Cards for Lee: Community rallies around Danville City Councilman’s recovery

Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors member Kenneth Bowman, left, and Danville council member Lee Vogler attend the Danville Community College Education Foundation Holiday Gathering in Danville, Va., Dec. 2024. (Von Wellington Photography via AP)

By Amie Knowles

August 5, 2025

A GoFundMe page and a greeting card effort sprung up over the weekend, showing support for Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler.

Following a heinous attack by fire on July 30, Lee Vogler remains in “stable but critical condition,” according to the most recent update on a GoFundMe page set up for the Danville City Council member over the weekend. Vogler is currently being treated at the UNC Chapel Hill Burn Clinic in North Carolina for burns covering more than half of his body.

Striving to raise $100,000, the funds collected will help with urgent expenses for Vogler, his wife, and their children—including medical costs not covered by insurance, travel, and lodging.

Vogler has served the Danville area since 2012 as a city councilman, and is the voice behind the phrase #ComebackCity. His idealistic vision for Danville emerged as his civic leadership took root, championing the idea that the River City—once known for heritage linking the district to tobacco and textile—could re-emerge into a new heyday.

An outpouring of support for the Vogler family followed the attack. In addition to the GoFundMe, the family is accepting cards to place in Vogler’s room as he undergoes multiple surgeries and continues on the road to recovery.

Those can be mailed to:

Rhonda Vogler (Lee)
110 Greencroft Place
Danville, VA 24541-331

Amie Knowles

Amie Knowles is Dogwood's newsletter editor. She has been in journalism for several years, winning multiple awards from the Virginia Press Association for news and feature content. A lifelong Virginia resident, her work has appeared in the Martinsville Bulletin, Danville Register & Bee, and NWNC Magazine.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Virginia that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie’s newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: LOCAL PEOPLE

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