Kevin Kane, center, and his brothers, John, left, and Christian, during a recent trip to Galway, Ireland.
Every Ancient Order of Hibernians division across the US spends a good part of its time and effort raising money for local charities. In Havertown, the Dennis Kelly Div. 1 AOH is no different. But its focus has been on helping veterans, either on the battlefield or, as they’re doing this year, on the home front. We spoke to Div. 1 Vice President Kevin Kane about Saturday’s benefit at St. Denis Gym in Havertown—featuring live Irish music by The Shantys, comedy, TVs all around for watching the Phillies, and gourmet food and drink—that will raise money for The Hero’s Homecoming Fund, the division’s own charity.
What is the Hero’s Homecoming Fund?
The “Hero’s Homecoming Fund” is a name we gave to the monies that we will be raising at our October benefit. The idea is to cut as many checks as possible directly to injured troops and their families for them to use as they see fit to improve their holiday season this year. We did not want to shower a family with $300 worth of Christmas gifts if what they really needed was help with their PECO bill, so it would seem actual checks cut directly to the troops would be the most effective way to help. Last year our fundraiser was “Treasures for our Troops” where we raised money, bought the care items for troops currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sent over about 100 individual packages to them. This year, we are going on the home front with returned soldiers.
What got you personally involved in this particular charity?
It’s a cause near and dear to my heart. On October 14, 2006, Staff
Sergeant Joseph Kane, my cousin and friend, was killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) outside Baghdad. He was a Monsignor Bonner graduate and from Darby. Because of my AOH Division’s work in the cause and also my obvious family attachments to the cause, I was put in touch with one of the heads of Operation First Response, Nick Constantino. While it is a national organization that helps wounded troops, Nick is a local guy in Broomall who knows my aunt and uncle well (the parents of my cousin who was killed in action. After the final tally from our event we will sit down and figure out how many checks we can write, then Nick will give our division access to as many cases as we wish to review for donations. We hope to be able to help local guys but will not hesitate to go outside of the area as well.
Your division has other personal links to the troops, isn’t that right?
Yes, one of our division members, Jim McCans, spent time
in Iraq last year with his cadaver dog “Stashe.” When Jim was working with the military there, they came across a land mine and two of the soldiers assigned to help and guard Jim were severely wounded, Sgt. Rob Laux and Sgt. Chris Payne. Both soldiers are still recovering from their injuries at Walter Reed Hospital. Our division is putting both of the up for the night at a
local hotel, and they will be the guests of honor at our event.
[Editor’s note: This week, Havertown paramedic Jim McCans and Stache will receive an ASPCA Presidential Service Award for their work in Iraq, searching for the remains of US troops. The incident Kane refers to resulted in Stache breaking his eardrum, leading to temporary hearing loss from which the four-year-old Police Academy-trained black lab has since recovered.]
Like the other AOHs in the region, your division is active in the Hibernian Hunger Project, which was launched in this area and is now a national AOH charity. You’ve linked your work with veterans to that too, haven’t you?
Our commitment to veterans is also evident by our selection of recipients for our recent Hibernian Hunger Drive, where local schools and parishes donated food stuffs that we delivered to The Philadelphia Comfort House, at 41st and Baltimore Avenue, a temporary residence operated for the benefit of financially needy veterans and family members who require temporary housing while being treated at the VA Hospital. Our division also supported the recent charity benefits for Corporal Matthew Sonderman, another local severely wounded vet.
Your division recently co-sponsored a charity basketball game at Msgr. Bonner High School involving a ball team from a Belfast School. Tell us about that.
Our division sponsors a group of Irish basketball players from St. Malachy’s in Belfast to come over and tour the area, and play some basketball against some local high school basketball teams. In turn, we send a dozen or so local high school players once a year over to Belfast to do the same. We used part of the monies we raised at our “Bonner to Belfast and Back” basketball game this past Monday night to donate, along with the Bonner Fathers Association, a $500 check to the foundation set up for Officer Patrick McDonald, a Philadelphia cop of Irish descent shot and killed in the line of duty last month.
If you can’t make it to the benefit, you can still donate to help a returning injured vet. Send checks payable to “AOH Inc.” and mail them to division financial secretary Chuck Harrington at 715 Ardmore Ave, Ardmore, PA 19003.
