On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 3:18:12 PM UTC-5, Swingman wrote:
> Robert, our own "Nailshooter41", is one of those.
>
> Robert is very active, and instrumental, in feeding hundreds of wounded
> Vets on the big holidays each year, and has been doing it for the years
> I've known him.
Kind words, Karl. Thanks.
I haven't been around for a while, but thought this topic could use a bump. It's the 4th of July, and in the military town I live in we use that as another day to celebrate not only our freedom but those who serve and have served to protect it.
I would like to echo the thoughts here of supporting the Fisher House. About three years ago I started a small non-profit with the help of some like-minded individuals and it has done better than I ever expected. Our organization is an all volunteer outfit, and since I wrote the charter, all dollars go directly to assist those in need. No overhead, no bookkeeping fees, no tax prep, no compensation for the group in any way. We are small, but mighty!
Every year we have a Memorial Day (fitting weekend!)BBQ, and we ask for donations. With a donation you get a hefty plate of Texas style BBQ with all the sides, sodas, tea and as long as they last, brownies. It is about 3 months in planning since we are an all volunteer group working around one another's work/family schedules. Our group ranges in age from about 25 to 78, and everyone does as much as they can to make the event work. We rent a huge pavilion at a local park and start around 8 in the morning, and this year we finished around 10pm.
I drag everyone into the act, reminding them that 100% of our net goes to our non profit. Our net is determined after cost to rent the park, and several hundred dollars for cups, to go containers, silverware kits, hundreds of pounds of ice, $400 worth of brisket, 15 pounds of potato salad, 5 gallons of beans, a couple of hundred bags of chips, and on an on an on are taken out. We get food donations from a couple of distributors, cigars to smoke (and raffle)from our local cigar store hangout, and all the boys that participate (and the significant others!) always bring stuff to make it go well. It takes 4 pickups to get the boiling pots, utensils, serving tables, ice chests, aprons, gloves, and on an on at to the site. It takes another two family vans to get all the food out. The logistics and scheduling of all the volunteers is a real project in itself.
Our first event several years (not a non profit yet)ago netted us about $175 and we did the whole thing on my credit card we served about 40 people, lost our butts on the BBQ, but had a full margarita machine on site left there for a a party that didn't happen, so we sold frozen margaritas for a $2. Otherwise we would have been underwater!
Fast forward through the years of learning to do this well, who does what best, which of our volunteers are the most reliable, and we are here. This year was our biggest year. We served about three hundred plates (!!) and just about nailed our food supply perfectly. I set up a "to go" table, and I was pleased to see the containers leaving 3-5 at a time, there as it left a little less for us to clean up at the end. Our net (with additional cash donations)was just a bit under $3K!
So where does the money go? As Karl mentioned, it has been our pleasure to serve holiday meals at the Fisher House for several years. The proceeds from all of the hard work buys turkey, ham, a ton of sides and lots of desserts. Our spot is Christmas Eve. It speaks to the quality of the men and women that support our event that they give up their own family time to help others. I have never had problems getting all the volunteers I need to make the Christmas Eve dinner run well. I am truly blessed to be the quarterback of a great team. And just being involved with my comrades and their wives, and having the opportunity to do our little bit for the troops and their families is a huge reward all in itself.
So some of the money goes to the dinner, but it goes to other places as well. We send out a few hundred cigars to the troops in battle zones, and I cannot tell you guys here how popular that is to them. I have had not only great letters of thanks back, but have been sitting in a work area at the cigar club I go and have met people that made it a point to tell me they were on the front line in Afghanistan and Iraq when they got their cigars. Returning troops find me just to let me know how important a few cigars were to them. Little things can really mean a lot when you don't have them.
Since we have built a better bank than I ever thought we would have, I am going to ramp up our efforts. With a successful BBQ under out belt and a few funds from the previous years (unlike the Wounder Warriors Project, no expenses can really be a boon to saving money) we have a new project I am investigating. Unfortunately, the local guy that runs our Fisher House has decided he a great humanitarian (nope... just another of the thousands of retired Colonels that live here)so he won't speak to me about my new plan. However, the lady in charge of the facility has been there since day one, and she loves all of us as much as we love her.
They are trying to come up with a way we can make a straight donation to the families that can go right in their pockets. We are thinking that maybe gift certificates for $50 for the families to spend (to take their family member off base for a meal), purchasing some of the items that the families need for their stay here, and even sponsoring some of the family living quarters for a week of stay. What a kick it would be for us to be able to have our Christmas Eve dinner AND sponsor a few families for a week!
If anyone is still reading this far down, the point of it all is that any small effort for the Fisher House is a good thing. I never saw myself starting a non profit, I never had a remote clue we would be as successful as we are with our efforts, and I never thought they would automatically reserve Christmas Eve at the Fisher House for our little group.
And it all started with hot dogs and sausage on a grill and a rented margarita machine we didn't pay for.
> Just for the record. Anyone looking to give to a good cause to help
> veterans and their families, also consider the Fisher House Foundation.
>
>
https://www.fisherhouse.org/
>
> Down through the years I've had the opportunity to see firsthand the
> wonders the Fisher House folks provide in the not so simple task of
> making it possible for disabled veterans to have their families close at
> hand when they need someone the most.
Well said, Karl. The doctors that work at the hospital (SAMMC/Brooks)have told me that family time is a huge component of healing for the men and women at the hospital being treated for anything and everything that happens in battle. I have nothing good to say about what the Wounded Warriors group has morphed into; but I cannot say enough good things about the Fisher House.
Robert