June 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Meet Ben Ward, a remarkable young man who began his philanthropic journey at just 10 years old when he donated his birthday money to support Wounded Warriors at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. What started as a modest $60 contribution has grown into more than $12,000 in donations over nine years through creative fundraising efforts, including bake sales, yard sales, and strategic partnerships with veterans' organizations.
Ben's story reveals the extraordinary impact one young person can have when driven by genuine compassion. After being inspired by Captain Theresa Reer's moving speech at a local fundraising event, Ben found his calling supporting Wounded Warriors and their families. His dedication and persistence quickly made him recognizable in the community – people would often donate without even taking his baked goods, simply because they recognized his commitment to the cause.
The ripple effects of Ben's generosity extend far beyond monetary contributions. His example inspired the creation of the Ben Ward Youth Service Award, recognizing young volunteers who demonstrate exceptional service. One of his targeted donations funded volunteer tracking software that enabled the Warrior Retreat to join the Presidential Volunteer Service Award program, creating recognition opportunities for all volunteers.
Now studying animal science at Virginia Tech with aspirations to work in zoo management and animal care, Ben continues to balance academic pursuits with his commitment to service. When asked what volunteering has taught him, his answer was simple yet profound: "It's taught me empathy."
Ready to make a difference in your community? Follow Ben's advice: "Find something that speaks to you, do it. Get out of the house, do whatever you can." Search online for volunteer opportunities near you – you'll discover countless ways to create positive change, regardless of your age or resources.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Larry Zilliox (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm your host, larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week we're
joined by our co-host, John Wall, veteran.
Welcome, John.
Thank you, larry.
And our guest this week is BenWard.
And he's been volunteering asan ambassador and he's been
(00:36):
raising money for us ever since.
So, ben, welcome to the podcast.
John Wall (00:41):
Thank you.
Larry Zilliox (00:42):
It's good to be here.
So tell us a little bit abouthow you learned about the
Warrior Retreat and how youdecided that at age 10, you were
going to give up your birthdaymoney to this place you'd never
been before.
John Wall (00:57):
Yeah, so there was a concert and you guys were
fundraising at the MerrifieldGarden Center, I believe Stone
and Garden Center, down the roadthat one.
God bless Merrifield GardenCenter, I believe Stone and
Garden Center.
Yes, that one.
Larry Zilliox (01:06):
God bless, merrifield.
We love them, but it wasn'tthere.
John Wall (01:12):
Yeah, it's been a while.
So there was a concert, youguys were fundraising there.
I met somebody, I went up toyour stand and then Captain
Teresa Rear spoke, gave a wholespeech, really inspired me, and
then I think I was nine at thetime.
That was summer of when I wasnine.
And then a few months later inSeptember, when I turned 10, my
(01:34):
mom decided that me and myyounger brother, xander, were
going to have to volunteer forsomething, literally anything.
We wanted just to volunteer,get something in, get out of the
house.
So I had like $20 of birthdaymoney and then my mom matched it
and then my grandma matched it.
So I came up here middle ofSeptember with around $60 and
(01:57):
it's gone up a lot since then.
It's surreal.
Larry Zilliox (02:02):
So what is your total right now?
Now, you just gave me a checkon Memorial Day for $500, which
I'm happy to say is a restricteddonation for the Visiting Chef
program.
We're going to use that toreplace some of our cookware in
the Lang House, which is thehouse that we've had open the
longest.
So everybody knows, when wefirst opened opened we were
(02:25):
scraping by and a lot of thatcookware came from uh thrift
stores and a friend of ours wasclosing up her restaurant and
she sold me a number of pots andpans, but we just had our
10-year anniversary, so it wasused to begin with.
It's 10 years old and when you,you know, called and said, hey,
(02:46):
uh, what do you need, boy,that's, that's definitely what
we need, so that's a greatdonation yeah, that's uh.
Ben Ward (02:54):
First of all, um welcome, and it's a pleasure to
meet you, and uh, kudos to momand grandma, you know, inspiring
you to do that, and then also,you know, showing up to that
event.
Uh, and then you've, you'vetaken that forward probably what
12, 13 years now.
It's, uh, it's coming up oneight, eight years, Okay, sorry,
it's coming up on nine, so I'mturning 19 in September, okay,
(03:17):
and then yeah, yeah, that'sgreat and um so, to see a young
man inspired like that and tostep out of your comfort zone
and come out and actually, youknow, make a difference, not
just with your financialresources that you're bringing
in.
You know, put others beforeself and truly, genuinely care
about people and go out thereand help organizations within
(03:50):
their community.
Larry Zilliox (03:51):
So yeah, you know , ben, is a testament to the
fact that you can part with yourbirthday money at age 10 and
live through it.
You know, I'm, I mean, I'm sureit was somewhat traumatic.
I mean, you're, you're, youcould have spent that money on
all sorts of other cool things.
But just to be clear, okay, soto date, since you were 10 years
(04:13):
old, you've raised for us over$12,000.
So talk a little bit about howyou went about that.
John Wall (04:21):
Yeah, okay, so it started out as just bake sales.
Every holiday or so Like therewould be Memorial Day, Veterans
Day, any holiday I can make anexcuse to go up to Giant and try
and sell things to people.
So it would mostly be bakedgoods like brownies, cookies,
lemon bars, stuff like that thatmy mother and younger brother
would help bake.
(04:41):
So we would do that a few daysbefore we would wrap it and then
we would go up to Giant and setup a little table with a little
handmade poster and just see ifwe could get donations.
And then after a couple ofyears of that, we expanded to
doing a yard sale in the summerof 2018 or 19.
