Giving back

James Pate was spending this past Memorial Day with a friend in Calera when he got a phone call telling him someone had broken into the home he was renting in Birmingham’s Wylam community.

On his way back into town, the 25-year-old got another call telling him the house was on fire, but his sister’s dog had been rescued.

Thankfully, no one was injured, but Pate said he and his 19-year-old sister lost most of their belongings to the fire.

The American Red Cross provided some assistance, but because Pate has been in the Alabama Air National Guard since 2012 and has a full-time job working security at the Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing in Birmingham, the Vettes for Vets organization and Hoover Veterans Committee stepped in to do more.

Lori Banes, a member of the Vettes for Vets board of directors, saw a news report about the Pates’ situation and called the group’s founder, Hoover resident Mark Davis, and told him they needed to do something to help.

Davis, who is on the Hoover Veterans Committee, contacted Committee Chairman Paul Pocopanni, a retired brigadier general with the Air National Guard, who got in touch with the Birmingham base commander to confirm they had an airman in need.

The Vettes for Vets group hooked Pate up with the Hope Locating apartment finder service, which helped him get an apartment at The Park at Hoover off Lorna Road in August. Since the fire, Pate had been staying with a friend in Alabaster, while his sister moved in with their grandmother.

The Vettes for Vets group didn’t stop there. The group and Hendrick Chevrolet each gave Pate $1,000 to help him get his feet back on the ground. Davis’ small group from Hunter Street Baptist Church chipped in another $1,000, and two other couples donated $5,000 and $500.

Davis gave Pate an armoire and TV, and Mike and Beth Richardson of the Lake Crest community donated a leather sofa. Sleep Outfitters provided Pate a new queen mattress set.

A group of young veterans called Alabama Veteran provided the muscle to move some of the furniture to Pate’s apartment.

“We served our country. Now we just want to serve our community,” said Jon Hill, the chief operating officer for Alabama Veteran. “Fighting in a combat zone or serving your community — any way you can help, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Pate said he appreciates the outpouring of support. “It’s a really great feeling to have people reach out like this,” he said. “I didn’t expect none of this.”