Teammates -
Over the next two posts, I have the
distinct pleasure of introducing Laurie Hollander to the broader Team RWB
community. For those of you who have not
had the pleasure of meeting Laurie, when and if you do, it will not an experience you will soon forget
and you will come away with a new sense of what is possible, given the right
amount of dedication and desire. Laurie
is not only a proud Team RWB member, but a mother of two servicemen, and the
President of Help Our Military Heroes (HOMH), a non-profit whose mission is to
provide modified vehicles for injured military personnel. Talking to Laurie, it does not take long to
understand how much she cares about her work and making a difference in the
lives of our wounded warriors. She calls
herself the cheerleader of HOMH, and her passion is evident, and a large part
of why HOMH has been so successful to date.
Her philosophy is borne out of the belief that each of us, regardless of
our lot in life, needs a hand from time to time. Today, January 18, HOMH presented the keys to
two new vans to two of our military heroes – a young Army Corporal and an Army
Sergeant First Class. Laurie was kind enough to conduct the following interview over email and Skype and we cannot express how much we appreciate her time. Here in her own
words is the story behind HOMH, its goals, and one incredible lady that we are
lucky to call a teammate and a friend to Team RWB.
Team RWB: Laurie, you
and Marybeth came up with the idea for what would become Help Our Military
Heroes at a West Point football game in 2006 - what did you envision for it at
the time? When and how did you decide that adaptive vehicles were the avenue
that you wanted to pursue?
LH: I had been fundraising
for Western CT Hospice for 2 years where I teach spinning classes. When
my younger son, Matthew was accepted to West Point and in the same year my
older son stepped away from his junior year in college to enlist in the Marine
Corps I was drawn to the West Point campus and football games for the best
chance to see my Plebe (empty nest hit me hard!) as his opportunities to take
Pass are little to none the first year. At one of the home games we were all
witness to a modified van being donated to a severely injured soldier... pretty
much instantly I turned to Marybeth and said "Game changer!"
Monday morning in my spin
class, I announced and took a hand-count of who would support the opportunity
to spin and take other fitness classes to raise money to contribute to the van
charity I had seen at the West Point football game. That was in 2007 and
we raised $67,000 with 6 hours of exercise, in 2008 it became $100,000, in 2009
we were up to $120,000. This is when I met my now-husband Ted. He is the
financial and legal side of our HOMH Triangle. Marybeth is the marketing and I am a cheerleader!
Ted took a look at what our spin-athon was raising and asked Marybeth and I to incorporate
and apply for a Non-Profit status to take responsibility for our communities
contributions.
We applied for our 501c3 in
2009 and received our IRS approval in June 2010. We are very fortunate to
have a '68 West Point grad take interest in what HOMH was hoping to
accomplish. Mainly, we want to RAISE money and have 100% of the donations
go to serving our most severely wounded as well as making a yearly contribution
to a CT area Veterans Cause. We have met our Mission! Since our
founding we have raised more than $450,000 and have helped 20 severely wounded
veterans experience their independence again by helping them regain their
mobility.
The vans are the most amazing thing! A
wheelchair can roll in, Lock Down-Tie In, Passenger or Driver-Can transfer to a
car seat and off you go! We take this for granted. Everyone I know
grabs their keys and drives away but I can share stories of our van recipients
re-telling their daily experience using the old family SUV or car. It
will make you cry!
Team RWB: In the first
16 months, you have been able to donate 13 vans with another 3 on the way -
tell me more about that process. How do you find the recipients, where do
your vans come from? How long does it take from the identification of a
recipient to the presentation of the van?
LH: Our process is another
one of the "MIRACLES" that has fallen our way. With the
assistance in navigating the military world we connected with another Grad of
West Point that had recently been called back to active Duty from Retirement to
work on the transition of Walter Reed to Bethesda. HOMH packed up the car
and met our new friend and several Officers in the MATC or Military Advanced
Training Center. Once our interviews were over this particular day a very
sly Captain in the Occupational Therapy unit literally rolled in a triple
amputee and told us she thought we might enjoy meeting this warrior.
