March 6, 2007

Campbell’s Standup Comedy Showcase collects money for injured vet

Generosity allows Hardys to buy home in Washington state

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Dan Edwards discussed lengthy marriages and how partners begin to look and to recognize what the other is thinking.
Joni Rodgers sings a song to those attending the Standup Comedy Showcase benefit.
Comedian Tina G. tells of getting a ticket and worrying that the police might arrest a Lebanese Catholic.

Four comedians performed their “schtick” on Sunday, March 4 to raise money for injured Iraq War veteran and Campbell resident Warren Hardy. This was part of an effort to help out the injured Iraq war veteran and his family.

The one-and-a-half hour program featured four comedians including host Joni Rodgers at the Sonoma Chicken Coop. Rodgers and her troupe raised about $200 for the Hardy family, which in November welcomed triplets Thomas, Preston and Erik. Hardy and wife Gina also have a 3-year old daughter named Autumn.

News stories told of Hardy’s injury, which occurred in February 2004 when his armored personnel carrier struck an anti-tank mine near Tikrit. He suffered a concussive traumatic brain injury and damage to his spinal cord and vertebrae as a result of the explosion.

A software engineer from England, Hardy continues to undergo treatment for his injury. Neither he nor his wife has been able to return to work. Last December the couple needed financial help to pay for car repairs, their monthly rent and utility bills as well as formula, diapers and clothing for the triplets.

That is when the Campbell community came to their aid. Over the past two months, Campbell residents as well as others from the Bay Area donated $80,000 to the family, said Captain David Dehaan of the Campbell Police Department.

Recently Hardy and his father began looking for a community where housing prices were lower than the Bay Area but also provided veteran’s medical care for his continued rehabilitation. The money raised has allowed the family to purchase a five-year old home in Vancouver, Wash. as well as replenish their savings.

Hardy was able to purchase the home, and during the last week of February moved to the area along with the children. Gina finished up in Campbell and planned to move the first week in March. The house payments they now make are the same as their rent for the small apartment the family had in Campbell.

In the meantime, Dehaan said, “the triplets are getting bigger and doing well.” More important, he said, was the response from the community. “The response was so amazing, it gave them this [housing] option. Residents contributed $80,000 plus. It was an amazing response that wasn’t just about money. People bought diapers and furnishings for the family.”

This Wednesday, Hardy will appear in an ABC News interview with anchor Bob Woodruff, who also suffered a head wound while covering news in Iraq. The interview will be aired Wednesday evening on the network’s World News Tonight. It deals with how the military is caring for injured war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Comedian Rodgers said she’d wanted to help the family when she first read reports of their financial problems. “But, it was too close to the holidays,” she told the Times, “so I decided to wait and hold a fundraiser later” when people had more to give.

A modest crowd laughed so hard for headliner Jeff Applebaum that several had tears in their eyes. The comedian appeared Monday night on “Late Night with Craig Ferguson”. Others on the program included locals Tina G. and Dan Edwards, who also were quite funny. Rodgers acted as emcee and kept the crowd on their toes.

“I came to see the entertainment,” said Campbell resident Carol Presunka. “The fact that it’s for a good cause is great.”