By Bonnie Adams, Managing Editor
Region – Hundreds of Massachusetts homeless veterans will be able to show their Bruins, Celtics, Patriots or Red Sox pride this winter thanks to the generosity of those who contributed to the annual drive, “Sweats for Vets.”
The initiative was started by Mark Vital, a sixth-grade teacher at Advanced Math and Science Academy and himself a veteran, several years ago as a way to provide sports-related sweatshirts to homeless veterans each Christmas Eve. Vital's students also collected hundreds of other smaller items such as hats, gloves and socks throughout the last few weeks.
“We had 370 Boston team sweatshirts and another 450 smaller gifts,” Vital said. “210 sweatshirts and 400 of the smaller gifts were delivered Christmas Eve morning to the Veterans Inc. ?homeless shelter on Grove Street in Worcester.”
The remaining sweatshirts were delivered to the New England Center for Homeless Veterans in Boston on Christmas Day.
“Finnegan's Pub of Hudson was our largest donor, donating 100 sweatshirts!” Vital noted.
For more information and to see photos from the two distribution events visit /www.facebook.com/groups/sweatsforvets.
Photos/courtesy Mark Vital
