By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

U.S. troops have pulled out of Baghdad but that doesn't mean things have slowed down for one local charity.

Bunkers in Baghdad, a nonprofit organization that ships golf balls and clubs to soldiers overseas and to Wounded Warriors programs stateside, announced a partnership with Warrior Transition Battalion Europe.

The alliance will allow Bunkers in Baghdad to assist the Wounded Warriors program in 13 locations across southern Germany and Italy.

Joseph Hanna, who founded the nonprofit locally in 2008, says it's another opportunity to expand its reach and touch soldiers worldwide. He is a partner in Golberg Segalla LLP.

"Some of the soldiers who we had delivered golf equipment to in Iraq were hurt while serving," Hanna says. "While they were recovering and transitioning through that battalion, they told them about the charity and asked them if we could send clubs there. That's how it got started."

Since its inception in 2008, Bunkers has shipped more than 2.8 million balls and more than 58,000 clubs to soldiers in all 50 states and 15 countries.

To launch the partnership, it sent a shipment of more than 20 sets of golf clubs and thousands of balls to the Warrior Transition Battalion Europe headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. The equipment will serve as rehabilitation tools for more than 120 Wounded Warriors in the battalion.

"Our warriors are thrilled about the opportunities that will come through our partnership with Bunkers in Baghdad," said Christopher Buscema, a physical therapist with Warrior Transition Battalion Europe. "Golf is an excellent therapeutic recreational tool for us to use in (their) rehabilitations. It's great for lifting spirits, too. I anticipate this new partnership will provide a spark for us to begin a battalion-wide golf program and hope to have a tournament this summer."

According to Hanna, some wondered if things would slow down for the charity once the war in Iraq came to an end. Not quite. He says 2012 is looking to be its biggest year yet.

"We have received recent requests from Australia and Honduras," he says. "The reality is, for many soldiers, they may be leaving Baghdad but they are going elsewhere and the need is still there."

He says the partnership with Warrior Transition Battalion Europe is the latest in a string of corporate and military partnerships that includes more than 25 professional sports teams nationwide.

"The support we have received from not only these teams and organizations but from individual people dropping off a dozen balls or a set of secondhand clubs has been incredible," Hanna says.

"We are looking forward to continuing the partnership and bringing the brave men and women of the Warrior Transition Battalion Europe more supplies to help them in their rehabilitation - and, of course, to have a little extra fun while they recover."

cut
U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan take a break to drive golf balls into the desert sky. Nearly 3 million golf balls and 58,000 clubs have been shipped to soldiers worldwide through Bunkers in Baghdad.