Jeannette native helping students of military personnel killed or disabled

A Jeannette native is spearheading efforts to raise money for educational scholarships for families of military service people who have died or have been disabled while on active duty.

Michael Popella of Grove City founded the Folds of Honor of Western PA Chapter after meeting the national organization’s founder, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, at an event about four years ago. He began donating to the national Folds of Honor, a nonprofit based in Owasso, Okla. Popella and his wife, Crystal, then decided in 2018 to organize a Western Pennsylvania chapter, which became a reality last year, Popella said.

“It’s a wonderful organization that helps those in need and for the right reasons. I did not serve in the military and this is my way of serving and honoring those that served our country,” said Popella, a 1985 graduate of Jeannette High School.

Hearing Rooney’s story about the power of synchronicity spoke to him, said Popella, vice president of business development for Distribution Market Advantage of Chicago, which develops supply chain solutions for restaurants.

“I believe things happen for a reason and purpose. This is our giveback and I couldn’t be more pleased with our first full year of this foundation,” said Popella, who started in the food business working for DeNunzio’s in Jeannette and at Hoss’s restaurant in South Greensburg.

The Western Pennsylvania chapter raised $213,700 in scholarship money last year that was distributed to 45 students, Popella said. Twenty-two of those scholarships were to students who received aid for the 2018-2019 school year, and 23 were new recipients.

“Folds of Honor is filling a gap left by the results of war and terror. The mission is to fill a need that will go unmet — providing education for children — because some parents who served didn’t come home or were severely wounded. It’s a privilege to honor their service and sacrifice in this way,” said Stephen Eckert, secretary of the local chapter’s board of directors.

The scholarship money raised for Folds of Honor is used is for private education tuition and tutoring for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as higher education tuition aid for spouses and dependents. Unfortunately, eight of the scholarships, which would have cost about $40,000, went unfunded because of a lack of money, he noted.

The national organization last year awarded about 24,500 scholarships throughout the U.S. and 4,500 in some U.S. territories, according to the organization.

One of the fundraisers for Folds of Honor of Western PA is a golf outing Oct. 6 at the Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier Township. Because of restrictions related to covid-19, registration for the outing has been filled with eight teams and 40 participants, Popella said.

“The Western Pennsylvania chapter is bringing awareness to military families in our region who can be served by Folds of Honor. And making our communities aware of the fundraising needed to support our local fallen and severely wounded veterans,” Eckert said.