to participate by accommodating their wheelchairs. Nealy explains that no one at the Marine Corps League makes a penny from any of the fundrais- ing that they do. It's all returned to the neighboring communities. And of course, a veterans group wouldn't be doing its job if it wasn't also doing work to benefit other veterans, or their children. Through Operation Helping Hands, and in partnership with the James Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, FL, the group raises money to help families of injured veterans who are currently staying at the hospital. The money goes to pay for a place for visiting family to stay, and anything else they might need while their loved ones are healing. They raised about $8,000 for this project just last year. This coming April, the Marine Corps League will be hosting its evening golf event to raise funds for schol- arships to benefit the High School at The Villages. This high school is an opportunity for the children of the support staff at the Village to attend school for free, if the par- ents volunteer a certain number of hours within a given time frame. So these scholarships help to further that mission for the children. This group of the Marine Corps League is also a Vietnam War Era Commemoration Partner. Mem- bers are able to pin individuals to thank and honor Vietnam Veterans and their families. Contact Mike Rogers at mrogers@yankeetrails.com For more info, visit villagesmcl1267.com Would you like your group to be featured as Club of the Month?

• Cover