Local veteran rewarded by 'Vacation' non-profit

After spending a year away from home in Iraq, Army National Guard veteran and Bloomington resident David Weatherbee can finally relax and spend some quality time with his family.

Vacation for Veterans, a Virginia-based organization, provides Purple Heart Medal recipients from the Iraq and Afghanistan Campaigns with a week of free lodging donated by vacation homeowners.

“There are lots of programs out there that help veterans, but nothing like this,” Weatherbee said. “This vacation opportunity is one of the better ones that I have seen because family time is so important.”

This non-profit organization was founded in 2007 by Chris and Peggy Carr, both former Marines. Peggy Carr was planning to donate a percentage of the profits from her luxury home exchange business to charity when the idea came to her.

She realized that some of the vacation homes on her website had several weeks of vacancies and she considered the possibility of those homeowners donating those weeks to wounded veterans. After receiving an enthusiastic response, the Carrs decided to start their organization and began matching veterans with vacation
homeowners.

“They were just looking for a way to give back,” said Hadley Vukasovich, director of fundraising. “And now they have given back to over 350 families nationwide.”

According to the Vacations for Veterans website, they are unable to give back to all veterans like they would want due to the small size of their organization. Their limited mission allows them to help Purple Heart recipients who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each veteran must fill out an application and wait for a response.

“I found out about this opportunity through my wife.” Weatherbee said. “She filled out an application and we were accepted.”

The Weatherbees, who currently reside in Monroe County, will be traveling to Orange Beach, Ala. in less than four weeks for their free vacation stay.

“Our vacation condo is being donated by a generous elderly couple, one of whom is a veteran as well,” Jenni Weatherbee, David’s wife, said.

The majority of people who donate their homes are not veterans. Of those who are veterans, many are retired and served in World War II or the Korean War.

“These people can most likely relate to the needs of veterans once they return the most, but all of our homeowners are donating their time and space for people who served them and their country,” Vukasovich said. “Veteran or not, everyone is just looking for a way to give back.”

Most of the donated homes are vacation homes or timeshares. Venture Travel, located in Boston, donated cruise cabins for vacation cruises to the veterans.

“We have been lucky enough to receive a variety of different vacations for the veterans to experience,” Vukasovich said.

Creative donors have gone as far as donating fishing and hiking trips in various parts of the country. Vacations for Veterans has even received offers for vacation homes in Hawaii and Panama.

“One of the challenges we face is transportation costs and special accommodations such as bedding and travel for those who are wounded and recovering,” Vukasovich said.

She also said that these types of vacations for veterans returning from overseas are extremely important and that is why Vacation for Veterans has had such an overwhelming response.

“We are working to raise money to help as many vets as we can,” Vukasovich said. “But right now we are just too small to help everyone.”