Town of Chili hosts breakfast for over 200 veterans and their families
Cody Coopenberg honored guest
The Chili Senior Center was packed with 205 veterans and their families on the cold, rainy Saturday morning of November 1. In its eighth year, the Veterans Celebration grows every year and is open to not only veterans in the Town of Chili, but surrounding towns as well. Chili Supervisor David Dunning purchases and prepares the food and Senior Center volunteers, the Chili Town Board, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts help set up, serve and clean up.
“We try to do something different every year,” said MaryAnne Sears, director of Programs for the Aging and the event’s organizer. This year she invited U.S. Army Pfc. Cody Coopenberg to be the guest speaker. “I was intrigued when I saw his story and wondered where he was now,” said Sears. She contacted him in July, already thinking ahead to the Nov. 1 event.
Coopenberg was deployed to Afghanistan just four days after marrying his high school sweetheart, Hannah Hagmier. Just five months after being deployed, he was burned over 60 percent of his body when a generator he was refueling exploded. He was flown to Germany, then to San Antonio, TX where his family joined him. Coopenberg had only a 10 percent chance of survival.
“Overcoming the injuries and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) has been quite a trip,” said Coopenberg, a native of Holley. He spoke to the crowd about the integral role the New York Warrior Alliance (NYWA) played in transporting his family to his bedside and then flying him home when he was well enough to attend a benefit in his honor. “I want to give back to the organization that helped me so that they can help other wounded warriors,” said Coopenberg, who has participated in various NYWA fundraisers and events since then.
Founded in 2007 at Pittsford Baptist Church, the NYWA (formerly known as Operation Wounded Warrior) sponsors an annual November collection of supplies for wounded warriors and their families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, as well as other military hospitals, in honor of Veterans Day.
“We offer soldiers and their families a gesture of support by providing them with essentials during a time when being away from home and the stress of the situation is taking its toll,” said President and Founder Amy Tausch, who also was on hand for the Chili event.
Tausch’s brother, Jim Lechner, explained that two-thirds of enlisted men and women come from southern and southwestern states and their families may not have any winter clothing when they have to drop everything to be with their loved one. A list of appropriate items that includes new clothing for men, women and children, along with hygiene items, games, gift cards and food items was distributed at the breakfast. The drive took place at Chili Senior Center through Veterans’ Day.
Monetary donations to NYWA also make it possible for wounded warriors to attend a NASCAR race, which the Coopenbergs enjoyed last year at Texas Motor Speedway. “Heroes Behind the Camo” is a program that came about in 2013 in conjunction withSupportmilitary.org as a way to give wounded warriors a positive experience to enjoy with their families after they’ve recuperated.
Coopenberg was joined by his wife, son Landon, mother Pam Coopenberg, sister Kelly Coopenberg, and in-laws David and Sherry Hagmier at the Chili Veterans Celebration. “The circumstances changed our lives forever,” said Hannah. “It made our family a lot closer and we are grateful for every day.”
