Army veteranrecycles Christmas trees into canes

COPPERASCOVE, Texas – A U.S. Army veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, is continuing to serve his country evenwithout the uniform.

Jamie Willis is a Desert Storm vet who suffered a back injuryduring his eight years of service. After the Veterans Affairs hospital gave hima diagnosis of 100-percent disability, Willis has since relied on a cane towalk. That inspired his non-profit, Canes for Veterans Central Texas.The50-year-old started making canes out of recycled Christmas treesin 2016. Since then, he’s made more than 200 and given them all away.“It’s notabout me, it’s about the veterans, getting the canes out to all my brother andsisters out there,” Willis said. “It starts with one cane, make one cane andgive it away.”With the holidays nearing an end, Willis called on hiscommunity to donate their Christmas trees so he could make more canes in 2020.The community responded quickly, donating more than 1,000 trees to the non-profit.“Thecommunity has been great, they have shown so much love and support for this andwithout them there is no way this could have happened,” Willis said. “This hasspread like wildfire, pretty much.

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