An American Legion in eastern N.C. received a generous donation to assist them in rebuilding after Hurricane Florence.
Wednesday morning, American Legion Post 64 received a $10,000 check from the American Legion Department of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
“We weren’t looking for a handout, we’re looking for a hand up,” said Post Commander James W Gray.
The building suffered $80,000 in damages after the storm.
“The building was flooded, we had a lot of damage to the exterior walls, a lot of cracking, so we pretty much had to start from scratch,” said Gray.
In the past year, American Legion Post 64 has been operating out of members’ homes in order to continue their services.
The funds will be used to repair the building and make it a multi-purpose facility.
“They could use it for events, such as meetings or education or hiring events, or training events,” said Martin Falls, Deputy Secretary for N.C. Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization disaster response team, assisted in the partial rebuilding of American Legion Post 64. The Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs awarded them with a token of appreciation.
“You know every time, you think about it, you almost tear up, [because] you see the people happy for your work,” said Jason Osborne, N.C. Mobilization Lead for Team Rubicon.
Their help has reduced the cost to repair the building. American Legion Post 64’s goal is to open the building on June 2020.