Step Up for Soldiers
- Step Up for Soldiers is a non-profit organization devoted to providing assistance to soldiers and their families. The organization is located in Wilmington, NC.
One man saw a need and did something AbOUT it.
Thomas Russell, founder of Step Up For Soldiers, saw that soldiers returning from combat with permanent disabilities needed wheelchair access to their homes. With the help of the community of Wilmington, NC, Russell's organization has provided wheelchair ramps, home modifications, and transportation solutions to several returning combat veterans. The organization's mission is to do whatever is possible to allow soldiers to rehabilitate at home with their families.
“That's the thing,” Russell said, “to keep the family together.” When soldiers return home incapacitated, they remain enlisted as a full-time member of the military. “You can stay in one to three years while rehabbing,” Russell explained. “You're already injured and are a soldier and have to live on that salary.”
Step Up For Soldiers was started in November 2004. Russell, a retired Port Authority police officer and Vietnam Vet, started SUFS with the intent to assist wounded soldiers who were sent overseas in response to the 9/11 [...] attack. Two infantrymen from the 1st Battalion 120th Infantry Regiment of the NC National Guard returned home to Wilmington paralyzed from the waist down. Russell began to build wheelchair ramps for these two soldiers. The work he was doing drew attention from the community and the media, and volunteers started contributing time and money.
The two soldiers who received the first assistance from SUFS were lucky; four of their companions came home in caskets. Step Up For Soldiers stepped up once again. With the encouragement and support of the soldiers’ regiment and the Wilmington community, Step Up constructed a local Fallen Soldiers Memorial Garden in honor of those four and the many others who did not come home. The Fallen Soldiers Memorial Garden is located across from the National Guard Armory off Kerr Avenue near the Wilmington International Airport.
The organization continues to develop as it grows. It has increased from a single person, Tom Russell, to a small family of nine dedicated volunteers. Russell's goal is to help as many families of active and non active duty soldiers as possible in the Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune areas.
Today, Step Up For Soldiers holds annual fundraisers, such as Children's Fishing Day, Half Marathon Battleship Race, and other events, to raise money to modify homes and provide other services to veteran and active duty soldiers. In addition to assisting soldiers at home, Step Up is currently and ongoing collecting items and donations for Packages from Home.
Media coverage
A Football tailgate party benefit in September 2010 * Football tailgate party benefits more than football fans
See also
- United States National Guard
- North Carolina National Guard