Funds sought to replace damaged new roof at Brentwood VFW

A struggling Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Brentwood may get a new roof after Brock Pierce, the former child actor and cryptocurrency mogul who ran for president last year on the New York Independence Party line, joined Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) Thursday to kick off fundraising.

"Not just here in Brentwood, but all over Long Island, all over the state, VFWs like this, American Legions, have had to shut down rentals and shut down to veterans who can’t come here and spend time with other veterans," Garbarino said.

Hall rentals for receptions and social events supply much of the revenue veterans associations use to pay building utilities and fund their charitable giving, but many posts on Long Island were forced to close or curtail their operations after the pandemic struck last year.

Brentwood’s VFW Post 6431 also closed, said post commander Sabrina Lacy, 61, a retired Army medic, and its predicament worsened after water accumulated on the squat 1956 building’s flat roof and began to seep through, causing what she estimated was $100,000 in damage. In the building’s main hall Thursday, parts of the roof visibly sagged and ceiling tiles were missing. "We are in a state of emergency," Lacy said.

Pierce said he would contribute "financially as much as is needed" to supplement fundraising. The star of "The Mighty Ducks" said he was "committed to making sure this place reopens" and said contractors would visit the Wurz Street building next week, but did not give a timetable for any work.

Post 6431 has 88 members, down from about 400 in the early 2000s. Reopening would ensure those members are not "stuck at home alone," she said, and renovations could make the post a destination for barbecues, computer skills classes and family activities.

"People in America need to know that these organizations were built by you and your forefathers," she said.

Randi Law, a spokeswoman for the national VFW organization, said that last year 33 posts surrendered their charters, fewer than in some recent years. Five new charters were also issued.

VFW posts operate independently, but the VFW Foundation donated $1 million to 400 posts through a pandemic relief grant program that closed in March, Law said. Lacy said she was not aware of the program. She applied for a New York State grant but her application was unsuccessful, she said.

Anyone who wants to donate to the VFW post can call its office at 631-581-9454, she said. In his remarks, Pierce directed listeners to a web address, savethevfw.com, "to learn more and to contribute," but that URL did not return a working website. He and a spokeswoman for Garbarino did not respond to emails Thursday evening.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.