Kreiger attempts to make a difference one municipality at a time

After enduring his own hardships of sustained long-term injuries while serving in the military during the Iraq War and returning home to find out he would not receive his promised benefits from the VA in a timely manner, which ultimately caused the loss of his home for him and his family, Chris Kreiger decided to change the system.

As the president and co-founder of Western New York Heroes, Kreiger acknowledges the extent citizens will go to lend a hand to veterans and thank them for their services; however, Kreiger raised the question - What about the kids?

Often, the children of veterans who return from war disabled and either lose their income or earn low income, are deprived of the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities such as football, soccer, cheerleading, track, swim lessons and more.

After becoming a disabled veteran himself and losing his own income, Kreiger elected to co-found the organization WNY Kids are Heroes Too.

The program encompasses children whose parents are disabled veterans and resident in Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda ages 2 to 18 years old. It is designed to waive the fees of sporting activities, but is not limited to those activities.

Recently, Kreiger has taken his quest to gain support of other municipalities to the North Tonawanda Common Council.

He is requesting the city waive fees for sporting activities that are specifically offered to the children of North Tonawanda and are provided at a cost to the city.

Those include:

• Football

• Soccer

• Tennis

• Cheerleading

• Baseball

• Lacrosse

• Golf lessons

• Swim lessons

• Track

• Hockey

• Other sports can be discussed on a case-by-case basis

Kreiger asked that the council kindly consider this request as a way to help the children of disabled veterans who live in the City of North Tonawanda.

Although in immediate support of the cause, the council decided to address the matter a bit further and come to a conclusion at a later date. It was also stated that in the event the city does choose to waive these fees, it would not be put into effect until the 2013 budget.

For more information about WNY Heroes, visit www.WNYHeroes.Org.

In other city news:

• Canal Fest will begin at noon Sunday, July 15 with the kick-off events held at the Renaissance Bridge and continue through the following Sunday.