Dear Lord! This
beautiful marine with his teenie tiny wife and their 9 month old daughter began
to tell the story of his injuries. He cried, we cried and the team of
Medical and Administrative officers that quite possibly heard this story once
or twice before, cried.
Our new friend told how he
used his "GOOD" arm to swing himself up into their Ford Explorer
while his wife (5 ft tall and 90 lbs) loaded their baby and 4 yr old
daughter. One Day he slipped and fell to the ground. No legs, one
Arm and he slipped. His wife picked up his body and he swore that he
would talk to the Captain to find out what type of car he should have his
family driving to avoid this scenario ever again. So, HOMH was trial by fire! We had this family fill out our application, our
process for interviewing was already complete (sneaky Captain) and we made our
decision to Award this marine our very first van!
I'd like to say our process
has changed and none of our meetings are any less emotional. They're
not! I wouldn't change a thing. It's important to get emotional and know who you
are helping. I just do. It keeps me motivated to do more!
So - the main "what we
do" is we bridge the gap. A one-time vehicle grant (4502) is awarded an injured service
person – this currently is $18,900. Most
appropriate vans are minimally $30,000 up to $60,000. The Medical staff works with our applicant on
all the necessary prescribed equipment for safety, driving, etc. When all is said and done, a driver (versus
passenger only) van modified and fully Rx can value over $90,000. HOMH makes sure that the injured service man or
woman pays NO OUT OF POCKET COSTS. The vehicle is their color, their style, their
choice... they are handed their keys and off they go... free and mobile... independent
in their new life!
Team RWB: You have
your annual fund-raiser coming up, what kind of event is it going to be?
LH: Ah! Spinathon It’s
a 4 ring circus of FITNESS!
Beginning at 0600 wrapping
up at 1430 we spin, kick, box, yoga, dance and Cross-Fit in Danbury, CT at
the gym I have worked at for over 10 years now. We ask for a suggested donation of $15.00/hour
and average $50.00 per participant in spite of the minimal donation.
Participants began collected sponsors year back and we just kept that great
idea rolling...
We have participants that
work for some large companies like Coke, GE, Goodrich, CARTUS, American
Express, Praxair, etc. which have employee matching programs and
foundations. But the great news is over $75% of our donations are purely
individuals making a huge difference a few dollars at a time. That's part
of what fires me up! Every day people doing this AWESOME thing...
Saying thank you to those who voluntarily give of themselves to defend and
protect us.
We have local businesses
donated coffee, bagels, sandwiches, desserts, sports drinks, water and more. Other businesses donate goods and services for a
very popular raffle.
All in all, the event comes
together on the Saturday in January (28 January) between the end of the
playoffs and Super Bowl! BOOM! No football, so SPINATHON! God has blessed our event with a snow-date that has
never had to be used. I continue to pray that this is the 2012 plan, as
well! Snow date is Sunday, Jan 29, just in case God's sense of humor is
rockin' and rollin'
This year Team RWB and HOMH
HERO is SFC Mark Holbert, along with his wife Tiffany (and Isabelle, too of
course!)
Team RWB: Is
there any way that those of us not in the area can get involved in the
spin-athon?
LH: Hit our website
at http://www.helpourmilitaryheroes.org/ and donate on line. Leave us a message
when you do and let us know how we are doing!
Team RWB note: The blog team at Team RWB would like to
encourage all team members, if you can’t make it to CT, to do your workout for
the day with Laurie and HOMH in mind.
Throw on your Eagle while you are training and bike, run, go to the gym
with a little extra pride for what this great organization is doing – no matter
where you are, we can all participate in this great cause. Then as Laurie says, drop a line on their
website about what you did – leave a note in our comments section as well. Saturday, 28 January, Team RWB shadow
training day in honor to HOMH.
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