And that was the biggest moneydonation at once I've ever
(05:03):
gotten, because it was aroundtwo thousand dollars.
That's amazing that we raisedat that yard sale in like the
span of eight hours and Iremember your mom saying that
was the first and last, uh,garage sale.
Larry Zilliox (05:16):
You were going to have it turned into a lot of
work for her.
Yeah, and I get it.
I get it.
But so I can.
I can tell you that one youwould bake the bread and we
would buy the bread.
I know my wife really loves thebread.
But I'd been up there at theGiant while you had set up your
(05:36):
table.
Your grandpa was there.
The time that I was there wasafter you were on the cover of
the Haymarket magazine and soyou were getting to be
well-known in the community andit was obvious because people
would come by and they wouldjust throw money in and they
(05:57):
didn't care about the bread orthe cookies or anything.
They were just going in doingtheir shopping and throw more
money in when they were on theway out.
So it was a really easyfundraising.
It was really great.
But the bake sales I know yourgrandfather is in the American
Legion and whenever you visityou strong-arm those guys down
(06:18):
there for a donation.
What's it like trying to getmoney out of the American Legion
?
John Wall (06:24):
Yeah, so it's honestly not hard for me, at
least because my grandpa he wason the board for the VFW and the
American Legion, so I wouldwrite a letter to each of them,
like clockwork, every year, andthey have a pool of donation
money that they have to like.
They're required to donate acertain amount of money every
(06:45):
year, and so I would write aletter and they'd just kind of
send a check and I'd write athank you note and so we do that
song and dance every year.
So you're doing them a favor,exactly.
Ben Ward (06:56):
He's doing all the work for them.
You know, larry, like he's.
You know I've been to thatgroup a couple of times at our
local IHOP here and you knowthose guys they're good guys.
You know from all eras ofdifferent, you know backgrounds
of military time and, yeah, he'sdoing the legwork.
So they're like, yeah, this iseasy.
Yeah, right, let me keep eatingmy pancakes, that's right.
Larry Zilliox (07:20):
We're chugging that one off the box and for our
listeners, both John and I arepart of the American Legion Post
1799 here in Haymarket.
Uh, they meet every Thursday,uh, at IHOP and there's even a
sign up in IHOP about the postmeeting there.
So you know, they all thedifferent posts around are
(07:42):
really, really supportive of ushere at the retreat and uh, it's
uh, it's just been wonderful.
They've really been supportiveand that post is actually down
in Richmond where yourgrandfather lives.
John Wall (07:57):
Yeah, so he recently passed, unfortunately, over
spring break.
Oh no, we don't really knowwhat happened to him.
He went down for a nap and hisheart stopped.
Larry Zilliox (08:10):
Wow.
John Wall (08:10):
So we rushed him to the hospital.
They did everything they can.
They restarted his heart acouple times, but he didn't make
it.
So he was on the board and nowhis spot is vacant, and so my
family wants me to do it, sinceI'm 18 now.
So they want me.
They meet like once a year for,uh, some scholarship fund that
(08:32):
they have to, so they want toput me on the board for that
scholarship fund to decide theymeet up every year and to decide
who gets the scholarship right.
Ben Ward (08:41):
Wow, that's a good thing they're doing that and,
first and foremost, I'm reallysorry about your grandfather and
I, you know, thank you for hisservice to our country and, um,
I hope you guys are doing okayand recovering and, uh, our
prayers and thoughts with yourfamily, um, you know I that's an
honor.
You should take on that, thatrole, and and help them out and
(09:03):
honor your grandfather and andkeep that tradition going Right
and and then just keep your goodwork.
So I guess for me, um, to tryto understand you a little more
what is your vision?
What is your mission?
Do you have a mission statement?
Do you have a vision movingforward with what you're doing,
or are you just kind of wingingit right now?
John Wall (09:20):
So I'm just winging it.
I like to try and help peoplewhenever I can.
Wherever I can do what I can.
And you're a student at VirginiaTech right finished my freshman
year, I'm going into my junioryear, which is a little it's a
little complicated, but I washomeschooled since seventh grade
.
So throughout high school I wasdoing dual enrollment credits
at Northern Virginia CommunityCollege, manassas campus.
(09:41):
Sometimes I would do it online,but I got 29 credits throughout
high school.
And then at Virginia Tech theyhave a summer start program
where you can take three to sixcredits over the summer to just
get acclimated to the campus,which I'm really happy I did.
That made transferring in front, not transferring in, but like
(10:02):
starting.
Yeah, exactly, moving in andlike getting a commuter
acclimated to college, likebeing away from home for a very
long time, that made that somuch easier.
So happy I did that.
Larry Zilliox (10:14):
You know that's a great program because you get
to learn the campus when there'snot 35,000 students here,
Probably more than that now.
Yeah, it just makes a bigdifference.
That's awesome I want to talk alittle bit about for our
listeners.
You know, the first time I metyou was Holly was here with us,
(10:37):
she was our guest services teamlead and it was the end of the
day we were leaving and youdrove up with your folks and it
was you and Xander and I knowour listeners can't see you guys
, but you know.
But you at that point werelooking like a surfer dude with
the blonde hair and Xander hasthis crazy curly red hair that
(11:06):
it's just like a big curly afro,and so he was not happy to be
here.
He, he, uh, he was beingdragged along and as he's one
year younger than you, he's ortwo, he's three ish, so he was
born in june of 2009.
John Wall (11:27):
I was september 06, okay, so he was.
Larry Zilliox (11:30):
he was younger than you and because he had
wanted no part of what hisbigger brother was in.
He's never volunteered here.
He was here for Memorial Day,which was nice, and I imagine
your parents drug him up herefor that.
