'We Do It Every Day’

VFW Post 2894 in Chesapeake, Virginia, received the prestigious 2023 Fred C. Hall Memorial Outstanding Post Special Project Award at the 124th National Convention in July in Phoenix.

The award, which recognizes the VFW Post that conducts the most exceptional community service project of the year, was accepted by Post 2894 Service Officer Jim Ireland and Jose Vazquez, the past Post commander, for the Post member’s efforts on a renovation project for a local military couple.

“This really knocks it home, what it means to put your heart and soul into a project and actually help veterans, which is what the VFW is all about,” Vazquez said.

Post 2894 led a collective effort that included local businesses and nonprofits to fix the home of Navy veterans Victoria Bullard and her husband, Christopher Edmonds. The entities helped fund an estimated $100,000 in materials and labor to the couple’s home they purchased in 2020 while deployed overseas.

Unbeknownst to the pair, who purchased the home following inspections which specified the seller’s agreement to make the necessary repairs prior to their return stateside, they came home to find their house had major floor, roof and foundation issues.

With not enough funds to hire an attorney and sue the negligent parties involved, Bullard, whose husband was still deployed, faced the task of moving into the almost uninhabitable property with no idea of whom to ask for help.

After about a year of exhausting her means, Bullard turned to “10 on Your Side,” a local TV show known for its investigative reporting. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, its broadcast on Bullard reached members of Post 2894.

“They came to [10 on Your Side] in desperation,” Ireland said. “We got involved and soon the word got out that this military couple needed help.”

Joining a community of volunteers and local groups that included the local Home Depot, I Sell 757 and Habitat for Humanity, Post 2894 members replaced flooring throughout the home, renovated the kitchen and repaired the backyard deck.

For its selfless service to the community, Post 2894 was awarded the coveted 2023 Fred C. Hall Memorial Outstanding Post Special Project Award, its second in four years.

“We do it every day, and we don’t think about it as an award or something. We just do it daily,” Ireland said. “And we’re fortunate to live in a city like Chesapeake that supports us.”

This article is featured in the 2023 October issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., senior writer for VFW magazine.