When Project EverGreen’s SnowCare for Troops initiative was expanded to include wounded and disabled veterans this season, it meant that proud veterans like Carl Harris would be able to benefit from this award-winning program.
Now in its fifth year and underwritten by BOSS Snowplow, SnowCare for Troops is providing thousands of deployed military families and wounded and disabled veterans with free snow and ice removal services. These services allow military families and veterans to carry on with their daily routines such as getting the kids to school, shopping for groceries and making important medical appointments.
For Harris, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, the program has delivered all of the above and allowed him to carry out an important mission he performs for fellow veterans.
Q: How did you get involved with SnowCare for Troops?
A: Project EverGreen contacted us when they expanded the program this year and we thought it would be a real service to our membership so the vice president and I signed up to see how it worked. Project EverGreen worked to find a good match for me – Dominic Accordino of Accordino Landscaping in Wadsworth, Ohio, near Akron – and it has worked out very well. I feel very comfortable with Dominic and he has been very responsive and understanding.
Q: What do the snow and ice removal services SnowCare for Troops provide mean to veterans?
A: There are things disabled veterans can and can’t do. For veterans who can get around some, the exertion of shoveling and the risk of frost bite is great. For those who are disabled, it is a means of getting themselves and their families out of the house to appointments and daily functions. SnowCare for Troops helps veterans remain an active part of the community and live life with respect and dignity.
Q: How has the SnowCare for Troops program helped you personally?
A: I travel twice a week to the Veterans’ Administration hospital in Cleveland to volunteer helping other veterans. I have been doing it for nearly 20 years and am able to continue the favor that was done for me years ago. Being a VA volunteer is very important to me and I can’t let snow and ice stop me from getting there and doing my best for my fellow veterans.
Q: What would you say to veterans considering signing up for SnowCare for Troops?
A: I would say it is a service that works and that they should give it a try. It gives them more mobility and flexibility in their daily routine, and gives them peace of mind. It is a program that really works.
For more information on the Paralyzed Veterans of America, visit www.pva.org.
For more information on how you can volunteer for the GreenCare or SnowCare for Troops programs, visit www.projectevergreen.org/scft
SnowCare for Troops Volunteer Delivers Message
This winter’s impressive – or, depending on your opinion, decidedly unimpressive – snowfall totals have kicked Project EverGreen’s SnowCare for Troops initiative into high gear. Couple that with the expansion of the program to offer complimentary snow and ice removal services to wounded or disabled veterans, and we have seen significantly more requests for service this season.
For the nearly 1,500 dedicated volunteers across the country that push, plow, shovel and spread salt, the reward comes in knowing they are giving back to families or individuals that are or have made major sacrifices on behalf of our country. It is a feeling, as the credit card commercial says, is priceless.
It is also rewarding for our volunteer contractors to have the opportunity to share the mission of SnowCare and GreenCare for Troops with their communities.
One of our stalwart volunteers, Chris Kujawa of Kujawa Enterprises in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee, recently had the chance to share his personal experiences with both programs during a local television interview and he knocked it out of the park.
Kujawa told a reporter for the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee that families where the main breadwinner is deployed overseas can have a tough time making ends meet and do not have the resources to have their driveway or sidewalk plowed.
“If we can provide a little assistance for those families, then that is what it is all about,” said Kujawa. “It makes you feel better when you can help out and there are a lot of people that need and can’t get the help but that are very deserving of it.”
To view the entire interview with Kujawa visit
http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/Firefighters-businesses-asking-you-to-shovel-it-forward-290711901.html
While on the topic of volunteerism be sure to read our blog post from last week on the efforts of Joe Costanzo of C&C Landscape in Merrick, New York and the Boy Scout troop he leads, and how they are making a difference for one disabled veteran on Long Island.
SnowCare for Troops, now in its fifth year, is underwritten by BOSS Snowplows, serves more than 3,750 families across the country and has nearly 1,400 snow and ice contractors currently volunteering.
For more information on how you can become a volunteer visitwww.projectevergreen.org/scft. We are always looking for new volunteers to match up with deserving families and veterans.