The last 48 hours has been kind of a blur for me. My friend Gary Lundholm, who is a broker with about 160 agents in a couple of offices in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA emailed me on Monday am with an unexpected need. (I am going to tell you more about Gary in a future post…he is a Bloodhound and his office is thriving in this economy).
The SEAL Team that was killed in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan was based in his area. Among the agents in his office are many Navy Veterans (Gary is as well.) and spouses of active duty personnel. He wanted to do something to help the families.
He purchased SEALKids.com and wanted a site built so that his agents could all help gather donations from the local community as well as the real estate community for the children of these fallen warriors. Their goal is lofty. $100,000 for the kids of these fallen soldiers. Starting tomorrow morning, they will be sending this online to their friends locally.
If you know Gary at all, this is exactly the type of thing he is known for. (He’d never admit that, which is further proof.) So for the last couple of days on and off, we put together a site to help be a collection for funds to be donated to the Navy SEAL Foundation which will go to aid the families, who often cannot ask for help because they need to protect their identities. It is a close knit community.
It has been an honor to donate some time to work on this. I have cried often as I thought of my own kids and as I have thought of these families’ sacrifices.
I am not asking for donations unless you have it and want to give. I AM asking that you share this around with others so that those who can and want to give have the opportunity. I gave. I would not have posted that unless I had. My family and I decided together that it was something we needed to do.
One more thing that I would ask as a favor.
There is a section of the site for Paying our Respects to the families.
As I type this, these same families are seeing the remains of their loved ones be brought home. These children of these SEALs will likely grow up not hearing anywhere near the full impact that their father had on protecting our freedoms. If you could, whether you donate or not, please drop by and leave these families our respects for their sacrifice, I would appreciate it. Years from now, when these children read some kind words of respect for their fathers, I can only hope that it will bring some comfort for their loss.
Lisa K says:
What a great cause. It’s wonderful that something so nice is being done to help these families.
August 9, 2011 — 8:18 pm
Jessica Horton says:
>These children of these SEALs will likely grow up not hearing anywhere near the full impact that their father had on protecting our freedoms.
Very well said, Eric. Thanks for making me aware of this.
August 10, 2011 — 3:55 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@Jessica – You are welcome.
I learned while working on this project that the SEALS lost 11 men in Afghanistan in 2005 and to date that had been the highest loss of life so far, despite some of the missions that they are given to do.
The loss of 22 members of SEAL 6 is actually about 10% of their current active team.
But the real tough part for me was that their families are not able to grieve openly (except for a couple who have chosen to), but rather must keep their sorrows inside of their community to protect the identity of the others.
August 10, 2011 — 5:02 am
Teri Lussier says:
>>These children of these SEALs will likely grow up not hearing anywhere near the full impact that their father had on protecting our freedoms.
That struck me as well.
Hope your work brings some comfort to these families, Eric.
August 10, 2011 — 7:10 am
Greg Swann says:
You should see +/-50,000 backlinks from me over the next few days. We’ll send money when we can, but I can throw a lot of g-juice your way right now.
Thanks for doing this, Eric.
August 10, 2011 — 9:48 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@Greg – Bless you sir. It is humbling to get to watch this caring group of REALTORS pitching in and helping out. Will forward you privately some of the conversations. Touching. Thanks again.
August 12, 2011 — 4:31 am
Gary Lundholm says:
Greg…thanks for getting behind our SEALKids effort. We are already seeing donations from readers of your blog. Together we can do so much more for these kids. A special thanks to Eric Blackwell (a very special friend) for everything he has done.
August 12, 2011 — 7:03 am
Greg Swann says:
> A special thanks to Eric Blackwell (a very special friend) for everything he has done.
I agree. I have never caught sight of Eric where I did not see a thoroughly admirable man.
August 12, 2011 — 7:44 am
Jo Amick says:
Excellent post Eric and what a great cause. I am sure your contributions will bring some comfort to the families. Great share.
August 13, 2011 — 6:31 am