From left are Gary Peters Jr,, Eagles president, Chris Allenson, trustee, Dan Strickland, trustee, Kelly Carpenter, chief operating officer of Healing For Heroes, and Gene Wiltsie, Eagles board member.

The Chautauqua Arie Eagles Club 2145 in Jamestown recently distributed three donations of $2,000 each to local charities.

The first donation was presented to Kelly Carpenter, vice president and chief operating officer of Healing For Heroes. Healing for Heroes is a not-for-profit disabled veterans retreat nestled on a 30-acre wooded area in Bemus Point. Its mission is to host disabled veterans at its current three-bedroom, two-bathroom lodge and future cabins for a retreat style stay free of charge. The organization focuses on providing relaxation, decompression, animal therapy, fishing, hunting, shooting sports and a healing connection to nature that they refer to as “woods therapy”. The Eagles Club donation will help Healing For Heroes purchase building materials, power equipment and tools, special motorized equipment and make ADA-compliant upgrades as well as helping support food and travel for disabled veterans. Along with this initial donation the Eagles Club has also pledged continues donations the group. For more information, email jmilch28@yahoo.com or go to Healing For Heroes on Facebook.

The second donation was presented to Jeanette Caprino, co-founder and president of the Kidney Connection. Chris Sorenson, Eagles Club vice president and a past kidney transplant recipient said, “The Kidney Connection is an organization that assists local patients in need of a kidney transplant in searching for local willing donors and to assist them financially with the transplant process. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to my fellow Eagles for this generous donation to a cause so close to my heart.”

The Kidney Connection operates a free site and all donations go towards helping those in need of a kidney transplant to find a living donor. For more information or to donate to the Kidney Connection www.kidneyconnection.org

Another donation was presented to Cherie Rowland, St. Susan Center executive director to assist in the center’s capital campaign and their efforts to educate and assist those in the community. This donation will help them with the transition to their new building, the prior Jamestown Business College, and help the center with its goal of a teaching kitchen for the community. Anyone who would like to help the St Susan Center can find information at www.stsusancenter.org

The Fraternal Order of Eagles is an international non-profit organization uniting fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice, and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, and hope while donating more than $10 million a year to local communities, fundraisers, charities and more. The F.O.E. Founded Mother’s Day, created the $25 million Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa, served as driving force behind Social Security and helped end age-based job discrimination with the Jobs After 40 program. For more information on the Fraternal Order of Eagles go to FOE.com. Eagles Club 2145 is located at 329 E. Fourth St., Jamestown. For more information on the local club call 716-487-1997 or email Sorenson at clubassociateschris@gmail.com.