Peters Residents Hope to Build Home for New Neighbor Sgt. Doug Vitale

After spending nearly two years at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center in Tampa, FL, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Doug Vitale arrived back home in western Pennsylvania this past summer to a hero's welcome.

Now, Vitale is in need of an actual physical home, a specially designed "smart" building equipped to accommodate the injuries that he sustained while on patrol in Afghanistan.

Vitale stepped on a land mine in September 2011, causing an explosion that cost him both of his legs and leading to strokes on both sides of his brain. When he awoke days later at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Vitale had lost his speech, was paralyzed on his right side and had coordination problems on the left side of his body.

His new home is now being built in Peters Township, and it will feature electronic control systems that Vitale can activate with a touchpad, as well as a sling attached to the ceiling of his bedroom that will lift him in and out of bed and get him to a wheelchair-adapted bathroom.

The home, of course, is expensive, but that's where a group of Peters residents come in.

The group is organizing a golf outing to raise money to help to build Vitale's new home and is looking for tee sponsors, silent auction items, gift baskets, gift cards or even items that can be used in participants' welcome packages—or even simply cash donations.

The outing is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 14, at Rolling Hills Country Club, starting with 10 a.m. registration. A shotgun start follows at 11 a.m. The cost per foursome is $400, which includes golf (scramble), prizes and a cookout. The cookout follows at VFW Post 764 along Valleybrook Road.

See the media gallery above for more information, including sponsorship costs. And for additional info, contact Chris Monti at 724-941-0041 or at montijewelers@verizon.net, or Greg Batko at 724-941-4710 or at batko@fnb-corp.com.

Entry fees should be sent to Greg Batko, First National Bank, 3539 Washington Rd., McMurray, PA 15317. Make checks payable to "Vitale Invitational."