I started it because I watched someone I love live it.

The roadmap

There was no roadmap. So I made one.

Somewhere along the way, I became pretty darn good at it.

I spent countless hours researching. Days making phone calls, asking questions, and filling out paperwork.

I followed up, got told no, found another door, made another call, and when necessary, fought tooth and nail for services and benefits my daughter had earned through her service.

Service before NVFF

Serving others was not something new to me.

When somebody needs help, you do not just talk about helping. You roll up your sleeves and get to work.

For seven years, I served as President of the Gansevoort Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary, where I learned the public-service world from the ground up.

I organized and hosted benefits, fundraisers, dinners, breakfasts, shows, holiday campaigns, donation drives, community events, and honestly, the list goes on and on.

Those years taught me how to organize people, find resources, ask for help and donations, work with local businesses, coordinate volunteers, build community partnerships, and figure things out when there was no instruction manual sitting in front of me.

The question

What happens when a veteran needs something more than a discount?

Who is there then?

Our veterans are offered discounts. They are given handshakes. They are thanked for their service. Those gestures are appreciated, but I kept wondering what happens when someone needs more.

What happens when a veteran does not understand their benefits? What happens when they need mental health services or addiction and recovery resources? What happens when they are struggling financially, need help putting food on the table, feel completely alone, or simply do not know who to call or where to begin?

The vision

One veteran. One family. One community at a time.

My vision does not stop at the borders of my hometown. I am fiercely determined to unite a community, a county, a state, and eventually a nation around one simple promise: no veteran should ever feel forgotten.

I want to bring neighbors, businesses, organizations, communities, and generations together to honor our veterans, support them, advocate for them, celebrate them, and stand beside them.

And if that movement begins right here, in one little community in New York, then that is exactly where we will start.

The promise

They stood for us. Now it is my turn to stand watch for you.

You did that for us. Now it is my turn to stand watch for you.

I cannot repay our veterans for everything they have given us. But I can show up. I can advocate. I can research. I can make the phone call. I can organize the fundraiser. I can bring people together.

This foundation honors my grandfather, my father, my uncle, my husband, my daughter, and every man and woman who has worn the uniform and stood the watch before them, beside them, and after them.

Because every morning I am fortunate enough to wake up free, and every night I am able to lay my head down and sleep peacefully, it is because somewhere, someone has stood the watch.