NEW CASTLE Veterans groups buy rifles for Scouts

The veterans groups are sending telephone calling cards to troops overseas.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Three city veterans groups have joined forces for projects on the home front and overseas.
Mike Banko, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 422, said his post, American Legion Post 343, and VFW Post 315 collected $350 each to purchase 10 rifles for local Boy Scouts of America troops to use at summer camp.
Banko said because the veterans groups provide honor guards for military burial ceremonies and are often at funeral homes, the directors of Noga Funeral Home learned of the project and donated $200.
The rifles are .22-caliber, bolt-action target rifles. The groups also purchased ammunition and cleaning kits, Banko said.
The veterans will present the rifles to the Scouts on Tuesday at Bruce and Merilees Electric Co., 502 Shenango Stop Road, New Castle. Bob Bruce, one of the owners, is a trustee for the local Boy Scout council.
Banko said the new rifles will complement the new state-of-the-art shooting range facilities at Camp DeCoco in Slippery Rock Township.
Banko said the veterans saw the need for the rifles when Scouts didn't have enough to go around at Scout camps last year. The Scouts practice marksmanship to earn a merit badge, he said.
"Buying the rifles was important because the Boy Scouts are important," Banko said. "Scouting is a good way of life. It helps the Scouts develop discipline and gives them goals to work for."
Phone cards
The veterans groups are also collecting donations to provide phone calling cards to U.S. service members stationed overseas. The groups have mailed about 200 120-minute cards in the past two months, Banko said.
The phone card project is called "Operation Uplink" and provides service members a way to call home.
Banko said Noga Ambulance Service's 24-hour dispatching is taking telephone requests for the phone cards. The number to call is (724) 656-2225.
Family members requesting a card for a loved one must provide the service member's APO or FPO number as proof the service member is stationed abroad, he said.