While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.
The question I have is why does Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America crap and this doesn’t even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the base newspaper in San Antonio.
Now, it’s important to note that my friend is no gullible redneck. In fact, he’s an extremely savvy partner at a well-known marketing firm in New York City. And at the end of his email, he exhorted me to forward it to all of my family and friends. But the cynic in me could not help wondering about the accuracy of his account or, indeed, whether Denzel ever visited the BAMC.
Therefore, I did what any good lawyer would do: I investigated!
The good news is that the truth turns out to be better than his fiction. Because, after a lengthy conference call yesterday with Mr Russ Fritz, the manager of the Fisher House in question (there are 34 of them in the U.S. and 2 in Germany), here’s what I found out:
Actually, before getting to the real Denzel deal, it might be helpful for you to read a little from the Fisher House mission statement:
Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times – during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.
There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990. Based on a comparison of fees at a Fisher House (the average charge is less than $10 per family per day, with many locations offering rooms at no cost) with commercial lodging facilities in the same area, it is estimated that families have saved more than $60 million by staying at a Fisher House since the program began.
The first thing Mr Fritz conveyed to me was his bewilderment over why this story was suddenly spreading like wildfire throughout the Internet. It is two years old, after all. He then informed me that he was present when Denzel showed up at his facility in December 2004 – “unannounced and with no camera crew and no entourage” – and asked for a tour.
As it happens, the president of the Fisher House Foundation, Mr David Coker, was in residence and happily volunteered to give Denzel a personal tour. And, according to Mr Fritz, all military patients, their visiting family members and Fisher House staff were extremely impressed with Denzel’s down-to-earth demeanor as well as his affable and compassionate interaction with everyone he met.
More to the point, however, Mr Fritz confirmed that Denzel expressed genuine gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. military for their sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, that he was extremely interested in knowing whether they were being treated well at Fisher House. But Mr Fritz denied the rumor that Denzel offered the spontaneous check-book charity my friend gushed about in his email.
In the end, he referred me to one Mary Considine at Fisher House headquarters in Maryland for clarification on this sensational part of the growing legend. And, here’s what she confirmed:
That it was months after his tour (in the Spring of 2005) when Denzel’s lawyers informed Mr Coker of his desire to make an anonymous contribution to the Fisher House Foundation. Moreover, that his gift was so “substantial” that the officers of the foundation invited Denzel and his wife Paulette to serve as Trustees. And they accepted.
Incidentally, after researching the Fisher House Foundation, I am happy to report that it is eminently worthy of any charitable donation you can afford to make. Therefore, I urge you to do so by clicking here.
End of story. Now spread the word…and contribute!
NOTE: Given the highly publicized and generally unhelpful charitable gestures that are little more than career-enhancing gigs for most celebrities, Denzel’s discreet and very helpful gesture speaks volumes for not only his generosity but also his character. (Apropos grand gestures, did you happen to see George Clooney on CNN yesterday informing members of the UN Security Council about the shocking findings from his summer tour of Darfur refugee camps? He may be well-intentioned, but since, for over a year now, some of us, including President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, have been condemning UN inaction in the face of the humanitarian atrocities Clooney just discovered, you’ll forgive me for regarding him as little more than a Johnny-come-lately to this cause. In fact, click here and here to see why….)
ENDNOTE: You’ve probably heard or read snippets in the news about the Non-Aligned Movement Summit taking place in Cuba this week. But click here to read why I think this summit is just a political farce.
Denzel Washington, Brook Army Medical Center
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