DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay Packers player and his family were recognized on Monday for their continued support of area veterans.
Packers linebacker, Kyler Fackrell, along with his wife Elizabeth, were recognized with a ceremony by the Disabled American Veterans Department of Wisconsin after the Fackrell’s have spent much of the past three years donating dinners, prizes, and Packers merchandise to veterans in the area.
“The Green Bay Packers are revered in the state of Wisconsin and to have someone with the stature of Kyler and his spouse come on board and support service members, veterans, that’s fantastic. It really boosts spirits and it’s good to know that folks are out there like that,” says Mike Hert, department commander of DAV of Wisconsin. “Playing for the Packers, it’s a very busy life and to take a step away and go, hey, I need to help out the veterans, that’s huge.”
The Fackrell’s have donated Thanksgiving dinners to veterans and their families, given prizes for veteran picnics and Christmas parties and autographed Packers merchandise throughout the past three years.
According to Matt Kampien of DAV Wisconsin, the biggest thing the Fackrell’s did last year was rent out the ice skating rink in the Titletown District for nearly 400 soldiers and their families of the Wisconsin National Guard 127th Infantry before they were deployed to Afghanistan.
“You gave people memories that most don’t get and to us as veterans, watching that deployment just tugged at the heartstrings and we can’t thank you guys enough for that,” he says.
