Star Group – VHV receives keys to Ford F-250

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press

Star Group – Veterans Helping Veterans held its monthly meeting on Saturday and had a full agenda as the group prepares to reach out to others during the upcoming holiday season. 
But first, the group received the designation of being named Business of the Month by the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. Laura Jordan, ambassador president, was on hand along with other ambassadors and the Five Hills Scholarship royalty as the group recognized Star Group – VHV. 
Following that, Mike and Priscilla Linneman, of Linneman Realty, had a presentation of their own for SGVHV—a set of keys. 
The keys belong to a Ford F-250 which the Linnemans have donated to Star Group-VHV for the group to use as it volunteers in the community. 
 “I’ve got a friend who’s a wholesaler in Tyler, Texas, David Christian. He owns Twin Motor Company, and he and I worked together on this,” Linneman said. “You need a truck that you can help people with.”
SGVHV’s president, Jonathan Haywood, accepted the keys on behalf of the group and thanked the Linnemans for their donation. Haywood said he had talked to Mike Linneman and asked if he knew of anyone who had a truck available for the organization.
“They’ve been with us from the very beginning,” Haywood said of the Linnemans, longtime sponsors of SGVHV. “They gave us our very first $500 sponsorship.”
The truck, although not brand-new, is in top condition and has been freshly detailed and decorated with decals that will proclaim the truck’s purpose as its volunteers go throughout the community to events and to assist those in need. 
The next fundraising event for SGVHV is its annual Gospel Explosion concert, set for October 21. On Saturday, Haywood encouraged members to pre-pay for the tickets and then sell them for the concert. 
“Even if you buy a ticket and you’re not going to come, give it to someone you know who will come,” Haywood said, adding that the performers are donating their time and talent for the event.
Funds raised from the concert—an estimated $4,180—will go to help purchase items for 350 Thanksgiving baskets for local families. 
Haywood said 200 of those baskets are already earmarked for the Copperas Cove and Killeen school districts, which also includes the communities of Harker Heights and Nolanville, with 50 baskets each of the four communities to be distributed directly to low-income families identified by the two school districts.
“The superintendents from CCISD and KISD personally come and we will pass the first baskets to them, to show there is nothing between us and the children,” Haywood said. “We’ve got to take care of them; and this is our way.”
Haywood added that the group is also gearing up for its annual golf tournament, set for November 3. Funds from this tournament will also go toward the Thanksgiving baskets. 
Next up for SGVHV is the final planning meeting on September 13 for its 3rd annual health fair, set for Saturday, September 23 at the Copperas Cove Civic Center.