DAV chapter gets $2,000 toward future project

Dave Hellerich of Conway, adjutant of the John H. Dunn Disabled American Veterans Chapter 10, accepts a check for $2,000 from Tabitha Scott, an employee of Southwestern Energy. Hellerich said the money, from the Community Heroes program, will be put toward a project to connect the DAV building’s septic system to the city’s sewer line.
Dave Hellerich of Conway, adjutant of the John H. Dunn Disabled American Veterans Chapter 10, accepts a check for $2,000 from Tabitha Scott, an employee of Southwestern Energy. Hellerich said the money, from the Community Heroes program, will be put toward a project to connect the DAV building’s septic system to the city’s sewer line.

CONWAY — A $2,000 donation from Southwestern Energy made to the John H. Dunn Disabled American Veterans Chapter 10 in Conway will go toward improving the group’s building, the adjutant said.

The grant was one of the 2013 SWN Community Hero Awards given in honor of outstanding employees. The nonprofit partners where the employees donated their time received the checks.

Dave Hellerich of Conway, adjutant for the DAV chapter, said Southwestern Energy employee Tabitha Scott led fundraising efforts and volunteered to help improve the organization’s 50-year-old building at 1490 S. Donaghey Ave.

“She was just like an angel sent to me,” Hellerich said.

He said Scott, who has since moved out of state, organized a group to clean and make repairs to the building.

“Everything down at that building was antique and falling apart,” he said.

Hellerich said Scott went above and beyond and continued to help the organization through last year.

“She put in a flower bed for us,” he said.

Hellerich said the $2,000 will go toward getting the building’s septic system tied into the city’s sewer line. There are times, especially after a heavy rain, when the toilets in the building won’t flush, he said.

“Conway Corp. gave us an estimate of $4,800 last spring,” he said. “We’re working on it.”

He said members have been working toward the goal for “several years.”

Hellerich said the chapter could pay for the rest of the project, “but then we’d be down to zero.”

The next fundraiser will be a pancake breakfast in April.

Hellerich said the DAV chapter holds monthly meetings in the building, and other groups use it, too, including the Cub Scouts, the Boy Scouts, Alcoholics Anonymous and the Marine Corps League.

He said the DAV chapter is for anybody who has served in the U.S. Armed Forces and has sustained an injury or illness and is under the care of

Veterans Affairs. The wives and other relatives of the veterans can join the auxiliary, he said.

Hellerich, a Vietnam veteran, said he is disabled from the effects of Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War.

Donations to John H. Dunn DAV Chapter 10 can be sent to P.O. Box 2172, Conway, AR 72033.

Also honored was Southwestern Energy employee Michael Harrell of Conway for his work with the Quapaw Area Council of the Boy Scouts. He participated in projects to improve and renovate a 350-acre short-term, multiuse camping facility at Gus Blass Scout Reservation, as well as in the construction of an Order of the Arrow Council ring and ceremonial site.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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