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Marine Corps league in Wyandotte needs help for fire repairs

Posted at 11:25 PM, Oct 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-10 23:25:17-04

WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Marine Corps League Detachment 153 in Wyandotte needs the public's help. Last year the building they used for events and meetings was heavily damaged after a neighboring building caught fire.

The damage was estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, members of the MCL Detachment 153 are asking for the public's help so they can get back to helping others.

"Well it’s been kind of traumatic," said Don St Amant, a veteran who is a member of the detachment.

The fire occurred on Dec. 16, 2018. Members say flames from the building next door were shooting up in the air.

"(Flames went) about a hundred feet up in the air in that back corner of the building to the point where the roof literally collapsed on the building next door," said John Daggett, post commandant at MCL Detachment 153.

The cost to repair the damage is around $300,000. The building was insured but not enough to cover everything.

"Because of the under insuring, we started a GoFundMe to try to raise funds to help with the insurance money and us," Daggett said.

The MCL Detachment 153’s mission is to support disabled, former veterans down on their luck, also underprivileged military veterans and their families in the Downriver area.

"We have a lot of older members, Korean War veterans and Vietnam veterans who need our support," St. Armant said. "Both for morale and for financial issues and we have no place to meet with those folks."

Veterans say having the building closed is limiting the amount of work they can do in the community, especially around the holidays.

"We also support Toys for Tots every winter," St. Amant said. "We put a lot of effort into that because it helps the community and children who are a little less fortunate than we are. So there’s a lot of things we do that right now we can’t do because of the condition of our building."

If you would like to donate and help out, visit the organization's GoFundMe page here. we have posted a link to the Go Fund Me Page