Community Organizations Show They Care

By Chuck N. Baker

(Boulder City) —  Honor Flight Southern Nevada, a local Girl Scout and a number of community organizations, including KTNV-TV’s “Hope for Our Heroes” campaign, brought packages of gifts and goodwill to the residents of the Southern Nevada Veterans Home in celebration of Veterans Day Week. The outpouring of love and appreciation enveloped the air as vehicles caravanned around the Home’s traffic circle at the front entrance and passengers waved and shouted words of praise to those resident veterans who came outside to witness the event and be a part of the celebration.

Boulder City Girl Scout Abigail Panariso took it upon herself to contact numerous nonprofit and commercial organizations and asked them to pitch in with items for the care packages. Besides being a devoted member of the Scouts and earning numerous badges and ribbons for her on-going efforts in the organization, she felt a strong urge to do something for America’s veterans. Her involvement brought her to coordinate together with KTNV-TV’s “Hope for Our Heroes” campaign. Financial contributions and useful items were donated to residents of the veterans Home. Panariso’s mother Sarah Panariso, said, “Girl Scouts have a large presence in Boulder City, and we are honored to be able to help veterans and give back to the community.” Besides being Abigail’s mother, she is also a Girl Scout volunteer and a volunteer with Honor Flight Southern Nevada, which played a part in the Veterans Day Week event.

Eli Quinones, the Home’s administrator, welcomed the outpouring of affection on behalf of the residents. “It’s all a part of the community’s outreach, and we like the fact that young people like Abigail are interested in celebrating all the good things that have been given to us by veterans,” he said. In addition to helming the veterans Home, Quinones is proud to note that his father is an Army veteran, and his son is currently a member of the U.S. Air Force.

Each care package included a pair of socks, a bottle of hand sanitizer, a first-aid kit, a Golden Knights bobble head figure, a book and a handwritten letter thanking the veteran for his or her service. Additional organizations that were involved included America First Credit Union, Subaru of Las Vegas, Spread the Word Nevada and the Raiders Foundation.

The caravan included an automobile with representatives from Honor Flight Southern Nevada, a traditional fire engine from the Boulder City Fire Department, and an additional white-emblazoned fire engine with an angel-wings logo from the non-profit Angel Fire Department. Rick Rizzo, executive director of the Angel group, said that his organization brings his creatively-decorated vehicle to events such as Veterans Day programs that honor wounded warriors, military families and veterans in general. “We also bring the truck to Nellis AFB for kids whose moms and dads are away on deployment,” he said. “We help them forget about their worries for a little while.” Regarding that last comment, the Southern Nevada Veterans Home works diligently to keep its residents from having to worry, even for a little while. And it rejoices in hosting such celebrations as the care package event, helping to bring appreciative smiles to the faces of those who proudly served our nation.

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