Elk Grove VFW officially dedicates new elevator
Local officials, donors and military veterans gathered on Saturday to officially dedicate a new elevator at the Elk Grove VFW Post 9284. Though the ceremony was short, it marked the culmination of a nearly four-year fundraising and construction effort so that people with disabilities could finally access the 1972 building at 400 E. Devon Ave.
Elk Grove Village-based political consultant Kitty Weiner spearheaded the elevator fundraising campaign. She saw the need when she drove disabled veteran Alberto Velasco to the VFW Post so he could give a lecture on the Wounded Warrior Project veterans service organization.
"Somehow, I forgot (about the stairs)," said Weiner, adding that four other veterans carried Velasco out of his wheelchair in order to get him in and out of the post's upstairs banqueting hall.
Weiner approached Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson for assistance, and he made overtures to area businesses and organizations to help out.
Significantly, Castle Chevrolet North donated a 2017 Corvette to the VFW for a "Vette for Vets Car Raffle." And Elk Grove Village-based Mikerphone Brewery was an early donor with $10,000 raised from a 2017 beer tasting and music event that would become its annual "Smells Like a Beer Fest" that raises funs for area charities.
Nearly $179,000 total was raised by Elk Grove Village donors and businesses. After some false starts with previous contractors, William and Sean Keeley of Villa Park-based Keeley Construction stepped in to take over the elevator building addition project in April 2019.
The three-level elevator passed inspection and was put into operation in late October. Yet members of the VFW Post opted to hold off on the official ribbon-cutting ceremony until after the holiday season.
Veteran Buzz Buzzelli, an Elk Grove VFW member since 1971, said the elevator was a welcome addition to a building with lots of history. In many cases, it was literally built up by its members.
"Once the foundation and the steel structure went it, from then on it was all done by members," said Buzzelli, citing brick layers, plumbers and carpenters who helped create a home for the Elk Grove VFW that traces it charter back to 1963.
"We have a couple of members who have not attended meetings for quite some time," said VFW Post commander Wally Campbell. "But now they're able to get in."