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Fundraising for injured Coraopolis soldier going well Tuesday, March 20, 2007 An effort to raise money to build a house in Ross for a wounded Iraq war veteran has netted almost $250,000 in cash, services and materials, a spokesman for Duquesne Light said Monday. About $35,000 in cash and $100,000 in services and materials have been added to the $100,000 already pledged by an anonymous donor to help build a home for James Fair, 25, of Coraopolis. Fair was stringing barbed wire around an ammunition supply point in Fallujah in November 2003 when he stumbled onto a makeshift bomb. He lost his eyesight and both hands. Shrapnel severely injured his right leg and caused a brain injury. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first profiled Fair's recovery in July 2005. Duquesne Light and Homes for Our Troops, a Massachusetts charity that raises money to build homes for veterans with disabilities, collected the donations during the two weeks of the Duquesne Light Home & Garden Show, which ended Sunday, said utility spokesman Joe Vallarian. "I don't think when we first talked about this that in our wildest dreams we thought it would go this well," Vallarian said. Most of the donations came from the Pittsburgh region. Donors almost filled two 40-foot walls with 2,000 personal messages to Fair and his family. Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5646. |
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