John Wall (11:45):
Absolutely.
Larry Zilliox (11:47):
But I want our listeners to know, though, that
he does volunteer and he's amajor contributor of food to the
local food bank.
He collects for years he'scollected cane goods.
I think the neighbors see himcoming and they just open the
door and start throwing canegoods out on the front yard and
(12:07):
then slam the door and he'llpick it all up, and he's a big
donor of food.
So yeah, tell us a little bitabout the work that he does.
John Wall (12:17):
Yeah, so he also when he turned 10, my parents were
like you're going to volunteer,do something.
So he picked obviously notwanting any part of what I'm
doing he picked the HaymarketFood Bank.
Larry Zilliox (12:27):
Yeah.
John Wall (12:28):
Which at the time I think they were called the Food
Pantry.
I don't really keep up, but hedonated just food cans whenever
he could, just non-perishablegoods.
And then it got to the pointwhere he was getting truckloads
of stuff from Walmart.
He had a guy at Walmart, he hada contact, a guy named Anthony.
(12:51):
He would be like anthony, Ineed more food for the food bank
and he would get this likegiant, we have this like uh
truck back at home and he wouldget fill the entire bed of that
truck with food and it wouldtake us like an hour to load and
unload.
Larry Zilliox (13:07):
And uh, of course we were the ones doing it,
because yeah, yeah, Well, andthat's a tribute to your folks
too, that you know what.
What my old man would have saidis that they, those boys, were
raised right and second thatamen, yeah, yeah.
Ben Ward (13:24):
So we need more young men and women in these
generations to see this and tostep up, you know, and this is
inspiring.
Larry Zilliox (13:31):
Oh, yeah, for sure.
And the thing too, I don't, Idon't, you know, I'm not sure
how, how it works, where ourlisteners are, but I can tell
you that around here in thepublic schools there's a
volunteer service commitmentthat's required to graduate, and
so we do get a lot of kids thatvolunteer on the property.
(13:52):
We sign off on the letter andget them those credits.
So at least we're seeing thatfrom the standpoint of an
educational purpose, thatthey're being at least
introduced to the concept ofvolunteering and giving back.
Ben Ward (14:10):
Well, kudos to the school system for doing that.
I didn't even know that existed.
Yeah, that's good yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:15):
So Captain Rear came and stayed with us back in
2016, I think and she was anArmy captain, I think physical
therapist was at a forwardoperating base and it came under
attack and she was severelyinjured and and when she came to
(14:35):
us she was learning to use awalker and she went through a
just a ridiculous number ofoperations and I'm happy to say
that, you know, in these lastyears, when I've seen her, she's
walking and now, married to herAustralian Army officer, she
(14:58):
met when he was stationed hereat the embassy and we're very
happy for her, but we hadinvited her out and she was the
inspiration.
I know you're still in touchwith her.
Yeah, just a wonderful,wonderful story.
What do you think kids need toknow about the Warrior Retreat?
As far as kind of what inspiredyou to think of us?
(15:19):
I mean, there's plenty ofplaces you could have.
You know animal shelters.
Like you know, zander, youcould have gone to the food bank
, but what do you think theyshould know about here at the
Warrior Retreat?
But what do you?
John Wall (15:31):
think they should know about here at the Warrior
Retreat.
Yeah, so the Warrior Retreat isall about helping other people
the most selfless thingimaginable, just helping our
veterans.
And my grandpa was a veteran.
He's technically mystep-grandpa.
My other grandpa, my maternalgrandpa, was also a veteran and
then my paternal grandfather wasalso a veteran, so I've been
(16:02):
around veterans my entire lifeand I just wanted to do
something, anything to give backto all of the sacrifices that
they've made.
Larry Zilliox (16:11):
So Ben would normally call, or mom would call
and say Ben has money for you.
He wants to know what you wantto do with it, because Ben does
not give general donations orunrestricted donations.
He wants to know whateverything is going to be used
for.
So sometimes it goes towardsequipment for the grounds team.
This last amount went for thekitchen.
So one year Sarah, our executivedirector, said hey, what we
(16:36):
really need is this program thatkeeps track of volunteer hours,
and Ben gave us the money to beable to lease it it forward.
We can track our volunteerhours, which then enabled us to
become a volunteer serviceorganization.
(16:57):
That is part of thepresidential volunteer
organization program that wasfounded by uh, the very first,
george bush and his thousandpoints of light foundation.
And so each year, ourvolunteers, they track their
hours.
If you have a hundred hours ormore, you get a bronze medal
(17:20):
certificate signed by thecurrent sitting president, and
then it's 250, you get silver,over 500, you get a gold, and so
one of the things that thisprogram enabled us to do not
only provide this for ourvolunteers, but we could
identify some of the youngestvolunteers that have the most
(17:41):
hours, and we then created theBen Ward Youth Service Award.
There you go, and he gives itout each year.
That's amazing.
So what was that like?
Remember the first time yougave that?
John Wall (17:55):
I do.
I was terrified because I thinkthe kid was either a little bit
younger or the same age as meand he was like five or six
inches taller.
So I'm standing next to him inthis picture and he's supposed
to be like a year or two youngerand he's towering over me and
I'm standing here with thisplaque like a little like
(18:15):
terrified.
But it was surreal.
When you guys told me that youweren't going to name an award
after me, sure, yeah, well, Imean, it's so fitting, it's
common sense right there.
Ben Ward (18:27):
Right, you pay it forward, you know, as I said
earlier, and you take care ofothers and in so many different
ways you get so many things backthat you don't even realize,
right, and it's just perfect.
It's to say, hey, we recognizewhat you've done and we're going
to help you out.
