RE ACHING OUT
Freedom
Isn’t Free
Family and Friends for
Freedom provides
financial assistance
to wounded soldiers
WRITTEN BY ADRIANA MARIELLA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
W
28 WAYNE MAGAZINE MAY 2015
LET FREEDOM RING (Top, clockwise from left) Family and Friends for Freedom Founder and
Executive Committee Member Kathy Sturla, her husband, Robert Sturla, Board of Directors Member
Joe Morstatt, and Executive Committee Members William A. Montano and Angela Moscatello.
(Bottom) Marine Staff Sergeant James Sturla; fund recipients Veronica Thomas and son, Sergeant
Bradley Thomas of Texas; the Executive Committee reviews applications.
to help pay bills, and the Family and
Friends for Freedom Fund was established and incorporated. In June 2005,
it gained official non-profit status, and
since then has helped over 500 families
nationwide with donations of more
than $930,000. Some of the beneficiaries live in the Wayne area, while
others live elsewhere in the country.
Sturla met a few of them at the hospital in Bethesda. “We saw a need for
helping families stay with their loved
ones. I know families who were out
there for five-six years,” she says.
Although the U.S. government
pays for hotels and meals, families of
wounded soldiers often need to pay
for things in advance and are later
reimbursed. In addition, they may
need to manage for months without
any income. The fund’s Executive
Committee, which includes former
members of the military, meet once
a month in Pequannock to review
requests for assistance and decide
how best to support each applicant.
Funding has helped families of
servicemen and women from all
different branches of the U.S. military
with such expenses as mortgage
payments, utility bills, replacement of
appliances and car repairs. Family
and Friends for Freedom is able to
continue to provide assistance
through generous donations collected
at events such as the annual charity
beefsteak scheduled for November at
The Brownstone in Paterson. ■
For more information, visit
www.injuredmarinesfund.org or
call 973-897-2237.
COURTESY OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR FREEDOM
hen Kathy Sturla’s
youngest son,
James, was
injured in
September 2004,
just eight days
into his first tour of military duty in
Iraq as a U.S. Marine, she learned
just how life-altering an injury can
be for a soldier and a family. Her
experience during that difficult time
lead her to establish the Family and
Friends for Freedom Fund, Inc.,
which provides financial support for
families of combat-wounded
American servicemen and women.
Sturla, a resident of Pompton
Plains, recounts the financial
difficulties her family suffered when
they traveled to be with their son
at Walter Reed National Military
Medical Center in Maryland, where
he was being treated for his injuries.
“You leave bills, you leave everything
and you don’t know how long you’re
going to be there, but the bills don’t
go away,” Sturla says. “My husband
and I dropped everything and drove
out to be there,” she recalls.
Sturla’s son was in the hospital and
undergoing surgeries for more than
six weeks. During that time and the
weeks preceding his return to the
U.S. from Iraq, her daughter-in-law’s
phone bill alone was more than
$1,000 for international calls.
In January 2005, the Sturla family
began organizing a fundraising benefit