Veterans Memorial Association in Congers,     

President Charles Maushardt says, one thing is certain: "We're giving someone money."
 

It's why the club, made up of Harley-Davidson motorcycle devotees who are mostly Vietnam veterans or members of law enforcement, came into existence.
Rockland residents have been part of the national organization for 20 years  and broke off from the parent chapter in Carlstadt, N.J., in 1999,   forming the  Hudson Valley Chapter.
Since the national group was founded by 13 Vietnam veterans who worked in law enforcement, the idea has been to support their Vietnam era brethren and others in need and to show solidarity with veterans' groups and law enforcement.
 

But as Vietnam era veterans, like World War II and Korea veterans before them, begin to fade, the group opened membership to law enforcement officers who weren't veterans and then to individuals who aren't part of either group but share the club's love of Harleys and their values in helping others.
That core value will be renewed this weekend, when the 21 members of the Hudson Valley Chapter will hold a spaghetti dinner to raise money to help make a dream come true for a sick child with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Hudson Valley Chapter.
The event Saturday will feature food and beverages, music by DJ Dave and a 50/50 drawing. The proceeds from the event will buy a wish for an as-yet unnamed recipient.
 

Maushardt, a Vietnam veteran, says this will be the third time the Nam Knights have teamed with Make-A-Wish and the second time the event will be held at the Hillcrest Firehouse at 52 Thiells-Mt. Ivy Road, just off Exit 13 of the Palisades Parkway in Pomona.
The first time the Nam Knights used the firehouse for a Make-A-Wish event, Maushardt says, they raised the necessary $7,500 in a little more than an hour.
 

A second event, at a different location, made the goal but wasn't the same kind of overall success. That prompted the move back to the firehouse and hopes for more than enough money to make a child's wish come true and also to accomplish other good works around the county.
In 2006, the Knights raised enough money to send a young heart transplant recipient from Nanuet to Disney world. A year later, again working with Make-A-Wish, they raised more than enough to fulfill the wish of an unidentified young girl with a life-threatening illness.
 

Maushardt expects that the club, whose members roll up on their Harleys and sport colorful Nam Knights leather jackets, will learn the name of this year's recipient late this week or maybe at the event on Saturday.
But whoever gets the wish, the Knights will have been glad to help, just as they have in so many other cases.
Last year, a chance conversation between club member Ed Mulholland and one of his co-workers resulted in a string of events to benefit the gentleman's young daughter.
 

Darren Swoboda's daughter Danielle had been diagnosed with a neurological disorder called Rett syndrome, which often causes problems with walking and breathing. Seizures can sometimes be part of the mix, too.
Mulholland mentioned Danielle's situation at a Nam Knights meeting, and the members decided they needed to do something to help. They're reluctant to donate to large, national associations or research foundations, opting instead to give their support - and money - to local individuals or families.
 

In the case of the Swoboda family, that meant buying a special walker that allows Danielle to strengthen her legs as she's aided in walking.
The Knights purchased the chair and arrived at the Swoboda home on their motorcycles to make the delivery one night last August. Not long after that, another benefit raised $5,000 to help with the expenses of Danielle's treatment. The Knights presented the funds at yet another benefit brunch, this one at the Red Rock Cafe in West Haverstraw. The event was attended by the entire Swoboda family.
 

And in December, when the Stony Point Seals used their annual Polar Plunge to raise money for Danielle Swoboda and 4-year-old Lexi Manning of Suffern, the Nam Knights were there, lending their support and providing a motorcycle escort for those diving into the frigid Hudson River waters to raise thousands of dollars.
 

In the past few years, the Nam Knights' generosity has been felt all across Rockland and the region.
 

They donated $2,000 to People to People one year for their effort to provide poor children served by the agency some of the holiday season's joy in gifts, meals and new clothes. Another year, they donated $2,500 to stock the People to People food pantry. They've also donated $1,000 each to Camp Venture and to the Food Bank for Westchester.
They've also raised money for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans; donations of fishing rods to a veterans' hospital; and contributions to the New York City PBA Widows and Children's Fund.
 

Making donations large and small and making wishes come true takes more money than a single spaghetti dinner or benefit brunch can raise.
For that reason, the Nam Knights hold a major fundraiser each September. This year, their benefit picnic will take place Sept. 26 at the          German Masonic Fairgrounds in Tappan.
Most of the organization's efforts fit the group's overriding values: supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and those in need, says             Nam Knights Vice President Mike Greco, a state police lieutenant who is a liaison to the New York City Police Department.
 

That expression of the brotherhood between veterans and law enforcement officers brings Nam Knights chapters from New Hampshire to Florida together in Washington each Memorial Day.. With hundreds of members on their Harleys, the Nam Knights show solidarity and respect for each other, making stops at the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Law Enforcement Memorial in the nation's capital.
 

The Nam Knights also strive to keep alive the memory of those who were missing in action and prisoners of war,holding out the hope that somewhere somehow, some of our missing may be clinging to life.
Sometimes that means gestures as small as the donation of a POW/MIA flag to the Spring Hill Community Ambulance Corps or as grand as taking on the sponsorship of the annual POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony held on the Central Avenue Field in Pearl River.