To the editor:

Today there was a wonderful article about the Beacon. I was disappointed that the name Rob Helgerson didn’t appear. On March 13, 2013, I received a phone call from Rob asking to rent an apartment I had available. After showing him the apartment, he asked if he could move in immediately. He told me he was living at the Beacon and felt he was ready to move into the world again. Rod stated from the beginning that he had Agent Orange and he was going to receive a lot of money — over $200,000 when the lawsuit by Agent Orange recipients came through. He talked of what he would be doing with the money. He was going to give it away to all the people in Fort Dodge in need. He wanted to do this personally and with the help of friends who knew people in need. He was writing a list and it kept getting longer. If the check didn’t come before his passing, the money was all to go to the Beacon because they had helped him so much. I was sorry to see him fail so rapidly and he didn’t get his first with to give personally. He would be very happy with the way the Beacon has used his money. I was in the new addition recently and was very impressed. Rod would be very pleased.

Donna Gutknecht

Fort Dodge