Speaker 1: We decided years ago, Joe and I to um what
Speaker 1: one we thought, we gotta we gotta take the success
Speaker 1: of this radio show and do something positive with it,
Speaker 1: because every day it's just endless negativity, uh, just just
Speaker 1: making the world at worst place to live. So we
Speaker 1: could do something positive with all the with all the
Speaker 1: yucks and uh and uh and and ask for some
Speaker 1: money for a good charity. But we we didn't want
Speaker 1: to do it on a regular so we just side.
Speaker 1: You know, once a year, we're gonna really really tell people, Look,
Speaker 1: this is a charity. We've really checked out, we really
Speaker 1: believe in, they really realize your money. Well, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna ask you once. We don't come to you all
Speaker 1: the time. Let's see what we can do. And that
Speaker 1: cause is Warrior Foundation Freedom Station, which is an absolutely
Speaker 1: breathtakingly effective and efficient organization that helps are active duty
Speaker 1: military people uh in transition into retirement, those who are
Speaker 1: medically retired, and others with a variety of programs. Uh.
Speaker 1: The way Jack and I have always looked at this
Speaker 1: is that the idea that you've got the military over
Speaker 1: there and then the people of the United States over
Speaker 1: here is unhealthy and it's wrong. We the people have
Speaker 1: to be supporting our military. We have to be serving
Speaker 1: our country by helping them, whether it's giving our time
Speaker 1: or making a donation this week, I just think it's
Speaker 1: a patriotic duty. The way I see that, you're gonna
Speaker 1: hear some from some of our veterans this week who
Speaker 1: did multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and then we're
Speaker 1: struggling to transition back to regular life and needed some help.
Speaker 1: And this is how you help them. I mean, God,
Speaker 1: danmgn it, like Jojah said, I mean, who who do
Speaker 1: we owe more than this? And um all week longer
Speaker 1: been raising money for Warrior Foundation Freedom Station. It's real easy.
Speaker 1: You go to Armstrong and getty dot com. We've made
Speaker 1: the bannery is super easy to find. You couldn't miss it.
Speaker 1: It just takes a couple of minutes to to to
Speaker 1: donate money. Sandy lem Cooler is the CEO and founder
Speaker 1: of Warrior Foundation Freedom Station and it has been its
Speaker 1: guiding life for many, many years and is a good friend. Sandy, welcome,
Speaker 1: how are you? Good morning? I'm I'm wonderful and I
Speaker 1: just want to say thank you again so much for
Speaker 1: everything that you've done for our warriors. And it's not
Speaker 1: just you know you you said this in your in
Speaker 1: your intro, it's actually the active duty right now that
Speaker 1: have a little bit different types of injuries and illnesses,
Speaker 1: thank goodness, but they're still the ones that we're helping
Speaker 1: to transition. And so anyone who makes a donation, first
Speaker 1: of all, I want you to know that seventy eight
Speaker 1: point six percent of every dollar goes right to our warriors.
Speaker 1: I still won't take a salary. That's my patriotic duty, right,
Speaker 1: So I just want people to know that being a
Speaker 1: Navy wife and a Navy mom, I don't just pinch
Speaker 1: a penny. I make it scream bloody murder. So I
Speaker 1: will ensure that any money so that come in go
Speaker 1: directly to our warriors and really do make a difference
Speaker 1: in their lives. So, Sandy, can you run down the
Speaker 1: roster of programs that Warrior Foundation Freedom Station supports and runs,
Speaker 1: from the you know, the home for the holidays to
Speaker 1: the rehab just just the checklist if you would. Sure. Um,
Speaker 1: we generally meet our warriors up in the military hospitals,
Speaker 1: active duty, not the v A, and we help them
Speaker 1: with all kinds of wonderful quality of life items up
Speaker 1: in the barracks areas including Palo Alto and Hawaii and
Speaker 1: you know, the Southwestern region basically anywhere if there is
Speaker 1: a warrior really in need that meets our criteria. So
Speaker 1: this year, we're hoping, with your help, to be able
Speaker 1: to fly every one of our ill and injured warriors
Speaker 1: home to wake up in their own bed, their own state,
Speaker 1: with their own family Christmas morning. We hope to give
Speaker 1: them some Christmas gifts, UM, great big, beautiful navy blankets
Speaker 1: and marine blankets, and we give them hospital pillows. For
Speaker 1: the last two years, with the COVID situation, we have
Speaker 1: been actually providing food up in the barracks areas just
Speaker 1: to give them a break from the galley. UM. We
Speaker 1: also have UM. We have warriors that we help when
Speaker 1: they first get home. UM. And even if they're not
Speaker 1: getting home right now, we have ellen injured UM a
Speaker 1: lot more cancer than I care to admit to. UM.
Speaker 1: We don't know if that's the burn pit situation showing,
Speaker 1: but we are flying parents in. We have had injuries
Speaker 1: while they are in training, because what does our military do.
Speaker 1: They're either fighting at war or their training to fight
Speaker 1: at war. So we had a helo hard landing. We've
Speaker 1: got a warrior that's paralyzed. We've got other warriors that
Speaker 1: were injured that have had to have their legs amputated.
Speaker 1: We provide boots with zippers, we provide wheelchairs when needed
Speaker 1: it UM again, that's after they transition out. The government
Speaker 1: is taking care of our military. UM. We provide transitional housing.
