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A Champ is Someone Who Gets Up, Even When They Can’t

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Hydrate With AHERO

Hydrate With AHERO

AHERO ON THE MOVE A Champ is Someone Who Gets Up, Even When They Can’t

By Jeremy Clarke

So said World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey. It’s the kind of quote you hear when you’re a kid ready to give up. And, if you’re lucky, one that comes back when you need it.

American Legion Rider from Post 240, Andrew “Tiny” Mercer connected Dave Glassman and me to Theo Kramer of American Legion Post 340 Riders and we found ourselves again in the presence of folks who don’t just get back up when they’ve fallen in the race, they pick up the baton and sprint with it all the way to the finish line. On that day, AHERO’s finish line seemed a long haul away, so here we were with a group we felt could be counted on to help us make the big dash.

Enough with the metaphors. Here’s the backstory.

If you’ve read the last several issues of this magazine you know that among AHERO’s goals is one that’s been particularly daunting: Securing a permanent home and headquarters for AHERO.

Not just any building. A built-to-order lodge. So architects, builders and businesses were enlisted to create the plans and supply supplies. Donors began digging in their pockets as they do for AHERO. Because it needed to be a place where our wounded and injured Veterans could heal together in camaraderie and friendship with those who understood their stress and sorrow because they’ve lived through it themselves.

And a place like that could cost … well, a mint.

Remember Sisyphus? The guy forever rolling that boulder uphill? Read on!

Fundraising for the project went on and on and on. The bank account was added to, day by day, week after week, year to year. Covid hit, things got complicated, materials and labor costs skyrocketed but on they went, Stuckey and Glassman with other AHERO volunteers showing up for the Vets and showing their outstretched palms to the donors.

It was AHERO Founder Lee Stuckey who spotted our “solution” one day. Located very close to his home in Shorter, Alabama, the 40acre property featured a well-stocked lake and a big house that could easily be repurposed into AHERO’s lodge!

Negotiation started. The $700,000 asking price was reasonable, given the market, but AHERO couldn’t meet it despite years of astute financial management, saving, and almost zero administrative costs. The account held about $460,000.

Stucky persisted. Luckily the seller was a lovely, patriotic lady, Mrs. Sandy Ganas. She shared her preference that the place be used to help Veterans, Then she lowered the price to $500,000!

Still, there would be the cost of refurbishment. Better not to take out a loan and have donor dollars go to pay bank interest. In addition, Stuckey knew they needed to purchase a second existing structure on the property in order to house more Vets, but at an extra $100,000. So another $150,000 was needed. Or enough, at least, to show AHERO’s financial supporters and the bank that community horsepower was available to pull this off.

TO THE RESCUE: A SPIRITED, JACK DEMPSEY KIND OF GROUP

Here in the greater Pensacola Bay area, we feel blessed to be in a generous and patriotic community. A center of gravity seems to us to be American Legion Post 340. Inspired by the AL 340 Riders and Auxiliary, the Post’s leadership, immense heart, soul, and efficiency – and surely the productivity of its membership – just blew us away.

Glassman usually starts and runs AHERO meetings. But that day back in April we heard “We have control of the airplane!” when Tina and Bill Conn with Theo and Kim Kramer laid out their planned fundraising Cornhole Tournament for AHERO, their first event. Another, the June 11th Darts Tournament with everything from high-tech dart boards to multitudes of auction items to a very proficient auctioneer, Chris Terrell from the Dirty South Darts organization, would follow. [https:// www.facebook.com/DirtySouthDarts]

Fliers, social media campaign, sponsors, prizes, food, contests – all elements for success were set. Glassman and I just grinned at each other, thinking, “Who needs us? They got this!”

Afterward, as we packed up the truck, the whole AL340 Kramer/Conn team came out to us. Kim was in tears. Hugs abounded. Then the announcement of event outcome being a doubling of their initial fundraising goal, followed a check being passed along.

American Legion 340 had raised north of twenty thousand dollars.

We knew that a huge dent had been made in our shortfall. We could now move forward with the purchase of the property. The message was clear to the bank: AHERO doesn’t just have a supporter in AL Post 340. AHERO has a partner.

It was an incredibly emotional experience. The kind that stokes the fire in the belly to get up again, to do more, innovate more, listen more to what our Veterans need. And to discover new, better ways to help them get through their layers of pain and distress and start the healing process.

At AHERO, we are hugely grateful to those who have brought us this far. And today we are grateful beyond words to American Legion Post 340 for being there in our own time of need.

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