On Monday, June 10, 2024, several CAES Crystal City employees joined Homes For Our Troops (HFOT), a national charity that builds custom homes for the most severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, for a fundraising golf tournament, the Camaraderie Classic. The tournament hosted 80+ golfers at Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA.
The CAES team consisted of four volunteers who assisted the HFOT team in executing the golf tournament and three golfers. Shelley Miller, Ethics and Compliance Officer, Colleen O’Connell, Executive Assistant, Lily Bell, Communications Specialist and Jennifer Brooks, VP Communications processed registrations, sold 50/50 raffle tickets, mulligans and accepted donations. They also assisted on the golf course by staffing the hole-in-one hole and the air cannon hole.
O’Connell said, “Volunteering with Homes For Our Troops was a wonderful experience. The organization itself does critical and amazing work and their energy and commitment to their cause is felt. The Homes For Our Troops group felt like a family, everyone knew each other, everyone supported each other and you could truly tell that those involved did this work because they felt deeply about ensuring our wounded veterans were cared for. The energy all day was so positive and I greatly enjoyed meeting and working with the HFOT team. I was also able to meet Veterans that HFOT has provided homes for and hear some of their stories and it really drove home how impactful and life-changing this organization is.”
Steve Hogan, SVP Strategic Partnerships, Terry McKnight, VP Customer Relations, and Tony Mitchell, VP Advanced Technology & Strategy, spent the day golfing with an HFOT home recipient, Marine CPL Kevin Blanchard. CPL Blanchard was injured by an IED and underwent 30 surgeries in 13 months, ultimately losing his left leg. He received an HFOT-built custom-adapted home in Crozet, VA in 2017. To read more about CPL Blanchard’s HFOT story, click here.
McKnight noted, “There are good days on the golf course and then there are great days - the CAES team had a spectacular day. Our CAES team had the opportunity the play with Marine Corporal Kevin Blanchard, a combat engineer, who was on patrol in Iraq when his vehicle was hit by an IED. Today, Kevin is leading a remarkable life and it was a real honor to get to know him at the Home For Our Troops golf outing.”
As a Mission Partner with Homes For Our Troops, CAES provides a financial donation to the organization, supports its fundraising efforts, and home build events. Each HFOT home features 40+ custom adaptations to make life easier for the wounded Veteran. To find an HFOT home build near you, click here to view the home builds project map.
If you would like to support HFOT, click here to donate.