By Becky Maxedon
It’s all about veterans helping veterans – reaching out and making sure those who have served have what they need when they come home.
This week, two local organizations dedicated to reaching out to area veterans in need joined forces to help a young family.
The Lake Havasu City American Legion hosted an event Wednesday where the Lake Havasu Veterans of Foreign Wars Motor Cycle Club, Big River, Arizona Chapter and the Fireball Foundation in Bullhead City, came together to donate a 2005 Toyota Tundra truck to a local young veteran family.
Adrian and Brandie Jarvis and baby Breanna were presented with the truck that will provide Adrian Jarvis with transportation to and from work.
Photo courtesy Brian Strahl
VFW MC Vice President Brian Strahl is a veteran himself – a retired Navy Chief – said that working in conjunction with the Fireball Foundation made the donation possible.
“We gave it to them free and clear. We made sure it was cleaned up and anything that needed to be fixed was fixed and we took care of the title and all the fees,” Strahl said.
“Through the efforts of generous donations from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Arizona Motorcycle Club and the Fireball Foundation we were able to donate a truck along with a generous cash donation to help assist with future needs,” he said.
Strahl said he thinks reaching out to younger veterans is important.
“I think a lot of the younger vets feel like they get lost in the system. We reach out to them a lot, but we do a lot with older veterans, too.”
Photo courtesy Brian Strahl
The VFW MC was established in 2004 and its mission is to assist all veterans and their families in times of need.
Wendall Jones is the president of the Fireball Foundation.
The 501(c) (3) was founded Jan. 1, 2015, by Jones and his wife to help veterans and others throughout the Mohave Valley area. The foundation is based out of Bullhead City.
Jones’ named the foundation after his business – Fireball RV and Cargo Movers.
The car that was presented to the Jarvis family this week was the 11th the organization has given to a veteran in need.
Not only does the foundation help with transportation needs, it also has presented 31 RV and trailer homes to those in need – 26 to veterans and 5 to civilian families. And the two groups are working on a trailer to present to a local veteran soon.
The Fireball Foundation also operates an emergency food pantry.
“At Thanksgiving, we gave away 78, five-person turkey meals and at Christmas, we gave away 93 meals,” Jones said. He said the meals were donated by the local Safeway grocery store that has been a primary supporter.
Fireball sponsors a toy drive at Christmas and Jones said they were able to provide six toys per child to local families this past holiday.
Jones said another supporter of the Fireball Foundation is Hooch’s 95 Bar and Grill in Ft. Mohave.
“They are gracious enough to let us do our fundraisers and raffles there and have our events. The owner – Miss Suzie – is a great supporter of our organization.”
Jones is a Vietnam-era veteran, and also served in the Gulf War and in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he said.
For more information about the VFW MC, visit http://vfwcbigriver.com
To learn more about the Fireball Foundation, go to https://www.thefireballfoundation.com/.
Photo courtetesy Brian Strahl
I’m a disabled vet service connected in lake Havasu looking for a free car or motorcycle my car was towed during covet and I couldn’t get it out of the tow yard