Deer Park VFW a top fund-raiser

Deer Park Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3067 is proving its little post is big in fund-raising.

While some VFW posts number 2,500 members, Deer Park has only 230 members, but raised $2,800 at a recent chicken-fried steak dinner. The men raised more than $2,200 and the women’s auxiliary raised $600, which earned both groups awards.

The money raised is being used for Operation Uplink, a program designed to keep military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families by providing them with a free phone card.

The post, 29 E. First St., raised the money through organizing $5 fried steak dinner nights. The post’s top prize, said post quartermaster Roger Fleishour, is artwork of an eagle perched on the Liberty Bell. The post won it for being the state’s top fund-raiser. Both the men and women also won awards for being tops among 17 districts.

The post has another chicken-fried steak fund-raiser planned for Nov. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. The money raised at that fund-raiser will go toward hurricane relief for veterans and their families.

Organizer Jack Lyons, who has organized more than a dozen dinners over the years, said the menu will be an 8-ounce steak, gravy, potato, vegetable, salad, roll and dessert. Lyons said about 10 people will spend 12 to 14 hours preparing the feast.

“The meal fills the whole plate,” Lyons said. “As soon as people know I’m doing a chicken fried steak dinner, they come. They just love it.”