STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Tim Zvoncheck, the commander at the VFW Post in Strongsville, said funding and donations helped make a special memorial in the backyard of the post.
“We built this about 14 years ago strictly out of donations and out of volunteer services,” Zvoncheck said.
It’s most recent additions honor the soldiers who died getting out of Afghanistan and first responders who died on 9/11. Zvoncheck said the donations for the post plummeted once the pandemic kicked in. This bar was shut down for months, since they have a liquor license. But that’s not the primary function of the VFW.
“We probably lost an average of 25,000 dollars monthly in revenue,” Zvoncheck said. “Now, that was not necessarily bar revenue—that’s different functions we do different fundraisers.”
Now they’re back open they raise money through yard sales. During the height of the pandemic they didn’t have as much funding to help get veterans what they need.
“We collect a lot of handicap devices and wheelchair and crutches and things like that,” Zvoncheck said. “Where those who may need them that can’t afford them or can’t get them quick enough through the VA system we will get them for them.”
Zvoncheck said the post is not a business or a traditional charity. It’s a lifeline for those who served.