Speaker 1: So we have little cottages that are set up and
Speaker 1: we get the warriors as they're getting out, not before
Speaker 1: they're out, and we move them into a cottage that's
Speaker 1: decked out right down to the place mats on the tables.
Speaker 1: They're close to the military hospitals up by Palo up
Speaker 1: at Hawaii, UM up in San Diego, UM that type
Speaker 1: of a thing. And that way they can get up,
Speaker 1: put on their uniforms, go up, do their medical, do
Speaker 1: their military and then come back home at night. And
Speaker 1: and this gives them a chance to to take a
Speaker 1: breath and decide what do they want to do. Do
Speaker 1: they want to go to college, Do they want to
Speaker 1: go learn a trade, work for workshop for warriors? What
Speaker 1: is it that they want to do? Do they want
Speaker 1: to get involved in a lot of our athletic outdoor
Speaker 1: programs do they want to be involved in UM working
Speaker 1: with the foundation and networking through our foundation. So basically,
Speaker 1: we help those ill and injured that are just coming home.
Speaker 1: We helped the warriors with PTS and t b I.
Speaker 1: We helped the warriors that live up in the barracks
Speaker 1: still in our waiting to get their d D two
Speaker 1: fourteen and their findings and move on in life. And
Speaker 1: we helped the warriors with transitional housing. But basically, if
Speaker 1: there is a need and we find out about it
Speaker 1: through the military, we are able to help the military
Speaker 1: provide what the government can't or won't. And honestly, Joe,
Speaker 1: we know we can do it a lot quicker with
Speaker 1: a lot less bureaucratic times, right, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people that some of our guys. Yeah, we have indeed,
Speaker 1: and the success stories are absolutely wonderful and heartening, and
Speaker 1: you know, we like to focus on the positive, but
Speaker 1: there are a lot of real sad, heartbreaking stories about
Speaker 1: folks who whether it's a physical or neurological injury or
Speaker 1: just losing the sense of self and teamwork in the military. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, they go into loneliness and despair and whether
Speaker 1: it's suicide or drug addiction, living on the streets, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. This is what we're trying to prevent.
Speaker 1: And instead of loneliness and despair, you know, the brotherhood
Speaker 1: and sisterhood, freedom station, excitement about the future, counseling, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. It's just it's changing lives every single day.
Speaker 1: That's and we're excited about it. And I'm going to
Speaker 1: share with you guys. UM We had Freedom Station one
Speaker 1: and it worked out so well. We organized and purchased
Speaker 1: Freedom Station two, and in August of this year we
Speaker 1: just acquired a third property. And this property is going
Speaker 1: to be as strong and wonderful and have the greatest
Speaker 1: barbecue areas for brotherhood kind of barbecues, and that's where
Speaker 1: a lot of that that help happens. One warrior helps
Speaker 1: another warrior a lot of times, and it's just like
Speaker 1: kind of being back up in there with their unit.
Speaker 1: They have a big barbecue at night, they all sit
Speaker 1: around and talk. That's the beauty of it. And we
Speaker 1: bring in UM. Our new president is Andrew Gasper, absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 1: Has worked seventeen years in the field of UM Allen
Speaker 1: injured Warriors. He is amazing, mentoring, he knows his stuff.
Speaker 1: He was a marine. Um. He knows what to say,
Speaker 1: when to say it, and how to say it. And
Speaker 1: he is a motivator extraordinaire. So he organizes group meetings
Speaker 1: for all of our warriors and if they choose to come,
Speaker 1: they can learn about finance, they can learn about job interviews.
Speaker 1: We still take our warriors when they find out it's
Speaker 1: a tough day that they're going to be getting out
Speaker 1: of the military because of a medical reason or or
Speaker 1: an illness. Um. Losing that uniform is losing their sense
Speaker 1: of purpose, and so we take them over to the
Speaker 1: men's warehouse, and this is where everybody's donation comes in.
Speaker 1: We get them decked out in a new suit. We
Speaker 1: get them decked out for interviews. Sometimes a guy said
Speaker 1: to me the other day, ma'am, I'm going to wear
Speaker 1: this to my wedding. I said, well, let's get you
Speaker 1: another one. So you never know how you're going to
Speaker 1: impact people, and it is fun to watch as you
Speaker 1: look back. You know, a lot of our warriors have
Speaker 1: been very successful. Mike Spivey has gone to the Olympics
Speaker 1: twice paralympick ing for our you know, for the United States.
Speaker 1: He said to me one day, ma'am, I'm going to
Speaker 1: find a way to put that flag back on my sleeve.
Speaker 1: He did. He is a United States surfer I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: surf boarder and he um uh. He's just an amazing man.
Speaker 1: He's like number thirteen in the world. And this is
Speaker 1: an amputee that we've helped and you know he can golf, right,
Speaker 1: you guys know so Sandy, I'm Cooler, CEO and founder
Speaker 1: of Warrior Foundation Freedom Station. Sandy. We're going to talk
Speaker 1: to some of the guys and gals throughout the week
Speaker 1: to share their stories with the people. But we're going
Speaker 1: to do our best. Thanks for spending some time this morning.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much and appreciate everything that you guys
Speaker 1: are doing for us. And we look forward to having
Speaker 1: you come down whenever you get a chance to come
Speaker 1: down to our area. Um, we'll meet up there in
Speaker 1: the l A area wherever you want to meet. While
Speaker 1: the guy said anywhere they're they're like, we aren't. We'll
Speaker 1: make it happen, all right, We'll make it happen. Thanks Sandy,
Speaker 1: bar and