Who We Help
The 1st Annual Our Turn to Serve Legion Ride to Benefit Combat Disabled Indiana Veterans was held on September 18, 2010. The event started at American Made Shopper in Angola where riders gathered to meet one of the veterans being helped by Our Turn to Serve. Jeff Face of American Made Shopper is shown welcoming riders to the event. Jeff helped with the coordination of the event and is a tremendous supporter of veterans.
Miss Fort Wayne, Emily Hart and Miss IPFW, Jessica Butler helped kick off the event. Both Emily and Jessica assisted in the biker registration.
Jessica Butler lead the riders with a spirited singing of the National Anthem as riders prepared for the ride.
Participants listened as members of the Fremont and Orland American Legion Riders provided information about the ride. The Legion Riders from these two posts were instrumental in organizing the ride.
Riders prepared to leave American Made Shopper for the first of several stops on the road in Northeast Indiana.
In this photo, riders stopped at the Legion Post in Fremont before heading off to Orland. It was a beautiful fall day and a great day for a ride.
When riders returned to American Made Shopper, they were able to enjoy freshly grilled hamburgers and brats, several door prizes, and entertainment—a fitting end to a great ride.
As a result of this ride, Our Turn to Serve was able to raise nearly $2,000 to support a deserving combat disabled veteran. Special thanks to American Made Shopper as well as the American Legion Riders of Fremont and Orland.
Another fundraiser to benefit combat disabled veterans was organized by Mike Pfefferkorn and the employees of American Specialty Insurance and Risk Services, a member company of Brown & Brown. Mike, shown here, participated in the Run Woodstock Ultra Marathon, a 100-mile event.
In this photo, Mike breaks from the starting line with nearly 100 other runners, who ran for nearly 24 hours through wooded terrain. Mike encouraged his fellow employees to make a financial contribution for each mile that he ran in the event.
In addition to enduring this event, Mike was able to establish support of his run through his fellow employees at American Specialty. The parent company, Brown & Brown also helped by matching the contributions made by their employees.
Thanks to Mike, the great employees of American Specialty and their parent company, Brown & Brown. Their efforts resulted in a contribution of nearly $5,000 for deserving veterans. These people are all heroes to us!!!
One of the veterans who received assistance from Our Turn to Serve is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He was injured during combat operations at the Hill Fights of Khe Sanh. During his service, he earned four Purple Hearts from his combat-related injuries. He also had exposure to Agent Orange which created pulmonary issues for him. When he is exposed to extreme heat or cold it can impact his breathing. His request was that we help him with replacement windows at his home.
This picture is another shot of the old windows at our veteran’s home. These windows were not energy efficient and many had leaks that caused the home to have extreme temperature swings during cold and hot weather. These extremes impacted the breathing of our veteran.
Our friends from Home Lumber replaced 32 windows with energy efficient windows. The replacement windows eliminated leaks and reduced heat loss during the winter months.
Special thanks to Chad Korte and the Home Lumber installation team who helped make this home more comfortable for our veteran. Your work has helped the community serve this very worthy veteran for his selfless service to our country.