You know, and we know we haveyour family right, we look at
(18:48):
everybody here as family, youknow, especially our volunteers,
because they are just a lot of.
These folks come in and pourtheir hearts out here.
So, yeah, that's that's greatthat y'all did that.
Larry Zilliox (18:57):
Yeah, I mean, it just was kind of a no brainer.
I have usually one good idea amonth and I think that was like
March of I don't know four yearsago.
Ben Ward (19:07):
That's it.
Just one, larry.
That's it.
Tap out.
That's it, I'm done.
Larry Zilliox (19:10):
That's it I put the brain in like relax mode and
I'm done.
John Wall (19:16):
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (19:19):
So that's an exciting time for us.
We usually do it around when wehave the volunteer service
awards.
Ben is nice enough to come backfrom college or we'll set it up
.
So he's here in town and theydon't live very far from the
retreat either, which is really,really nice.
Ben Ward (19:38):
I'm excited to see what comes next from you.
You know you're young still andyou're just, you're creative,
you're out there doing stuff andnow you have a huge network
that you're getting ready to tapinto at Virginia Tech, and the
sky's the limit for you.
So it'd be interesting to seekind of you know as years
progress, where you go and whatyou do.
John Wall (19:58):
So what's your major there?
So I'm an animal science major.
It's technically called animaland poultry science because they
had to combine the animalscience and poultry science
departments for funding for thepoultry science.
Because they had to combine theanimal science and poultry
science departments for fundingfor the poultry science.
Larry Zilliox (20:09):
So you're raising chickens yeah, Okay cool.
Ben Ward (20:13):
Hey, we need some eggs around here.
Larry Zilliox (20:16):
And what's the dream there?
Do you want to be aveterinarian, or you want to own
a farm, or what is it?
What is it?
John Wall (20:24):
So the veterinarian route was what I wanted to do
going in, yeah, yeah, but.
And then so we would.
There's our advisors and theywould set up meetings, speakers
to speak about like all of thesedifferent career paths.
And then there's a career dayso you can go in talk to
somebody about, like what youwant to do.
And it was like, oh, vets haveto take so many different
(20:45):
classes so I would be taking onlike an extra year because I've
been able to skip a year, so Iwould have to tack on an extra
year, probably take 16 to 18credits a semester, probably go
into a little bit of debt.
I'm grateful that my parentsare able to pay for university
right now, but vet school is soexpensive.
Ben Ward (21:05):
Yeah, it's ridiculous.
John Wall (21:08):
And, yeah, it's a minuscule acceptance rate, so
you're not even remotelyguaranteed to be even on the
wait list, like you're lucky tobe on the wait list after three
years of applying.
It's yeah, it's like a 0.5acceptance rate for some places.
Uh, every place is different,which is also another thing.
That was rough because eachdifferent vet school there's
(21:31):
less than 40 in the entirecountry for vet schools and each
one has different requirements.
So, like some require physics,some require organic chemistry,
some require other things.
But you know, not all of themrequire the same thing and you
want to apply to as many as youcan, get as many feelers out
there, because you know, there'ssuch low acceptance rate.
Larry Zilliox (21:52):
Right.
John Wall (21:52):
But right now I want to go into something with zoos
and animal sanctuaries like ananimal care.
I want to be caring for theanimals, making sure they're all
healthy and happy.
So right now I'm doing aninternship over at the Leesburg
Animal Park.
Okay, so I'm over there twice aweek from 8 to 4, cleaning up
stalls, grooming the animals,making sure they're fine,
(22:13):
feeding them, getting theirdiets ready, checking their
water and then this mostrecently, I got to do a training
session with a prehensile tailporcupine, which is different
than the normal quote-unquotenormal African crested
porcupines.
That you see the prehensiletail porcupine, which is
different than the normal quoteunquote normal African crested
porcupines.
That you see the prehensiletails.
Of course everybody knows that.
Ben Ward (22:33):
Yeah, of course, I just don't get around them.
John Wall (22:37):
Yeah, no, the prehensile tails are actually a
little more dangerous becausetheir quills are barbed, so you
would have to either snap it offand like figure out, or like go
to the ER or something andfigure out how to get it out, or
push it all the way through,which is miserable.
But they have tails like long,muscular tails and their faces
are so much cuter.
Um, I love them.
(22:58):
And I got to go and do uhdesensitization training with
her because uh, one of thetrainers is trying to get her to
be able to do like shows andanimal talks with her, but she's
nervous around new people.
So after months and months ofworking up to it with her and
making sure she's comfortable, Igot to go in there, feed her
and, like we call it stripping,we just take all the mulch out,
(23:20):
put new mulch in, and she lovesto try and eat the plastic bag
that the mulch is in and she wasvery angry that I wouldn't let
her eat the plastic bag.
So when I picked it up, sheclimbed up the sticks to like
the top of her habitat andclimbed onto my shoulder to try
and reach over me to get the bag.
Larry Zilliox (23:40):
Well, who even knew that you could train a
porcupine?
Ben Ward (23:43):
I mean, yeah, not me.
John Wall (23:46):
Wow, okay, you can train anything, if you try hard
enough.
I guess, yeah, my wife willagree with that.
Larry Zilliox (23:54):
Well, listen as we kind of wrap things up here.
What's the one thing you wantto leave our young listeners
with about volunteering and whatit's meant to you to be to find
a way to give back?
John Wall (24:08):
Yeah, it's.
It's taught me empathy.
So just get out, do something.
Anything, find somewhere.
If you throw in volunteeringopportunities into Google, it'll
spit out hundreds of things inyour vicinity.
