A quarter doesn’t sound like much.
But what if thousands of people donated 25 cents a day for a week, a month or even a year The result would be tens of thousands of dollars, says Shirley Perry of Glen Burnie. She and her husband, Bruce, hope that’s what they can ultimately raise with their fledgling nonprofit Hard Hats for Heroes. The charity, which the couple formed last year to raise money for soldiers wounded in combat, will hold its first fundraiser tomorrow at Texas Roadhouse in Pasadena. Perry, 75, has been passing out fliers promoting the event all over town. For every customer who comes in with a flier from 4 to 10 p.m., the restaurant will donate 10 percent of the dinner bill to Hard Hats for Heroes. “If someone spends $15 and we get $1.50, well, that’s $1.50 we didn’t have,” Perry said. The money raised will go to veterans who need a little extra help financially after they come out of military hospitals such as Walter Reed. Maybe they need help paying their mortgage. Or maybe they need to install a wheelchair-accessible entrance to their home, or help paying for prescription medicines.
“The bills keep mounting,” Perry said. “We want to be there to help them with those things.”