Serve Our Willing Warriors

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Spring Cleaning + Outdoor Fun

In an battle of epic proportions, a dedicated team of SOWW volunteers clawed down every tethered cobweb, swept every saw-dusted corner, and trimmed every blade of the traitorously grassy hillsides that stood in their way. In the process, they made the Bull Run Warrior Retreat look better than ever!

SOWW volunteer Special Operation Rock Team (SORT) on the ready

It wasn’t all work though. They laughed often and drank their fill of fresh lemonade, but their favorite part was the camaraderie and the feeling of fulfillment that comes from serving others.

the yard team

we're all in this together!

JROTC cadets pose before hammering the stones to bits

The Retreat sits on a 37-acre property and we are very fortunate to have a volunteer who keeps the grounds mowed. He arrives bright and early before the intense sun hazes down the hillside and cuts the lawn every week without fail. So when he mentioned that the rocks that hid in the grass were dulling his blades, we formed a special task group that simply relished the opportunity to get their hands rocking and a rolling ... (pun intended).

John Dominick, the Vice President of Serve Our Willing Warriors, spoke this group of primarily local high school Junior ROTC cadets beforehand. He jokingly told them that after they were done picking up all of the rocks and making a pile with them in the front yard, they were to take giant sludge hammers and pulverize the rocks until it could be made into gravel for the driveway.

Jokingly intended or not, our Special Operations Rock Team (SORT) took their job seriously. It did not take long after the collection of all of the rocks for John to notice the volunteers actually forming up with sledgehammers in front of the rock pile!

Luckily for us, John's first thought was to grab a camera and record this earth shattering event (pun intended) for all of us to view. Please enjoy!

This bull dozer knew no bounds on clean-up day

the scouts gathering the mulch for the garden

pulling weeds never looked so good

SOWW Volunteer Ryan practicing his lawn mowing skills

mulching the fences of the Bull Run Warrior Retreat

Some Battlefield JROTC cadets posing in the Spring heat

a team of strong women holding their own

the volunteer ladies showing the riveter inside them

Monday, May 19, 2014

Window Campaign + Open House

As many of you know, we were blessed with amazing weather for the Open House this month. Serve Our Willing Warriors hosts an Open House at the beginning of every month and this was definitely one to remember.

Between the tulips fully blossomed and the freshly cut grass that rippled in the wind outside of the retreat home, the Bull Run mountains never felt so serene.

We had freshly baked cookies and briskly brewed lemonade waiting for all of our guests that arrived on the property. This was the first event however, that a majority of our visitors wished to stay outside as opposed to indoors.

As for the donated jungle gym in the front yard of the home, it was the first time that anyone other than the faithful girl scouts enjoyed its monkey bars and 3 level swings. It truly brought back childhood memories where there was not a care in the world other than that moment in time. And I believe this is how many other visitors felt too as we made over $700 just from holding the open house.

We simply expressed to our visitors about our recent discovery of the condition of the windows on the property. It turns out that all 76 windows in this retreat home originally built in 1977 have to be replaced. Each window will cost the non-profit $250.

$250 x 71 windows = $17,750

with labor adjustments it would roughly be $20,000

Can you say yieks!? This price alone is double what it takes to install the elevator for the wheel-chair visitors of the retreat home.

Gladly by the end of the open house at least 2 windows were completely covered.

This inspired us to begin a Window Campaign. We would like our followers to pledge to one window a piece! One window at a time, we will make this dream a reality for our wounded vets.