So find something that speaksto you, do it.
Get out of the house, dowhatever you can.
Donate as much as you can withwithin reason, sure sure, well
(24:33):
listen.
Larry Zilliox (24:33):
Thanks a lot, john.
Ben Ward (24:35):
I'm glad you got to meet ben yeah, it's an honor and
we we're glad to have you here,ben, and look forward, like I
said earlier, see what you doand get to know you a little
better, and we'll be here.
John Wall (24:44):
So thanks for coming out yeah, yeah, thanks for
having me well, listen.
Larry Zilliox (24:48):
uh, listeners, we'll have another, another
podcast next Monday morning at0500.
You can find us on all themajor platforms.
We're on YouTube and ReeseAcross America, so like and
subscribe and thanks forlistening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week we're
joined by our co-host, John Wall, veteran.
Welcome, John.
Thank you, larry.
And our guest this week is BenWard.
And he's been volunteering asan ambassador and he's been
(00:36):
raising money for us ever since.
So, ben, welcome to the podcast.
John Wall (00:41):
Thank you.
Larry Zilliox (00:42):
It's good to be here.
So tell us a little bit abouthow you learned about the
Warrior Retreat and how youdecided that at age 10, you were
going to give up your birthdaymoney to this place you'd never
been before.
John Wall (00:57):
Yeah, so there was a concert and you guys were
fundraising at the MerrifieldGarden Center, I believe Stone
and Garden Center, down the roadthat one.
God bless Merrifield GardenCenter, I believe Stone and
Garden Center.
Yes, that one.
Larry Zilliox (01:06):
God bless, merrifield.
We love them, but it wasn'tthere.
John Wall (01:12):
Yeah, it's been a while.
So there was a concert, youguys were fundraising there.
I met somebody, I went up toyour stand and then Captain
Teresa Rear spoke, gave a wholespeech, really inspired me, and
then I think I was nine at thetime.
That was summer of when I wasnine.
And then a few months later inSeptember, when I turned 10, my
(01:34):
mom decided that me and myyounger brother, xander, were
going to have to volunteer forsomething, literally anything.
We wanted just to volunteer,get something in, get out of the
house.
So I had like $20 of birthdaymoney and then my mom matched it
and then my grandma matched it.
So I came up here middle ofSeptember with around $60 and
(01:57):
it's gone up a lot since then.
It's surreal.
Larry Zilliox (02:02):
So what is your total right now?
Now, you just gave me a checkon Memorial Day for $500, which
I'm happy to say is a restricteddonation for the Visiting Chef
program.
We're going to use that toreplace some of our cookware in
the Lang House, which is thehouse that we've had open the
longest.
So everybody knows, when wefirst opened opened we were
(02:25):
scraping by and a lot of thatcookware came from uh thrift
stores and a friend of ours wasclosing up her restaurant and
she sold me a number of pots andpans, but we just had our
10-year anniversary, so it wasused to begin with.
It's 10 years old and when you,you know, called and said, hey,
(02:46):
uh, what do you need, boy,that's, that's definitely what
we need, so that's a greatdonation yeah, that's uh.
Ben Ward (02:54):
First of all, um welcome, and it's a pleasure to
meet you, and uh, kudos to momand grandma, you know, inspiring
you to do that, and then also,you know, showing up to that
event.
Uh, and then you've, you'vetaken that forward probably what
12, 13 years now.
It's, uh, it's coming up oneight, eight years, Okay, sorry,
it's coming up on nine, so I'mturning 19 in September, okay,
(03:17):
and then yeah, yeah, that'sgreat and um so, to see a young
man inspired like that and tostep out of your comfort zone
and come out and actually, youknow, make a difference, not
just with your financialresources that you're bringing
in.
You know, put others beforeself and truly, genuinely care
about people and go out thereand help organizations within
(03:50):
their community.
Larry Zilliox (03:51):
So yeah, you know , ben, is a testament to the
fact that you can part with yourbirthday money at age 10 and
live through it.
You know, I'm, I mean, I'm sureit was somewhat traumatic.
I mean, you're, you're, youcould have spent that money on
all sorts of other cool things.
But just to be clear, okay, soto date, since you were 10 years
(04:13):
old, you've raised for us over$12,000.
So talk a little bit about howyou went about that.
John Wall (04:21):
Yeah, okay, so it started out as just bake sales.
Every holiday or so Like therewould be Memorial Day, Veterans
Day, any holiday I can make anexcuse to go up to Giant and try
and sell things to people.
So it would mostly be bakedgoods like brownies, cookies,
lemon bars, stuff like that thatmy mother and younger brother
would help bake.
(04:41):
So we would do that a few daysbefore we would wrap it and then
we would go up to Giant and setup a little table with a little
handmade poster and just see ifwe could get donations.
And then after a couple ofyears of that, we expanded to
doing a yard sale in the summerof 2018 or 19.
And that was the biggest moneydonation at once I've ever
(05:03):
gotten, because it was aroundtwo thousand dollars.
That's amazing that we raisedat that yard sale in like the
span of eight hours and Iremember your mom saying that
was the first and last, uh,garage sale.
Larry Zilliox (05:16):
You were going to have it turned into a lot of
work for her.
Yeah, and I get it.
I get it.
But so I can.
I can tell you that one youwould bake the bread and we
would buy the bread.
I know my wife really loves thebread.
But I'd been up there at theGiant while you had set up your
(05:36):
table.
Your grandpa was there.
The time that I was there wasafter you were on the cover of
the Haymarket magazine and soyou were getting to be
well-known in the community andit was obvious because people
would come by and they wouldjust throw money in and they
(05:57):
didn't care about the bread orthe cookies or anything.
