PHOTOS: DOMINION COMMAND

Dominion President Jack Frost presents a $20,000 donation to Kathy Gregory for the Fisher House in Landstuhl, Germany.

Families visiting injured Canadian soldiers coming from Afghanistan can rest in some comfort with help from a $20,000 donation made by The Royal Canadian Legion to Fisher House in Landstuhl, Germany.

There are two Fisher homes in Landstuhl across the street from the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, the large American hospital that has also offered care to Canada’s wounded soldiers. More than 200 Canadian soldiers have been wounded or injured during operations in Afghanistan; dozens of them have been evacuated to Landstuhl before returning to Canada for rehabilitation.

Fisher House provides a “home away from home” for the families and patients receiving medical care. They have 19 rooms, each with a bath and shower. Each house also features a kitchen, dining room, laundry room and living area to be shared by the families staying there.

Dominion President Jack Frost made the presentation to Kathy Gregory, who manages the Fisher homes near the hospital. Frost was attending a Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League meeting in Britain and visiting Legion branches in the Europe Zone. The donation is from the Dominion Command Poppy Fund.

The Fisher Houses were started in 1991 at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, Md., by millionaire builder Zachary Fisher. The first one was officially opened by U.S. President George Bush, Sr.

Since then the houses have been constructed on most major U.S. military medical centres.

There is no cost to Canadian families using the Fisher House in Germany, thanks to donations.

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