This project was sponsored by [b]Sunpoker.com[/b].

STAKES RAISED TO HELP VETERANS

Professional poker players are all about the raise, but Kenna James had never seen one so poignant.

An 8-year-old boy, watching a veteran who lost both legs during a rocket grenade attack in Iraq, pledged his allowance for the year - about $1,000 - to a non-profit organization that assists severely injured soldiers.

In a room full of poker players, the raising had just begun.

When it was all over, James' Operation Helping Hand - a benefit tournament held this week during the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas - had raised $170,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides prosthetics and other care to veterans. "It started with a passing of the hat to auctioning off items to 8- and 60-year -olds pouring out their hearts to these guys," James said of the after-party. "It was very emotional."

"That was big for us," said Heath Calhoun, 27, of Roanoke, Va., the Army veteran who lost both legs above the knees. "As an outsider to the poker world, they made us feel like family. Personally, I don't know how to play poker. They were more than willing to let me play."

Full Story at USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2006-...ing-hand_x.htm

:yippee:

That's really great, I applaud SunPoker for being a part of this fundraiser! My gramma used to donate to a charity called the forgotten soldiers, every since I was a little girl. She told me stories of her days as an army nurse, and we read letters from the soldiers together. Every year all of our Christmas cards had the little forgotten soldiers logo on the back.

Amazing how easy it is to look the other way when those that protect us are no longer able. Glad to see the world is changing, and realizing the enormous debt we owe our injured soldiers!

Great to see some good press for the poker world too!

~LadyH