Lending a helping hand

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joseph E. Bridge
  • 911th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Pittsburgh IAP ARS --  After returning home from the last of six deployments in 2012, Senior Master Sgt. John J. Lee, engineering superintendent of the 911th Airlift Wing Civil Engineering Squadron, noticed that his family had had a tough time keeping up with regular maintenance of their household.

Once the family was situated, Lee and wife of 18 years, Sheri, decided to try and help fellow deployed Airmen and families in the same situation.

Lee and Sheri started Heroes Supporting Heroes, a volunteer program that supports the families of currently deployed 911th Airmen.

HSH uses donated trades, skills and financial support from different organizations and volunteers to help those in need.

"We recognized there was a need and just wanted to help out," said Lee. "If we could just take some of the stress away that results from deployments and from a loved one not being there, then we had some impact and helped out."

HSH is informed of a potential need either via email, telephone or word or mouth. Next, if necessary, a site survey is conducted to lay out a plan to do the work needed. Then an email is sent out to all the volunteers, or Servant Heroes, to schedule a Team Lead with the necessary skills and labor to complete the job, and then a second email is sent out to all Servant Heroes to get extra hands to help with the job. Finally, the Team Lead puts the job on the HSH event calendar and the job gets started on that date or time frame.

A few of the first projects that the organization completed were water heater replacements, roof patching, an entire residential bathroom replacement, and the building of a wooden staircase and porch.

HSH has had several referrals come its way when problems were found out through the regular morale calls placed by the 911th Key Spouse Group.

"Three of our Key Spouses have used HSH recently; a car issue, two hot water heaters not working, and one dryer not working," said Kathy Peters, wife of Col. Peters and lead Key Spouse Group member. "The people in this area truly are blessed to have John as a member of their community with all of the hard work he and his wife put into their organization."

Once the projects started coming in, Lee realized that there was a greater need in the community beyond deployed Airmen. With the urging of the base commander, Col. Craig C. Peters, the organization expanded its work to include disabled veterans, wounded warriors, and the indigent and elderly who also can not keep up with regular maintenance of their residences.

Lee was put in contact with the leadership of Findlay Twp. and began to get even more requests from members of the expanded community who needed help with their houses.

Realizing how much work there is to be done, and that other organizations are out there, Lee merged HSH with another volunteer organization, West Allegheny Work-camp, to have the largest possible impact on the community.

WAW organizes week-long home repair mission trips for junior high and high school-aged youth that occur various times throughout the year.

The partnering of these groups is aimed at having a bigger impact on the community by not duplicating efforts and also sharing expertise, incorporation, tax exemption, general liability insurance, and also cutting down on operating expenses and activities.

During a work camp, which is deemed as a "low-skill, high-labor" endeavor, 440 teens and adults come together to serve others. A local school serves as the base camp, participants pay for travel and camp costs, and 70-80 residents get free labor and material to fix what needs done around their homes.

With all that has been accomplished and the work-camp scheduled for later this month, Lee sees no limit to what can be accomplished with HSH.

"My goal is to have this program at every reserve base around the country," said Lee. "I see the impact that it has and how much it is appreciated and needed."

If interested in volunteering with HSH or donating funds please visit, www.heroessupportingheroes.org