CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Good News: Veteran gets a new set of wheels

Florida Times-Union - 12/23/2019

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police officer and military veteran Andy Berry received an early Christmas present Thursday morning when GoMobile Tires put four new tires on his personal vehicle as part of the company's Salute to Veterans campaign.

In addition to being a police officer for the past 11 years, Berry served four years as a military police officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Berry was nominated for the Salute to Veterans Campaign by his wife, Julie, a nurse at Wolfson Children's Hospital.

"Our goal with this campaign was to create awareness that we have many veterans in our area," said Amal Soni, owner of GoMobile Tires. "Not just retired and active duty, but lots of people who served their time and got out, and their commitment to our military deserves recognition, too."

Related | Read more good news stories from the Jacksonville area

GoMobile Tires is a locally owned business and gives a 10 percent discount to veterans who were honorably discharged with a DD-214 form.

Here's more good news:

Wounded Warrior Project hosted an event where local wounded veterans and their families could enjoy Christmas crafts, games and other activities.

Volunteers had packed baskets of food for the veterans and their families to take with them. The food had been donated by several local organizations.

Mirtha Barzaga, an agent at Davidson Realty, recently hosted a holiday donation drive in World Golf Village. Barzaga hosts the event each year.

The donations included approximately 200 toys and 200 bags of groceries. All items were directly donated to the Emergency Services & Homeless Coalition of St. Johns County, which "provides transitional housing and services to families and children."

Stein Mart recently announced that it has donated almost 24,000 toys and over $700,000 to the Marine Toys for Tots program. The event ran from Nov. 4 to Dec. 15 with local Stein Mart stores having toy drop locations encouraging customers to make donations during the checkout process.

Retired Marine Col. Ted Silvester, vice president of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, thanked Stein Mart saying, "With their generous support, we will be able to fulfill the Christmas holiday dreams of thousands of less fortunate children who otherwise might be forgotten."

Have good news? You can mail to The Florida Times-Union, P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231 or email jkanner@jacksonville.com.

___

(c)2019 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.