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Generous donations, community support keep Silverdale's VFW Post 4992 doors open

In the Spring, Post 4992 leadership received notice from their insurance company it would drop them if the roof wasn't replaced.

SILVERDALE, Wash. — Standing in front of VFW Post 4992 in Silverdale on Wednesday, Post Commander Gary Heitmann couldn't help but harken to the holiday season. 

"This is our Christmas Miracle," Heitmann said, referring to the new roof, fascia board and gutters that now adorn the building that's more than 100 years old.

"We're here to stay because they told us they wanted us to stay," Heitmann said.

Commander Heitmann said donations started coming in after he began publicizing what they needed. 

"You bringing this up on air was a big help to push to GoFundMe page. That got a lot of activity going," Heitmann said of KING 5's story.  One donation in particular caught Heitmann by surprise.

"One day, I looked and a $22,000 anonymous donation showed up," he said. Heitmann could see the name of the donor who he said is a local veteran.  He emailed the individual and asked if they wanted to be honored, but did not hear back. "He doesn't want the recognition, he just wanted to help us out."

That major donation allowed work on the roof to start. Hood Canal Roofing replaced the roof at the cheapest price possible. The company also replaced the deteriorated fascia boards which allowed another local business, Almost Free Gutters, to install, as the name implies, gutters.

Heitmann said all this work will allow the VFW to serve its community for decades to come. Dozens of organizations and groups use the facilities for different events.

"The local garden club uses this facility. The local wilderness survival training happens here," Heitmann said. "I have knitting crew meetings here that make things for veterans in nursing homes."

VFW Post 4992 is most closely connected to one organization: Boy Scout Troop 1539. It was charted at the VFW in 1972. It's the largest troop in Kitsap County. Tom Bougan has been the Scoutmaster for 20 years.

"These kind of facilities are hard to maintain. They're older buildings and it takes a group effort to do it," Bougsan said. "It's just something that brings the neighborhood together to have a VFW Hall here."

Bougan said in exchange for all the basement usage and storage at the VFW, Scouts take care of landscaping and anything else that needs to be done, within reason. Bougan said the community ensured Troop 1539 will continue to have a home.

As KING 5 explained in its prior story, VFW Post 4992's dedication to being community-centric comes at a cost. They do not have a bar (or canteen as the VFW calls them) like most VFW's, which means its only source of income is brought in by renting out space to various community organizations, groups, and individuals. This is why fundraising around $25,000 was necessary for the repairs.

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