Homes For Our Troops fundraiser successful

The largest Homes For Our Troops fundraiser in the eight-year history hosted by Jim and Peggy Fassett bodes well for a Grand Rapids-area man and his family.
Though it’s not unusual for more money to trickle in a week or two afterward, Saturday’s event at the Fassett’s Park Township farmstead generated nearly $12,000. The figure marks about $2,000 less than the amount raised a year ago.
Organizers estimate about 400 people attended throughout the course of the six-hour gathering. Jim Fassett said it was the most people to attend the fundraiser they’ve hosted annually since 2010.
The recipient of this year’s benefit is Michael Gower and his family. Gower was on his second deployment in Baghdad in August 2007 when the vehicle in which he was a passenger rolled over a two-ton improvised explosive device. As a result, he suffered injuries to his back, feet, tibia and fibula. He also sustained a traumatic brain injury.
Money raised from Saturday’s event will go toward the construction of a house built to accommodate Gower and the motorized scooter he relies on for mobility.
Kelli Gower said she and her husband are in the process of acquiring property in Middleville.