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Push-up fundraiser to help veteran and his family who lost home in fire

PAUL SMITHS — The Paul Smith’s College Veterans Club holds a fundraiser each year to help a local family, child or individual in need of support. This year, the club’s fundraiser will support the family of Mathew and Cynthia Powers of Saranac Lake, who lost their home due to an electrical fire in January.

The Powers have four children, ages 2, 5, 13 and 14. Mathew Powers Is a decorated infantry combat veteran who served with The 2-108th Infantry Battalion of the New York Army National Guard in Afghanistan.

The fundraiser is a push-ups event where participants are sponsored either per push-up or through a lump sum donation. It will be held starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 25 on the Paul Smith’s College campus in the Saunders Sports Complex.

All of the funds raised will be donated to the recipients.

This is the fifth consecutive year hosting this event, which started in 2013 for a student veteran who had a child born ill; the funds helped with hospital bills. In 2014, the recipient was local elementary schooler Emma Dalton, who has Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects mostly girls. With the money that was raised, her family was able to purchase a power-lift chair for a van to make transportation more comfortable for her. In 2015, the fundraiser sponsored then-10-year-old Gracee Jewtraw, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. She and her family had to travel to Burlington, Vermont, for treatments, so the money that was raised helped with travel as well as any additional expenses that arose. In 2016, the club stepped up to help one of its own, Jared Stearns, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Stearns is a fellow Paul Smith’s College alum. The funds raised help pay for travel, medication costs and hospital stays.

“The push-ups event is the PSC veterans’ proudest moment during our time at Paul Smiths,” said the Veteran Club’s Steven Vincent. “This year I am hoping for a great turn out and hope to help the family recover some of what they have lost.”

Donors need not be present at the event, but all are welcome to attend.

If anyone is interested in providing a donation, sponsoring a veteran for push-ups or would like more information about the event, email Vincent at svincent@s.paulsmiths.edu.

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