How to resolve AdBlock issue? WILTON — Last Saturday, Aug. 17, the Operation Adopt a Soldier building on Route 50 in Wilton suffered a fire that caused a total loss of materials inside the building, including 200 packages to soldiers in Afghanistan.
“In some of the boxes were non-perishable food items, hygiene products, letters from the public, Girl Scout cookies, Boy Scout popcorn, beef jerky, it was a variety of whatever we collected,” said Cliff Seguin, Founder and Chairman of the Operation.
“It should’ve been sent out yesterday,” he continued. “So there’s 266 soldiers who aren’t getting their packages.”
For the short term, he said that their plans were “to get this place up and running, because we’ve got to start getting packages out for the holidays.”
Seguin said that they do not know what caused the fire as of yet, only that it started in the utilities room, where the water heater is. As of Tuesday afternoon, an investigator was on scene.
“The community’s doing a lot for us right now,” Seguin said. “The insurance company’s here, but there’s not going to be enough to cover the loss. We’re picking up the pieces.”
To help repair, the Operation has a GoFundMe page, currently at $6,400 of its $50,000 goal, which thanks the various fire fighter departments that “responded to the scene and immediately started to attack the blaze that started in the utility room of the building which is also home to an apartment and another business.”
Seguin said that there was an apartment attached to the building, and that the husband, wife, baby and a disabled teen who normally live there lost everything and that they are currently staying with the wife’s parents. Like the Operation, they have a GoFundMe page active to help recover.
Seguin said that for the near future, “once we get through this, give us a week or two, maybe we’ll get another building or something temporary until they rebuild this one or whatever they’re going to do, and then give us a couple of weeks and we’ll be up and running again.”
He continued, “long term, we’re going to bounce back from this, 100%, one way or the other. Because the soldiers need this, they need us, they need the letters and the packages from home. I mean, how would you feel if you were out in 120, 130 degree weather in the desert and you don’t get a package and you don’t hear from home?”
He concluded by stating the various ways that anyone can donate to the Operation to help them rebuild, then thanking all of the fire fighters and fire departments that helped quell the fire on Saturday.
He said “anyone who wants to make any monetary donations can make them through the Saratoga National Bank, or Glens Falls National Bank, or our GoFundMe page or they can send them directly to our address.”
For more information, visit www.operationadoptasoldier.org, or call Cliff Seguin at 518-260-9922.