They were just going in doingtheir shopping and throw more
money in when they were on theway out.
So it was a really easyfundraising.
It was really great.
But the bake sales I know yourgrandfather is in the American
Legion and whenever you visityou strong-arm those guys down
(06:18):
there for a donation.
What's it like trying to getmoney out of the American Legion
?
John Wall (06:24):
Yeah, so it's honestly not hard for me, at
least because my grandpa he wason the board for the VFW and the
American Legion, so I wouldwrite a letter to each of them,
like clockwork, every year, andthey have a pool of donation
money that they have to like.
They're required to donate acertain amount of money every
(06:45):
year, and so I would write aletter and they'd just kind of
send a check and I'd write athank you note and so we do that
song and dance every year.
So you're doing them a favor,exactly.
Ben Ward (06:56):
He's doing all the work for them.
You know, larry, like he's.
You know I've been to thatgroup a couple of times at our
local IHOP here and you knowthose guys they're good guys.
You know from all eras ofdifferent, you know backgrounds
of military time and, yeah, he'sdoing the legwork.
So they're like, yeah, this iseasy.
Yeah, right, let me keep eatingmy pancakes, that's right.
Larry Zilliox (07:20):
We're chugging that one off the box and for our
listeners, both John and I arepart of the American Legion Post
1799 here in Haymarket.
Uh, they meet every Thursday,uh, at IHOP and there's even a
sign up in IHOP about the postmeeting there.
So you know, they all thedifferent posts around are
(07:42):
really, really supportive of ushere at the retreat and uh, it's
uh, it's just been wonderful.
They've really been supportiveand that post is actually down
in Richmond where yourgrandfather lives.
John Wall (07:57):
Yeah, so he recently passed, unfortunately, over
spring break.
Oh no, we don't really knowwhat happened to him.
He went down for a nap and hisheart stopped.
Larry Zilliox (08:10):
Wow.
John Wall (08:10):
So we rushed him to the hospital.
They did everything they can.
They restarted his heart acouple times, but he didn't make
it.
So he was on the board and nowhis spot is vacant, and so my
family wants me to do it, sinceI'm 18 now.
So they want me.
They meet like once a year for,uh, some scholarship fund that
(08:32):
they have to, so they want toput me on the board for that
scholarship fund to decide theymeet up every year and to decide
who gets the scholarship right.
Ben Ward (08:41):
Wow, that's a good thing they're doing that and,
first and foremost, I'm reallysorry about your grandfather and
I, you know, thank you for hisservice to our country and, um,
I hope you guys are doing okayand recovering and, uh, our
prayers and thoughts with yourfamily, um, you know I that's an
honor.
You should take on that, thatrole, and and help them out and
(09:03):
honor your grandfather and andkeep that tradition going Right
and and then just keep your goodwork.
So I guess for me, um, to tryto understand you a little more
what is your vision?
What is your mission?
Do you have a mission statement?
Do you have a vision movingforward with what you're doing,
or are you just kind of wingingit right now?
John Wall (09:20):
So I'm just winging it.
I like to try and help peoplewhenever I can.
Wherever I can do what I can.
And you're a student at VirginiaTech right finished my freshman
year, I'm going into my junioryear, which is a little it's a
little complicated, but I washomeschooled since seventh grade
.
So throughout high school I wasdoing dual enrollment credits
at Northern Virginia CommunityCollege, manassas campus.
(09:41):
Sometimes I would do it online,but I got 29 credits throughout
high school.
And then at Virginia Tech theyhave a summer start program
where you can take three to sixcredits over the summer to just
get acclimated to the campus,which I'm really happy I did.
That made transferring in front, not transferring in, but like
(10:02):
starting.
Yeah, exactly, moving in andlike getting a commuter
acclimated to college, likebeing away from home for a very
long time, that made that somuch easier.
So happy I did that.
Larry Zilliox (10:14):
You know that's a great program because you get
to learn the campus when there'snot 35,000 students here,
Probably more than that now.
Yeah, it just makes a bigdifference.
That's awesome I want to talk alittle bit about for our
listeners.
You know, the first time I metyou was Holly was here with us,
(10:37):
she was our guest services teamlead and it was the end of the
day we were leaving and youdrove up with your folks and it
was you and Xander and I knowour listeners can't see you guys
, but you know.
But you at that point werelooking like a surfer dude with
the blonde hair and Xander hasthis crazy curly red hair that
(11:06):
it's just like a big curly afro,and so he was not happy to be
here.
He, he, uh, he was beingdragged along and as he's one
year younger than you, he's ortwo, he's three ish, so he was
born in june of 2009.
John Wall (11:27):
I was september 06, okay, so he was.
Larry Zilliox (11:30):
he was younger than you and because he had
wanted no part of what hisbigger brother was in.
He's never volunteered here.
He was here for Memorial Day,which was nice, and I imagine
your parents drug him up herefor that.
John Wall (11:45):
Absolutely.
Larry Zilliox (11:47):
But I want our listeners to know, though, that
he does volunteer and he's amajor contributor of food to the
local food bank.
He collects for years he'scollected cane goods.
I think the neighbors see himcoming and they just open the
door and start throwing canegoods out on the front yard and
(12:07):
then slam the door and he'llpick it all up, and he's a big
donor of food.
So yeah, tell us a little bitabout the work that he does.
John Wall (12:17):
Yeah, so he also when he turned 10, my parents were
like you're going to volunteer,do something.
So he picked obviously notwanting any part of what I'm
doing he picked the HaymarketFood Bank.
Larry Zilliox (12:27):
Yeah.
John Wall (12:28):
Which at the time I think they were called the Food
Pantry.
