Project RightChoice raised $60,000 for the Fisher House Foundation a non-profit organization that provides lodging for the families of wounded service men and women on the grounds of military veterans affairs hospitals at an event held in Boston this past Saturday, according to Wills Begor '12, Project RightChoice vice president and director of operations. The group recognized former College President James Wright at the event as a guest of honor for his support of veterans at Dartmouth.
The event, which took place at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, featured both live and silent auctions, Begor said.
Approximately 165 people attended, according to planning committee chair Chris Jenny '12.
"We reached out to several thousand people about the event, a lot of Dartmouth graduates in New England and prominent businessmen and women in the Boston area," Jenny said.
Members of Project RightChoice and of the Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans Association presented Wright with an award at the event, Jenny said. DUVA co-hosted the auction, according to Jenny.
"We are honoring President Wright for all of the support he gave the 16 veterans he's brought to Dartmouth campus," Jenny said. "He's launched an initiative to support them and help them through any kind of battles they may face because of their unique situation."
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Wright praised the Project RightChoice's work.
"It's a student organization and I think that they have done exceptionally well," he said. "I have always been impressed by them and I really think that they did a great job on this last benefit."
Planning for the Westin fundraiser has been going on since May, according to Begor.
"I think RightChoice is a unique organization in that the learning curve is about 90 degrees for us," he said.
Project RightChoice had previously raised a total of $30,000 for the Fisher House Foundation from a Veterans Day Gala and a Cinco de Mayo dinner held earlier this year, Begor said.
Project RightChoice will continue to raise money for the Fisher House Foundation through the end of the year, when they will begin fundraising efforts for a new non-profit organization that addresses "the most pressing moral and ethical issues of the day," Begor said. RightChoice was founded by students in the fall of 2009 with the goal of raising as much money as possible for a single charity each calendar year, The Dartmouth previously reported.
The Fisher House Foundation was chosen for RightChoice's inaugural beneficiary because of the experience of president and founding member Craig Fitzgerald '11, Begor said. Fitzgerald, the president of DUVA, served in the U.S. Air Force for eight years before matriculating and retired because of an injury in 2004, The Dartmouth previously reported.
While Project RightChoice's fundraising has been geared towards supporting veterans, non-veterans have also been very involved with the event, Begor said.
"It's not only veterans raising money for veterans, but students from across campus doing this," he said.
About 40 items ranging from works of art to sports memorabilia were sold at the auction, Jenny said.
"Our highest selling item was what we called the combat survival guide,'" he said. "Craig and a couple of other veterans are going to take six people into the woods of New Hampshire and teach them the training that they got as military personnel."
The "survival guide" alone raised $5,000, according to Jenny.
"I think people who have attended our events come away with a new appreciation for the challenges these veterans face," Begor said.
