Mayor Puts Chili to Work for Vets

One sunny, Sunday afternoon last November, Mokena Mayor Joe Werner hosted at the VFW Hall on Wolf Road. Participants entered their own chilis in a tasting contest, and residents bought tickets to come out and vote for the best.

Now, the event that prodded dozens of residents come out to support their favorite chili is paying off in a big way, far bigger than it ever has in the past.

At Monday's village board meeting, Werner, on behalf of the Mokena Mayor's Charity Foundation, presented a check for $8,000 to the Wounded Warriors Project, a program designed to help post-9/11 veterans. All of the money donated was raised at the chili party.

“I was blown away by what was happening that day,” Werner said.

The donation represents a huge increase over last year's of $3,000. In addition to the cash raised, a Mokena heating and air-conditioning company, Climate Masters, has agreed to install a new furnace in the home of a disabled veteran, according to Werner. In all, this year's chili party event raised the equivalent of $10,200.

But the giving didn't end there, either. Money for wounded veterans also came in the form of a Tinley Park bench painted to resemble an army tank.

“Recently, that bench got auctioned off," Werner said. "The gentleman who bought it did so with the intention of donating it if we raised money for Wounded Warriors."

Since the auction proceeds were donated and the bench is now in the possession of the Mokena VFW, Werner referred to it as a “double charity vehicle.”

“The (auction) money went to that charity, then it helped us raise money for Wounded Warriors,” Werner said.

According to Becky Melvin, public relations manager at Wounded Warriors Headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., the project is designed to assist any post-9/11 veteran with the transition back to civilian life in any capacity required.

“We have all types of different programs,” Melvin said, “combat stress-related programs, personal care, family support and support for caregivers. A lot of them do this 24/7, 365 days a year. They may have had to leave a job to care for a husband or son.”

Wounded Warriors began as a charitable organization handing out backpacks to wounded service men and women at military hospitals containing things like playing cards, shorts, T-shirts and underwear—things that “you'd pack if you were planning to stay overnight at a hospital,” Melvin said.

Wounded service people who are facing a stay at a military hospital typically don't return from the battlefield with these personal care items that most of us take for granted, Melvin said.

Melvin said a local Chicago office is slated to open in Oak Brook in June to help serve Illinois veterans. Since the program's inception, there has been a steady influx of veterans to serve. “It's literally growing all the time,” she said.

Werner believes that this year's donation to Wounded Warriors was more than double last year's because, even though the previous event didn't perform quite as well, the cause “touched a nerve.”

“As a result, I had more volunteers, we promoted it a little harder," Werner said. "I think more people as individuals picked up the ball and I didn't really have anything to do with that. It's just something that had all the right components. We started a small social epidemic."