An Ingenious Idea To Support Our Homeless Veterans

For over half a Century, I have proclaimed the great blessing of the compassion, kindness and generosity of the residents of Rockland in general and Orangetown in particular. It made possible new enlightened lives for our intellectually/developmentally disabled, our mentally ill, our homeless, in fact all destructive human conditions of minds, bodies and fates. These qualities of compassion, kindness and generosity have never been diminished. They continue to flourish, even more so in the darkness of our pandemic.

Another perfect example of this blessing can be found in the hamlet of Sparkill, to be more specific, in a photographic art studio and gallery, which is the Artin Art Studio & Gallery. The artist’s name, known world wide, is Tom Artin, and his life’s partner, is a lady named Cynthia, who is an inspirational advocate vis a vis the hurt and helpless of our community.

Cynthia has announced that the location of the studio is being moved within Sparkill and there are some previous stored extraordinary classic clothing articles which will be sold to raise money for the “Rockland Homes for Heroes” charity, which serves the homeless veterans in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

These are collectors' dream legendary U.S. Army Air Corps a-2 Flight Jackets, made exclusively by the iconic Willes & Gerger Company. This company was the outfitter for Teddy Roosevelt, Amelia Earhardt, and General Douglas McArthur, who was always dressed perfectly. It is still manufacturing these symbolic jackets. The hand painted jackets that I am talking about were worn, along with kaki trousers, by a Band that was a major part of Tom’s other artistic life of music. Tom was the leader of the TomCats Big Band Aces, which was a dynamite group of jazz musicians and singers in the Big Apple.

In Cynthia’s words “These jackets are piled up at the new studio at 642 Main, ready to find new homes. In addition to sending “Rockland Homes for Heroes” every penny from every jacket sold, we are also happy to donate jackets to local vets who might enjoy them. We are very proud of the veterans in our family. My Uncle Walter Walker survived Pearl Harbor and passed earlier this year. My Dad Victor Walker is laid to rest alongside my mom at Riverside National Cemetery - he served in WWII after the Germans surrendered, and help rebuild their radio networks. Our grandson Mikey served in the USMC for several years and is now finishing his MD at Columbia. We can never - ever - thank our vets enough or support them enough.”

More of Cynthia’s advice“The jackets are being sold on Ebay but that can be difficult for some people to manage, so I suggest we give as an option the opportunity for individuals to simply donate whatever they can to Homes for Heroes then email me their shipping information and I will package them up and send or deliver. We have a range of sizes available, first come, first served, and I can let the individuals know which jackets are available and they can select their size.”

For more information, contact John Murphy at murphy6288@icloud.com. John is a Co Founder of Rockland Homes for Heroes - www.rocklandhomesforheroes.org