The Perfect Christmas Story as Told to Two Greater Cincinnati Veteran Families!

It was just two days before Christmas and two local veteran families were wondering how they were going to make it through the holiday season. The Reffit and Cain families, who are served through Ohio Valley Goodwill’s Veterans Services programs, were busy thinking about more important priorities like food for their kids this holiday season, much less being able to provide gifts for their children. Fortunately, like all really good Christmas stories, the two families had a holiday angel looking out for them and didn’t even know it. The Moerlein Lager House and its team, led by General Manager Justin Weiner and its Executive Chef, Nathan Whittington, had decided to have an employee fund-raising effort in support of veteran families this year and reached out to Ohio Valley Goodwill on Veteran’s Day to discuss the possibilities.

Over the next month and a half, the Moerlein team were able to raise more than $600.00 in employee contributions, which were then matched by the Moerlein company for a total of more than $1200. Two checks for $617.00 each were then written and presented to the Ohio Valley Goodwill team for special delivery to the Reffit and Cain families on December 23rd. In addition, Manager Justin Weiner brought in clothing and boots for young boys aged 4-6, which is just perfect for the Cain children. “It was just the right thing to do,” said Executive Chef Nathan Whittington during the check presentation to the Goodwill team.

Chef Nathan Whittington, Claudette Crawford, GW and Justin Weiner, Mgr.

The Moerlein team had also graciously sponsored a holiday luncheon on December 15th and had gotten to know the families and especially, the children during the festive event. “We just thought it was important to reach out to our nation’s veterans who are struggling,” said Weiner. Ohio Valley Goodwill has been providing services to military veterans for more than 20 years in the Greater Cincinnati community and most recently, was awarded a federal grant to allow the organization to serve veterans as well as their families. “We could not be more thrilled with the generosity and compassion shown by the Moerlein Lager House,” said Sharon Hannon, Goodwill Marketing Specialist. “We are honored that they selected two veteran families served by Goodwill to support this holiday season.”

Veterans Services Case Managers Claudette Crawford and Ida Allen will be the holiday angels that will deliver the checks and gifts to the Reffit and Cain families. Ohio Valley Goodwill is very grateful to the Moerlein Lager House and its team for their wonderful outreach this holiday season.