Running to bring awareness to wounded veterans
Caspar Placke speaking before the Castle Rock Town Council to gain support for his Eagle Scout project.
By Lynne Marsala Basche; photo courtesy of Caspar Placke
Several years ago, Boy Scout Caspar Placke was living in Virginia and volunteered by assisting physically wounded veterans from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This experience profoundly impacted Placke, who now lives in Castle Rock and is in Troop 261, to the point he knew that he wanted to focus his Eagle project on helping a wounded veteran smile. Together with the Semper Fi Fund, Placke and his team are raising awareness for the physically wounded veterans by running in the upcoming Castle Rock Half Marathon.
Placke’s two-part Eagle Scout project is ambitious. Not only does Placke want to raise awareness for the more than 1,500 amputee victims from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he hopes to raise $12,500 to buy one veteran an all terrain wheel chair through the non-profit organization Semper Fi and have it delivered July 4.
For the past several months, Placke has been working tirelessly to get his project approved through the Boy Scouts of America, connecting with Semper Fi to brainstorm community awareness activities and fundraisers, speaking before the Castle Rock Town Council and the Castle Rock Economic Development Committee, as well as the Castle Rock Parks and Recreation Department.
With enthusiastic support from the community and Denver Bronco’s player Britton Colquitt, who is helping train the runners, Placke has a team of 10 and hopes more people will join Team Semper Fi at the Castle Rock Half Marathon on June 28. “We hope to build a sea of red Semper Fi Fund Team shirts to make people aware of how to help our wounded veterans,” said Placke. At the end of the race, Placke will have a tent with information about the Semper Fi Fund and the Scouts for Wounded Veterans project.
If you are interested in supporting Placke and Scouts for Wounded Veterans, there are several ways to help. Join Placke’s team or make a donation at http://fundraising.semperfifund.org/fundraise/team?ftid=29466. If you would like to join the team, be sure to register for the run at www.crgov.com first.
