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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Military mom seeks holiday donations for troops
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Military mom Lucy Mercado is once
again preparing to send holiday care packages off to troops serving in Afghanistan.
The New Windsor resident is currently
seeking donations for the effort.
“When we are home with our families,
safe and warm, they are in the fields
putting their lives in danger, sleeping in
the cold and missing their families,” said
Mercado.
Needed donations include clear packing tape, energy bars, energy powder
drinks, cookies (homemade are okay),
candies, chocolate, Quaker chewy granola bars, toothpaste, toothbrushes, Q-tips,
baby wipes, panty liners, shampoo, small
tubes of hand lotion, pens and Christmas
cards.
Gift cards from BJ’s Wholesale Club,
Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and ShopRite are
also needed, as are stamps. Individual
stamps of $5.95 are welcome. Mercado
also seeks an attorney to work pro-bono
to assist the foundation in applying for
501(c)(3) non-profit status.
Mercado founded the Support Our
Heroes Foundation in 2004 while her son,
Luis Mercado, served as a Marine in Iraq.
“When I started mailing packages to
Lucy Mercado, founder of the Support Our Heroes Foundation, prepares care packages to
send to troops in Afghanistan. The military mom is seeking donations to send to troops for
the holidays.
my son, he asked that I please send extra
items for those in his platoon who didn’t
receive any mail,” she said, adding the
platoon had more than 300 servicemen
and women. “I started asking family,
friends and neighbors for support. They
were very supportive.”
Eleven years later, Mercado remains
devoted to the cause. “I have three platoons in Afghanistan,” she said last
week. “When one platoon returns, I adopt
another.”
Mercado said she wants to make sure
the troops that are still serving are not
forgotten. “How is it possible, that we go
on with our lives, enjoying our freedom…
and forget the most important thing,
those who make it possible?” she asked.
Donations may be sent or delivered
to the Support Our Heroes Foundation,
located at 18 Windsor Square Drive in
New Windsor. Donors can call 845-5904325 to schedule drop-offs.
Monetary donations may be made
online or by check/U.S. postal money
order, made out to “Support Our Heroes,”
c/o Lucy Mercado, 18 Windsor Square
Drive, New Windsor, NY, 12553.
To learn more about the foundation,
or to make an online donation through
PayPal, visit Supportourheroes.net.
Demolition project goes sour at Stewart Airport
Continued from page 1
inspector David Horton, working for
Alpine Environmental Services, outlined
details on the asbestos contained within
the buildings.
“Disturbance/abatement of any asbestos containing materials, as well as air
monitoring, must be performed by a
(state) DOL-licensed contractor, in accordance with state and federal regulations,”
Horton concluded in the report.
“With asbestos, once you knock a building down, everything becomes contaminated,” Pastor said.
The contract was awarded for $262,000.
However, Pastor had to hire a licensed
asbestos subcontractor – in this case, GC
Environmental, based in Bay Shore, Long
Island - to handle abatement work. The
abatement costs immediately doubled the
job expenses, he said.
“They were pushing us to get the job
done for the air show,” Pastor claimed,
referring to the New York Air Show in
late August. “They wanted it done quick-
ly.”
Pastor said he received a verbal agreement from town Supervisor Green that he
would be paid weekly in order to keep the
project going. With mounting costs from
the asbestos abatement, it was the only
way he could continue the work, he said.
When two payments were missed, Pastor
said, he asked for a payment schedule in
writing. He was told to finish the job.
Consequently, according to Pastor,
work was halted with some debris and
foundations remaining. A Sept. 29 letter
to Pastor from town Attorney Michael
Blythe clarified the town’s position, stating “there is no provisio