I don't really keep up, but hedonated just food cans whenever
he could, just non-perishablegoods.
And then it got to the pointwhere he was getting truckloads
of stuff from Walmart.
He had a guy at Walmart, he hada contact, a guy named Anthony.
(12:51):
He would be like anthony, Ineed more food for the food bank
and he would get this likegiant, we have this like uh
truck back at home and he wouldget fill the entire bed of that
truck with food and it wouldtake us like an hour to load and
unload.
Larry Zilliox (13:07):
And uh, of course we were the ones doing it,
because yeah, yeah, Well, andthat's a tribute to your folks
too, that you know what.
What my old man would have saidis that they, those boys, were
raised right and second thatamen, yeah, yeah.
Ben Ward (13:24):
So we need more young men and women in these
generations to see this and tostep up, you know, and this is
inspiring.
Larry Zilliox (13:31):
Oh, yeah, for sure.
And the thing too, I don't, Idon't, you know, I'm not sure
how, how it works, where ourlisteners are, but I can tell
you that around here in thepublic schools there's a
volunteer service commitmentthat's required to graduate, and
so we do get a lot of kids thatvolunteer on the property.
(13:52):
We sign off on the letter andget them those credits.
So at least we're seeing thatfrom the standpoint of an
educational purpose, thatthey're being at least
introduced to the concept ofvolunteering and giving back.
Ben Ward (14:10):
Well, kudos to the school system for doing that.
I didn't even know that existed.
Yeah, that's good yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:15):
So Captain Rear came and stayed with us back in
2016, I think and she was anArmy captain, I think physical
therapist was at a forwardoperating base and it came under
attack and she was severelyinjured and and when she came to
(14:35):
us she was learning to use awalker and she went through a
just a ridiculous number ofoperations and I'm happy to say
that, you know, in these lastyears, when I've seen her, she's
walking and now, married to herAustralian Army officer, she
(14:58):
met when he was stationed hereat the embassy and we're very
happy for her, but we hadinvited her out and she was the
inspiration.
I know you're still in touchwith her.
Yeah, just a wonderful,wonderful story.
What do you think kids need toknow about the Warrior Retreat?
As far as kind of what inspiredyou to think of us?
(15:19):
I mean, there's plenty ofplaces you could have.
You know animal shelters.
Like you know, zander, youcould have gone to the food bank
, but what do you think theyshould know about here at the
Warrior Retreat?
But what do you?
John Wall (15:31):
think they should know about here at the Warrior
Retreat.
Yeah, so the Warrior Retreat isall about helping other people
the most selfless thingimaginable, just helping our
veterans.
And my grandpa was a veteran.
He's technically mystep-grandpa.
My other grandpa, my maternalgrandpa, was also a veteran and
then my paternal grandfather wasalso a veteran, so I've been
(16:02):
around veterans my entire lifeand I just wanted to do
something, anything to give backto all of the sacrifices that
they've made.
Larry Zilliox (16:11):
So Ben would normally call, or mom would call
and say Ben has money for you.
He wants to know what you wantto do with it, because Ben does
not give general donations orunrestricted donations.
He wants to know whateverything is going to be used
for.
So sometimes it goes towardsequipment for the grounds team.
This last amount went for thekitchen.
So one year Sarah, our executivedirector, said hey, what we
(16:36):
really need is this program thatkeeps track of volunteer hours,
and Ben gave us the money to beable to lease it it forward.
We can track our volunteerhours, which then enabled us to
become a volunteer serviceorganization.
(16:57):
That is part of thepresidential volunteer
organization program that wasfounded by uh, the very first,
george bush and his thousandpoints of light foundation.
And so each year, ourvolunteers, they track their
hours.
If you have a hundred hours ormore, you get a bronze medal
(17:20):
certificate signed by thecurrent sitting president, and
then it's 250, you get silver,over 500, you get a gold, and so
one of the things that thisprogram enabled us to do not
only provide this for ourvolunteers, but we could
identify some of the youngestvolunteers that have the most
(17:41):
hours, and we then created theBen Ward Youth Service Award.
There you go, and he gives itout each year.
That's amazing.
So what was that like?
Remember the first time yougave that?
John Wall (17:55):
I do.
I was terrified because I thinkthe kid was either a little bit
younger or the same age as meand he was like five or six
inches taller.
So I'm standing next to him inthis picture and he's supposed
to be like a year or two youngerand he's towering over me and
I'm standing here with thisplaque like a little like
(18:15):
terrified.
But it was surreal.
When you guys told me that youweren't going to name an award
after me, sure, yeah, well, Imean, it's so fitting, it's
common sense right there.
Ben Ward (18:27):
Right, you pay it forward, you know, as I said
earlier, and you take care ofothers and in so many different
ways you get so many things backthat you don't even realize,
right, and it's just perfect.
It's to say, hey, we recognizewhat you've done and we're going
to help you out.
You know, and we know we haveyour family right, we look at
(18:48):
everybody here as family, youknow, especially our volunteers,
because they are just a lot of.
These folks come in and pourtheir hearts out here.
So, yeah, that's that's greatthat y'all did that.
Larry Zilliox (18:57):
Yeah, I mean, it just was kind of a no brainer.
I have usually one good idea amonth and I think that was like
March of I don't know four yearsago.
Ben Ward (19:07):
That's it.
Just one, larry.
That's it.
Tap out.
That's it, I'm done.
Larry Zilliox (19:10):
That's it I put the brain in like relax mode and
I'm done.
John Wall (19:16):
Yeah.
Larry Zilliox (19:19):
So that's an exciting time for us.
