Veterans Foundation plans perfect for Cape VIZ
To the editor:
In regards to recent news articles concerning development in the VIZ area of Cape Coral.
Our nonprofit Veterans Foundation and the SW Florida Military Museum has been looking at the area around the VA Center to purchase land and to build a new facility to house the thousands of artifacts that have been donated to us by our local veterans’ families. We have outgrown our temporary facility in the former Sweetbay grocery store in downtown Cape Coral after being here for the past two years.
We agree with the city that the area would be better served by businesses and organizations such as ours that are related to our veterans and their families.
Our Foundation provides many services to our veterans that are not served by the VA, such as food, housing, transportation in some cases as well as additional counseling by our VSO’s and a place to come any day without an appointment to be with other veterans. By the way, all of our services are FREE. We are funded strictly by donations, we receive no federal or state assistance. We feel that more veterans would find out about us and be better served by us being closer to the VA Center.
Our museum is the largest Military Museum in Southwest Florida. Our goal is to become one of the largest in all of Florida. Our plans for the future are to build a Veterans Memorial Park that would include monuments, memorials and areas of reflection for families to come to visit and find a place of solitude when they need it.
In our plans that we are developing it would include medical facilities that would include services that are not provided by the center such as physical therapy, prosthetics, chiropractors and others as well as an assisted living facility for veterans.
Just imagine what a facility that I am describing here would do to open up the VIZ area to other businesses and to the city of Cape Coral adding to the image of making it a veterans friendly city.
We have located the right parcel of land and are working towards a purchase to try to make this goal come true. The thousands of veterans that are here in Lee County deserve a tribute befitting their sacrifices and their service to our country. If you want to help us achieve our goal and be a part of preserving our military history, pick up the phone or visit our museum. Call me direct at 239-910 5699.
Ralph Santillo
President
Invest In America’s Veterans Foundation