Sandy Lehmkuhler Kicks Off Warrior Foundation Freedom Station Radiothon

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We decided years ago, Joe and I to um what
one we thought, we gotta we gotta take the success
of this radio show and do something positive with it,
because every day it's just endless negativity, uh, just just
making the world at worst place to live. So we

(00:21):
could do something positive with all the with all the
yucks and uh and uh and and ask for some
money for a good charity. But we we didn't want
to do it on a regular so we just side.
You know, once a year, we're gonna really really tell people, Look,
this is a charity. We've really checked out, we really
believe in, they really realize your money. Well, I'm just
gonna ask you once. We don't come to you all

(00:42):
the time. Let's see what we can do. And that
cause is Warrior Foundation Freedom Station, which is an absolutely
breathtakingly effective and efficient organization that helps are active duty
military people uh in transition into retirement, those who are
medically retired, and others with a variety of programs. Uh.

(01:05):
The way Jack and I have always looked at this
is that the idea that you've got the military over
there and then the people of the United States over
here is unhealthy and it's wrong. We the people have
to be supporting our military. We have to be serving
our country by helping them, whether it's giving our time
or making a donation this week, I just think it's

(01:27):
a patriotic duty. The way I see that, you're gonna
hear some from some of our veterans this week who
did multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and then we're
struggling to transition back to regular life and needed some help.
And this is how you help them. I mean, God,
danmgn it, like Jojah said, I mean, who who do
we owe more than this? And um all week longer

(01:47):
been raising money for Warrior Foundation Freedom Station. It's real easy.
You go to Armstrong and getty dot com. We've made
the bannery is super easy to find. You couldn't miss it.
It just takes a couple of minutes to to to
donate money. Sandy lem Cooler is the CEO and founder
of Warrior Foundation Freedom Station and it has been its
guiding life for many, many years and is a good friend. Sandy, welcome,
how are you? Good morning? I'm I'm wonderful and I

(02:11):
just want to say thank you again so much for
everything that you've done for our warriors. And it's not
just you know you you said this in your in
your intro, it's actually the active duty right now that
have a little bit different types of injuries and illnesses,
thank goodness, but they're still the ones that we're helping
to transition. And so anyone who makes a donation, first

(02:36):
of all, I want you to know that seventy eight
point six percent of every dollar goes right to our warriors.
I still won't take a salary. That's my patriotic duty, right,
So I just want people to know that being a
Navy wife and a Navy mom, I don't just pinch
a penny. I make it scream bloody murder. So I

(02:58):
will ensure that any money so that come in go
directly to our warriors and really do make a difference
in their lives. So, Sandy, can you run down the
roster of programs that Warrior Foundation Freedom Station supports and runs,
from the you know, the home for the holidays to
the rehab just just the checklist if you would. Sure. Um,

(03:20):
we generally meet our warriors up in the military hospitals,
active duty, not the v A, and we help them
with all kinds of wonderful quality of life items up
in the barracks areas including Palo Alto and Hawaii and
you know, the Southwestern region basically anywhere if there is
a warrior really in need that meets our criteria. So

(03:43):
this year, we're hoping, with your help, to be able
to fly every one of our ill and injured warriors
home to wake up in their own bed, their own state,
with their own family Christmas morning. We hope to give
them some Christmas gifts, UM, great big, beautiful navy blankets
and marine blankets, and we give them hospital pillows. For

(04:05):
the last two years, with the COVID situation, we have
been actually providing food up in the barracks areas just
to give them a break from the galley. UM. We
also have UM. We have warriors that we help when
they first get home. UM. And even if they're not
getting home right now, we have ellen injured UM a
lot more cancer than I care to admit to. UM.

