Blue Star Canteen, a veteran support group, receives donated roof, windows

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (WROC) — Blue Star Canteen is one of the few — if not only — place of its kind in the country, explains Bobbie Metcalfe.

“We have a clothing closet, we have a food pantry and personal care products… Everything in this house is free to our vets and their families,” she said.

The group also provides rides, company, and adopt a veteran program at Christmastime. At the canteen, they also serve a free homecooked dinner every third Wednesday for any veteran.

Blue Star Canteen is administered through Blue Star Mothers New York Chapter #1 . The Blue Star Mothers were established in 1942, as a nationwide group.

If you’re a mother with a child in any military branch, you can join the Blue Star Mothers. Metcalfe has two daughters and two sons that served in the Army.

“We believe every child that goes into the service is our kids,” she said. “We’re just moms taking care of our kids.”

This chapter moved into this space on Foster Street in Canandaigua, but it needed a lot of work, including new windows.

So Metcalfe put in some calls for estimates to get a grant. Veterans Choice Exteriors , and owner Rich Schultz, was her last call.

“Rich was talking to us in the kitchen, and says I’m going to donate the windows to you guy,” she said. “And we’re like… ‘Ok… Thank you!'”

But Schultz, a six-year Army veteran — and whose business regularly donates to the Veterans Outreach Center — didn’t stop there.

“They told us they would also want a quote for the future for roofing and siding, and what we decided is that a week later, we thought about it, got our numbers, we decided we were going to donate the roof,” Schultz said.

“All the money we raise goes back to our troops and our vets, and to come up with this kind of money, it’s hard,” Metcalfe said. “It’s phenomenal, and they’re all a bunch of a good guys
it’s a powerful moment for us, but it’s also really good to be giving back to the community, and the veterans.”

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