VETERAN IN NEED
Bruce Sorensen, Chairman of Unmet Needs Quick Relief Fund (QRF) VFW Dept. of Wisconsin contacted Wisconsin District 6 Commander Ken Hemenway and Sheboygan Memorial Post 9156 Commander Dave Freitag in early October of 2020 concerning the need to assist a Vietnam Veteran.
Sheboygan Memorial Post 9156 joined forces with Wisconsin District 6 to assist Vietnam Veteran Gregory Best, who at the end of 2019 had one of his legs amputated. Since February 2020 he has been living in a rehab facility in Sheboygan for several months since. Greg had an opportunity to move into the home of his daughter and son-in-law. In order to accomplish that the bathroom had to be remodeled to accommodate Greg.
Home Depot generously donated enough funds to cover the materials needed to accomplish the remodel, however due to the pandemic they were unable to enter the home to do the work.
The task at hand was to find a contractor and raise funds through donations to cover as much of the contractor labor fees as possible.
Andy Opgenorth, a member of Memorial Post 9156 stepped up and provided a contact name of a local contractor. J&M Craft Builders, Mark Weidemann, an Air Force Veteran, along with his partner John Schwinn went to check out the project and determined what was required to allow Greg to move in with his Daughter and Son-in-Law. They submitted quote, which included the contractor work, plumbing and electrical. Their quote was accepted.
The time frame for this project was to have the remodel completed prior to Thanksgiving. J&M Craft Builders met the challenge and completed the project within the time frame. Greg was home for Thanksgiving.
The cost of labor was $5,500. A big THANK YOU to Unmet Needs, Festival Foods, BioMedical Solutions and several Posts within Wisconsin District 6 who donated funds to cover all the labor costs.
J&M Craft Builders not only remodeled the bathroom, and linen closet, they also installed ramps throughout the house at no charge to eliminate the need for Greg to go up and downstairs. As Mark Weidemann stated, “we just wanted to help get Greg home”. Everyone involved in this project understands what “Veterans Helping Veterans” and “No One Does More For Veterans” means. It was truly a combined effort to successfully make this project a success!
