OUR STORY

We are Al & Kate Duncan and Annette Carbonneau (Volunteers for Veterans).  Al is a USMC veteran 1961-1966,  Kate is a USAF veteran 1967-1974, Annette is a daughter of a veteran.

How We Started!!!!

In 2016 we (Al & Kate) saw a small notice in the local paper about a focus group that was going to be held nearby.  The state of New Hampshire had given NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) a $3,000 grant to  hold an event for Veterans and their families in our area (Northern New Hampshire). The focus group needed input on planning the event, where to have it, what to do ect. There were about 20 people in attendance, however it was evident that most were there for the free pizza and gas card! This is when we met Annette.  After several hours the group decided on a cookout.  The venue was still unclear.  We went home and thought about it and had and idea for the perfect venue, Mount Washington!!!!  Al immediately call our friend Howie Wemis who is the general manager at the Mt. Washington Auto Road.  He was more than happy to donate a beautiful place for the event.   The First Event!!!!

NAMI agreed that the location was perfect and it was then that we decided that we would like to volunteer and help in anyway that we could.  Annette was our contact person at NAMI and she told us that they normally expect around 20 people to show up when they put on these events.  Al said he was not a “20” person kind of guy and he projected 150!!  As the registrations were rolling in we realized that $3000 was not going to be enough.  This event included a large tent with tables and chairs, a cookout, and a sunset van ride up Mount Washington for the Veterans and their families.  So we took it upon ourselves to raise more money, recruited more volunteers, and were able to get some of the food donated or discounted, and to top it off, we collected over 170 door prizes to raffle off.  We did have over 150 Veterans sign up, and over 120 show up!!  The event was deemed a HUGE success by all!!!!   The most amazing part was that we were able to make it all happen in just 3 weeks!! Surprisingly,  we were honored with a State of New Hampshire Proclamation presented by Senator Jeff Woodburn for our volunteer efforts. We clearly had a wonderful experience and through everyone’s effort we were able to bring Veteran families together for a special day that included a picnic, some great speakers and a sunset ride to the summit of Mt. Washington.

Fast  forward to 2017. We were hoping that the state of New Hampshire would be issuing another grant to NAMI for the same purpose, but we found out that 2016 was a one time deal.  By now our contact Annette had moved on to another position and was no longer with NAMI. We called  her and the three of us decided that we would continue the event on our own, so we formed a corporation (Volunteers for Veterans) and moved forward.  With much scrambling we were able to raise over $9,000 plus multiple donations from out wonderful community to put together our 2nd annual Summit Salute.  We had an amazing group of volunteers who worked very hard all day.  We had only one small problem!!  IT POURED RAIN most of the day, and the wind blew so hard we had to put sides on the tent.  The BBQ was awesome, the speakers were terrific, and the prizes were fabulous. Even though the ride to the summit was canceled due to lightning , our event was a total success!! We were even able to bring two WWII Veterans together, and we over doubled the attendance from the previous year.

2018 finds two of us in Arizona until February of 2019.  We discovered the Arizona scenic Trail.  It is 800 + miles long and runs from the Mexico border to the Utah border.  After much discussion and thought we have decided to hike the 800 miles as a fund raiser.  The goal of this hike is to support children of fallen Veterans through scholarships for education and activities. We are now in our planning and training stages for this event!! With everyone’s help it will be a huge success!! Stay tuned for details!!