(04:29):
We don't know if that's the burn pit situation showing,
but we are flying parents in. We have had injuries
while they are in training, because what does our military do.
They're either fighting at war or their training to fight
at war. So we had a helo hard landing. We've
got a warrior that's paralyzed. We've got other warriors that

(04:52):
were injured that have had to have their legs amputated.
We provide boots with zippers, we provide wheelchairs when needed
it UM again, that's after they transition out. The government
is taking care of our military. UM. We provide transitional housing.
So we have little cottages that are set up and

(05:12):
we get the warriors as they're getting out, not before
they're out, and we move them into a cottage that's
decked out right down to the place mats on the tables.
They're close to the military hospitals up by Palo up
at Hawaii, UM up in San Diego, UM that type
of a thing. And that way they can get up,

(05:33):
put on their uniforms, go up, do their medical, do
their military and then come back home at night. And
and this gives them a chance to to take a
breath and decide what do they want to do. Do
they want to go to college, Do they want to
go learn a trade, work for workshop for warriors? What
is it that they want to do? Do they want

(05:55):
to get involved in a lot of our athletic outdoor
programs do they want to be involved in UM working
with the foundation and networking through our foundation. So basically,
we help those ill and injured that are just coming home.
We helped the warriors with PTS and t b I.
We helped the warriors that live up in the barracks

(06:16):
still in our waiting to get their d D two
fourteen and their findings and move on in life. And
we helped the warriors with transitional housing. But basically, if
there is a need and we find out about it
through the military, we are able to help the military
provide what the government can't or won't. And honestly, Joe,

(06:40):
we know we can do it a lot quicker with
a lot less bureaucratic times, right, I think a lot
of people that some of our guys. Yeah, we have indeed,
and the success stories are absolutely wonderful and heartening, and
you know, we like to focus on the positive, but
there are a lot of real sad, heartbreaking stories about

(07:01):
folks who whether it's a physical or neurological injury or
just losing the sense of self and teamwork in the military. UM.
You know, they go into loneliness and despair and whether
it's suicide or drug addiction, living on the streets, that
sort of thing. This is what we're trying to prevent.
And instead of loneliness and despair, you know, the brotherhood
and sisterhood, freedom station, excitement about the future, counseling, that

(07:25):
sort of thing. It's just it's changing lives every single day.
That's and we're excited about it. And I'm going to
share with you guys. UM We had Freedom Station one
and it worked out so well. We organized and purchased
Freedom Station two, and in August of this year we
just acquired a third property. And this property is going

(07:47):
to be as strong and wonderful and have the greatest
barbecue areas for brotherhood kind of barbecues, and that's where
a lot of that that help happens. One warrior helps
another warrior a lot of times, and it's just like
kind of being back up in there with their unit.
They have a big barbecue at night, they all sit

(08:08):
around and talk. That's the beauty of it. And we
bring in UM. Our new president is Andrew Gasper, absolutely phenomenal.
Has worked seventeen years in the field of UM Allen
injured Warriors. He is amazing, mentoring, he knows his stuff.
He was a marine. Um. He knows what to say,

(08:30):
when to say it, and how to say it. And
he is a motivator extraordinaire. So he organizes group meetings
for all of our warriors and if they choose to come,
they can learn about finance, they can learn about job interviews.
We still take our warriors when they find out it's
a tough day that they're going to be getting out
of the military because of a medical reason or or

(08:53):
an illness. Um. Losing that uniform is losing their sense
of purpose, and so we take them over to the
men's warehouse, and this is where everybody's donation comes in.
We get them decked out in a new suit. We
get them decked out for interviews. Sometimes a guy said
to me the other day, ma'am, I'm going to wear

(09:13):
this to my wedding. I said, well, let's get you
another one. So you never know how you're going to
impact people, and it is fun to watch as you
look back. You know, a lot of our warriors have
been very successful. Mike Spivey has gone to the Olympics
twice paralympick ing for our you know, for the United States.

(09:35):
He said to me one day, ma'am, I'm going to
find a way to put that flag back on my sleeve.
He did. He is a United States surfer I'm sorry,
surf boarder and he um uh. He's just an amazing man.
He's like number thirteen in the world. And this is
an amputee that we've helped and you know he can golf, right,

(09:56):
you guys know so Sandy, I'm Cooler, CEO and founder
of Warrior Foundation Freedom Station. Sandy. We're going to talk
to some of the guys and gals throughout the week
to share their stories with the people. But we're going
to do our best. Thanks for spending some time this morning.
Thank you so much and appreciate everything that you guys
are doing for us. And we look forward to having

(10:17):
you come down whenever you get a chance to come
down to our area. Um, we'll meet up there in
the l A area wherever you want to meet. While
the guy said anywhere they're they're like, we aren't. We'll
make it happen, all right, We'll make it happen. Thanks Sandy,
bar and