Wing Crawl For A Cause
Wing Crawl For A Cause
GOACC event raises money for WNY Heroes/Pawsitive for Heroes
Pictured L-R: Aaron Tierson, Roland Hayes, Tyler Booth, Tony Gliszczysnki, Larry Smith, Chris Kreiger, Erica Dreher, Meme Yanetsko. Also pictured: Tony’s service dog Stan.
OLEAN - The idea to have a crawl where participants would go place to place and vote and eat chicken wings was a no brainer … GOACC and the Olean Sports and Social Club hosted the Wing Crawl back in early November. Similar to the taco crawl held in June, a winner was chosen on who had the best wing / best taco.
But according to both organizations, the real winner was the Western New York Heroes / Pawsitive for Heroes. The committee met with the heroes in Olean last week and presented several checks to them totaling $5,597 – enough to cover the training for a service dog to a local veteran.
Aaron Tierson, a committee member and chef from Union Whiskey, stated, “Service dogs hit home with me as a vet – WNY Heroes was chosen (as recipient) because of the wonderful service that they give to my fellow veterans. The dogs and their owners go through various courses together, properly preparing the dogs to serve those who’ve served.”
Founded in 2007, WNY Heroes works tirelessly to provide the support, assistance and resources – financial, physical and emotional – that veterans need following service to our country. The organization’s goal is to ease the transition from combat to civilian life, and eliminate the hardships and complications that too many veterans continue to experience in America today.
Chris Kreiger Sr., Iraq War Veteran, President, Co-Founder WNYHeroes, Inc. stated, “Thank you everyone for your amazing ongoing support and most of all, for believing in us. With your help, we can continue making a difference for Veterans in WNY. Once we have your Veteran and service dog identified, we will arrange a meet and greet and you can find out more about them. Again, thank you for believing in us and thank you for being our hero.”
Meme K. Yanetsko, GOACC COO, added, “Through the wing crawl itself, $3,100 was raised. The balance was graciously donated/added to the event proceeds: Chris Dicerbo with Union Tea Café purchased a signed Buffalo Bills painting of Coach Sean McDermott for $1,000 and Nick Dicerbo of Union Whiskey donated $1,400 to match what was raised through the raffles.”
So what’s next: The Olean Sports and Social Group and the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce teamed up to present both the Taco of the Town Crawl and the Wing Crawl.
Tyler Booth, OSSC founder, reported, “It’s pretty interesting hearing what people are suggesting for our next crawl – some people want pizza, hamburgers, appetizers, sliders – even mac and cheese!” He continued, “Since it’s cold and winter season, the crawl coming up next may be a chili / soup crawl.” The committee reports that the next crawl menu will be announced soon and held at the end of March 2022.
Lastly, during the meeting, the WNY Heroes presented the staff at GOACC a trophy stating “Thank you for being our hero.” For more information, please call 716-372-4433 or email member@oleanny.com.