We usually do it around when wehave the volunteer service
awards.
Ben is nice enough to come backfrom college or we'll set it up
.
So he's here in town and theydon't live very far from the
retreat either, which is really,really nice.
Ben Ward (19:38):
I'm excited to see what comes next from you.
You know you're young still andyou're just, you're creative,
you're out there doing stuff andnow you have a huge network
that you're getting ready to tapinto at Virginia Tech, and the
sky's the limit for you.
So it'd be interesting to seekind of you know as years
progress, where you go and whatyou do.
John Wall (19:58):
So what's your major there?
So I'm an animal science major.
It's technically called animaland poultry science because they
had to combine the animalscience and poultry science
departments for funding for thepoultry science.
Because they had to combine theanimal science and poultry
science departments for fundingfor the poultry science.
Larry Zilliox (20:09):
So you're raising chickens yeah, Okay cool.
Ben Ward (20:13):
Hey, we need some eggs around here.
Larry Zilliox (20:16):
And what's the dream there?
Do you want to be aveterinarian, or you want to own
a farm, or what is it?
What is it?
John Wall (20:24):
So the veterinarian route was what I wanted to do
going in, yeah, yeah, but.
And then so we would.
There's our advisors and theywould set up meetings, speakers
to speak about like all of thesedifferent career paths.
And then there's a career dayso you can go in talk to
somebody about, like what youwant to do.
And it was like, oh, vets haveto take so many different
(20:45):
classes so I would be taking onlike an extra year because I've
been able to skip a year, so Iwould have to tack on an extra
year, probably take 16 to 18credits a semester, probably go
into a little bit of debt.
I'm grateful that my parentsare able to pay for university
right now, but vet school is soexpensive.
Ben Ward (21:05):
Yeah, it's ridiculous.
John Wall (21:08):
And, yeah, it's a minuscule acceptance rate, so
you're not even remotelyguaranteed to be even on the
wait list, like you're lucky tobe on the wait list after three
years of applying.
It's yeah, it's like a 0.5acceptance rate for some places.
Uh, every place is different,which is also another thing.
That was rough because eachdifferent vet school there's
(21:31):
less than 40 in the entirecountry for vet schools and each
one has different requirements.
So, like some require physics,some require organic chemistry,
some require other things.
But you know, not all of themrequire the same thing and you
want to apply to as many as youcan, get as many feelers out
there, because you know, there'ssuch low acceptance rate.
Larry Zilliox (21:52):
Right.
John Wall (21:52):
But right now I want to go into something with zoos
and animal sanctuaries like ananimal care.
I want to be caring for theanimals, making sure they're all
healthy and happy.
So right now I'm doing aninternship over at the Leesburg
Animal Park.
Okay, so I'm over there twice aweek from 8 to 4, cleaning up
stalls, grooming the animals,making sure they're fine,
(22:13):
feeding them, getting theirdiets ready, checking their
water and then this mostrecently, I got to do a training
session with a prehensile tailporcupine, which is different
than the normal quote-unquotenormal African crested
porcupines.
That you see the prehensiletail porcupine, which is
different than the normal quoteunquote normal African crested
porcupines.
That you see the prehensiletails.
Of course everybody knows that.
Ben Ward (22:33):
Yeah, of course, I just don't get around them.
John Wall (22:37):
Yeah, no, the prehensile tails are actually a
little more dangerous becausetheir quills are barbed, so you
would have to either snap it offand like figure out, or like go
to the ER or something andfigure out how to get it out, or
push it all the way through,which is miserable.
But they have tails like long,muscular tails and their faces
are so much cuter.
Um, I love them.
(22:58):
And I got to go and do uhdesensitization training with
her because uh, one of thetrainers is trying to get her to
be able to do like shows andanimal talks with her, but she's
nervous around new people.
So after months and months ofworking up to it with her and
making sure she's comfortable, Igot to go in there, feed her
and, like we call it stripping,we just take all the mulch out,
(23:20):
put new mulch in, and she lovesto try and eat the plastic bag
that the mulch is in and she wasvery angry that I wouldn't let
her eat the plastic bag.
So when I picked it up, sheclimbed up the sticks to like
the top of her habitat andclimbed onto my shoulder to try
and reach over me to get the bag.
Larry Zilliox (23:40):
Well, who even knew that you could train a
porcupine?
Ben Ward (23:43):
I mean, yeah, not me.
John Wall (23:46):
Wow, okay, you can train anything, if you try hard
enough.
I guess, yeah, my wife willagree with that.
Larry Zilliox (23:54):
Well, listen as we kind of wrap things up here.
What's the one thing you wantto leave our young listeners
with about volunteering and whatit's meant to you to be to find
a way to give back?
John Wall (24:08):
Yeah, it's.
It's taught me empathy.
So just get out, do something.
Anything, find somewhere.
If you throw in volunteeringopportunities into Google, it'll
spit out hundreds of things inyour vicinity.
So find something that speaksto you, do it.
Get out of the house, dowhatever you can.
Donate as much as you can withwithin reason, sure sure, well
(24:33):
listen.
Larry Zilliox (24:33):
Thanks a lot, john.
Ben Ward (24:35):
I'm glad you got to meet ben yeah, it's an honor and
we we're glad to have you here,ben, and look forward, like I
said earlier, see what you doand get to know you a little
better, and we'll be here.
John Wall (24:44):
So thanks for coming out yeah, yeah, thanks for
having me well, listen.
Larry Zilliox (24:48):
uh, listeners, we'll have another, another
podcast next Monday morning at0500.
You can find us on all themajor platforms.
We're on YouTube and ReeseAcross America, so like and
subscribe and thanks forlistening.
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