UW-Stout Veterans Club launches clothing drive for Afghan refugees

MENOMONIE, Wis. (WEAU) - A donation drive to help refugees from Afghanistan at Fort McCoy is launching at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

The UW-Stout Veterans Club started a drive this week for clothing items to be distributed to the refugees currently in Wisconsin.

Veterans Club President Eric Gritzmacher said that the members of the 42-person club share a perspective that they are dedicate to supporting and protecting civilians at home and abroad.

“If we don’t help each other, we are abdicating one of the fundamental human duties of empathy and understanding and support for each other,” Gritzmacher said. “We are all in this together.”

Student veterans on campus have been influenced in some way by Operation Enduring Freedom, said UW-Stout military education benefits coordinator Chris Engen.

“This donation drive provides an opportunity to support those who often worked with and alongside the U.S. and our international partners in Afghanistan,” Engen said. “Though no longer in uniform, our veterans often continue to serve their communities and our nation in other ways.”

New clothing or clothing that is like new is being collected in bins outside of the Involvement Center and Stoutfitters in the Memorial Student Center through Nov. 8.

For more information about the drive, you can visit the UW-Stout website.