DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Veterans Car Club of the Quad Cities on Tuesday, Dec. 28 donated $1,000 to help feed local veterans at the Quad Cities Veterans Outreach Center. It's the largest gift the club has given to the center.
Most of the money will go toward the center's monthly food baskets.
"Every veteran has given basically their life for this country," Bruce Cheek, president of the Veterans Car Club, said. "For us, it's an easy way to give back to them. And we try to we try to give it to groups that are helping veterans. So it's very important to us."
And that money will make a big difference.
Sandy VanAtta is the daily operations manager for the outreach center. She said it hasn't been easy to obtain food donations or transportation over the last two years.
"So that's a real blessing to help us restock and start the new year with some more food," she said.
VanAtta said providing food for veterans, especially through the center's monthly food program, is the root of why the center opened. But since the pandemic began, fundraising for their cause has been extremely difficult.
"It's really hard, but we're going to get there," VanAtta said. "Anything left over from food will definitely go into the other basic needs that veterans have."
The car club said the money came from a car show back in July, thanks to admission fees from visitors. While the club has a history of donating to organizations around the region, leaders said the pandemic has made operations difficult.
"The past couple years have been pretty lean as far as the amount of cars and people we've had," Mike Degeeter, the club's treasurer, said.
He added that the outreach center has been a consistent resource for area veterans, making Tuesday's donation all the more special.
"They do so much. It's a nice place for us veterans to come," Degeeter said. "It's just very comforting to have a place like this to be able to keep going."