Cranston store owner raises money for local veterans
By News Staff
Reporting by Liz Tufts
ltufts@abc6.com
A Cranston business owner is now calling on others to step up and support our local veterans.
When Mike Flaherty isn’t behind the counter at his Cork and Bottle liquor store on Pontiac Avenue in Cranston, the former decorated military officer is spending his days making sure local vets get the help they need.
“You take care of your own first,” he says.
It started off with a few people dropping pennies into a jar at the store, but over the past two months, those pennies turned into much more. Today, Flaherty presented a $1,000 check to Operation Stand Down—money that is desperately needed right now for local veterans.
“Whether it be for housing or help getting jobs, or even just food for their families,” says Flaherty.
Flaherty is now calling on other businesses, not just in Cranston, but across the state, to do the same.
“I think there are other businesses, small in nature, or big in format, that can hopefully do the same,” he says.
He’ll be keeping his jar out hoping for that next big donation, but he’s proving that even a penny can go a long way.
Flaherty says he will match all donations that are made at his store in the future.
© WLNE-TV 2015
