AUGUSTA, Maine — Eight veterans and their families will be getting a vacation week in Maine next year, thanks to a nine-year-old boy who decided to help.
Michael Ahern is hoping to raise $30,000 this summer to pay for eight veteran families to spend a week at the Travis Mills Foundation’s retreat on the Belgrade Lakes in Maine. The retreat and foundation were created by Travis Mills, a retired Army staff sergeant who suffered critical injuries from an IED attack during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. After his recovery, Mills started the Foundation and the retreat to help other injured veterans and their families, who are going through their own recoveries.
Michael and his family spend part of each year on the Belgrade lakes and say they saw the veterans and their children on the lawn of the retreat while on a boat ride to get ice cream. That led to Michael's first project, getting ice cream for the children. His mother, Rebecca, says that last winter Michael saw veterans outside the retreat and decided the family should do more to help them. So this year, he began selling ice cream to raise money to send soldiers and families to the retreat.
“The Travis Mills Foundation has been great to work with,” says Rebecca, “And he's going to reach his goal next summer -- there will definitely be eight families here in Maine having an amazing vacation."
The family has spread the word about the “Scoops for Troops” fundraiser both in the Central Maine area and in Connecticut, where they have another home. Rebecca says Michael has been raising money in several ways, through ice cream sales, “meet and greet” direct requests and through a veterans’ group. On Thursday, they arranged to use the ice cream truck from Darling’s Auto to raise money outside the Augusta Civic Center, where the annual Hire-A-Vet job fair was happening. Business at the truck appeared brisk, and the donation box was filling up.
Michael says that before Thursday’s event they had raised $19,000 and were looking for more.
Why such a focus for such a young boy?
"I wanted to help because they have a program that brings these families to Maine, and I'm really interested in the veterans,” he said.
The project hopes to wrap up the fundraising by November 1, and is looking for more donations through its Scoops for Troops website.