Dinner dance, golf outing to support veterans charity

Transitional Living Services, a grass-roots, nonprofit organization formed by McHenry County veterans to help veterans, will hold its first golf outing as well as its annual dinner dance on Friday, Oct. 15 at Bull Valley Golf Club, 1311 Club Road, Woodstock.

Shotgun-start golf at 10 a.m. will feature prizes. Dinner at 7 p.m. will include a silent auction, a six-piece band and dancing.

The keynote speaker will be Tom Morrissey, a Woodstock resident and retired Sergeant Major from the U.S. Army Special Forces. Morrissey was shot eight times while serving in Afghanistan. Subsequently, he spent three years in military hospitals and rehabilitation. He will talk about his experiences.

A drawing for a $10,000 grand-prize raffle will be held at about 9:30 p.m.

The fundraiser is to benefit TLS programs and projects, including New Horizons and Warriors' Gateway. New Horizons, TLS' flagship program for homeless veterans, opened its doors in 2001 in Hebron and is funded in part through a grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The program's positive impact can be verified through data collected in 2009 for an annual review by the VA's Northeast Program Evaluation Center. Analysis found that for discharged residents 73 percent had their own apartment or room; 57 percent were employed; 82 percent demonstrated improvement with their alcohol issues; and 88 percent showed improvement with their drug addiction issues.

Warriors' Gateway, a developing project, will be a long-term rehabilitation center for people with traumatic brain injury. It will target disabled U.S. veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and is to be built in Rockford. Excavation work began in August.

Cost is $150 for golf; $200 for golf and dinner; and $75 for dinner only. Golfers must wear a collared shirt. A coat and tie are required for dinner.

Tickets for a $10,000 grand-prize raffle can be purchased for $50. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold. Winner need not be present. For information, call (815) 334-0540 or visit tlsveterans.org.