Search the Community

Introduction Every year The Patriot Woodworker's adopt a Wounded Warrior or Gold Star family for Christmas. We do this through a great veterans support organization named Operation Ward 57. The Patriot Woodworker's submit an application to Ward 57 to be accepted to receive our family for Christmas, and each year we are chosen to participate. And each year, our sponsors donate wonderful items for us to giveaway for this cause. We use 100 percent of your contributions to purchase gifts for the kids, and a Christmas dinner for the family and to fund related project expenses such as shipping fees for gifts. Our Mission We need your help to accumulate funds for our Wounded Warrior adopted family, who has given much to our nation in physical and emotional sacrifice and much more in family sacrifice. The Wounded Warrior Family This year we have a unique situation for our adopted family. The family we are supporting is to remain anonymous. Hardships and conditions the family have and are undergoing prevent us from disclosing the identity of the family, so out of respect for the family we agreed to not share any images of the family, nor any personal information. In doing so would "out" the family and cause more hardship to them. Our adopted family has already gone through enough by serving our nation and paying a great price. What we can share is: The father and husband served our nation in the US Army. He is now on 100 percent disability with varying issues from PTSD to physical injuries including Traumatic Brain Injuries. Though many call Dad the hero of the family, the family themselves will call Mom the hero, as is typically the case when you have a caregiver situation as this family does. They are blessed with four beautiful children as follows. Boy in his late teens Boy pre-teen Boy pre-teen Girl toddler Your Comfort We understand the inferences that "Anonymous" implies, some folks may be a bit skeptical to contribute to an anonymous cause. So to help alleviate your concerns, I would like to encourage you to contact any of our forum hosts or admins for your general questions regarding the family. Our Forum Hosts and Admins are completely familiar with the family, they have seen the family, and they understand the history of the family, so they will be able to confirm to you the validity of this cause. Please keep in mind, under no circumstances will our Forum Hosts or Admins be able to disclose any more information than what has already been disclosed here, you will only be able to have confirmation that our Adopted Family is indeed with us, and needs your help. Please contact our Forum Hosts or Admins with your concerns by clicking on their names at our "Staff" page. https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/staff/ Rules Sorry, only Residents of the US and Canada may participate. Outside countries may contribute but you will not be entered into the system for receiving items due to shipping costs. If you are in an outside country, and do contribute, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. All are welcome to participate, members, forum hosts, admins and non-members. (John Morris (Founder) and family may not participate). Please allow 1 to 3 weeks for delivery of prizes, most of the time prizes are sent out immediately. You may contribute as much funding as you like to earn entries into our random draw. Your contributions will be accepted up to December 20th 12pm Eastern Time, at which time project will close and item recipients will be chosen. 4 names will be randomly drawn by Random Picker software, and items will be awarded in the order of names drawn, starting with the Laguna Bandsaw, then the Easy Wood Tools, then the Woodriver hand planes. An apology I apologize for the current method of contributing funding to this project as cumbersome as it is, our usual way, and very easy way we've used in the past had to be eliminated due to current "Raffle" laws governing our state of California, so I had to create this work around. This will be the last year I perform this event from my home state of California due to restrictions. For next years Christmas Family event, we will have a Patriot Woodworker host this event from their home state that allows such fund raising activity. We will not quit, we'll just find away around it! Our Veteran and Gold Star families need us! To contribute to our Adopted Family please click on "Donate" button This year, the items our sponsors have donated can be seen in the image below, these are some great prizes folks! You can donate only 2 dollars with multiple entry bargains, and your odds of receiving a sponsored item are very high given our typical turnout. To view the entry fees, and to purchase your entries please click on the Donate button above! A full accountability of the proceeds will be reported on at the end of the project so you know your hard earned money was used for our Adopted Family. Item links Laguna 14|12 Bandsaw for one recipient Easy Wood Tools Mini Hollowers for one recipient Woodriver Standard Block Plane with Adjustable Mouth for one recipient Woodriver No.4 Bench Plane for one recipient In Closing Ok Patriot Woodworker's, it's time to muster and it's time to show everyone what we are all about! The purpose our woodworking community was created is for this reason, to help those who have served us, and paid the price. Remember this is not charity, this is not a hand out, this is payback! Thank you sponsors! We also need to thank our sponsors Woodcraft Supply, Laguna Tools, and Easy Wood Tools for their generous support and for donating those wonderful items for the raffle! For without them, we would not have a community, nor would we be able to perform the work we do. Thank you guys! Prior Years Projects Adopt a Wounded Warrior Family for the Holidays 2015 Adopt a Wounded Warrior Family for the Holidays 2016 Adopt a Gold Star Family for the Holidays 2017 Adopt a Wounded Warrior Family for the Holidays 2018

Winners Announced On behalf of The Patriot Woodworkers and the Bassett Family, we want to congratulate the following raffle contributors for their win, and we want to thank all for participating. I wish all could receive something for their contributions, but as you all know folks, this is a raffle, and the cause is the reason. Thank you all once again! We raised $2205.00 !! Please PM @John Morris with your shipping information so that we can get these wonderful sponsored prizes out to you immediately! Laguna Tools $500.00 Gift Certificate - @p_toad Easy Wood Tools full set of Mid-Sized Turning Tools - @Dadio Woodriver Spindle Sander - @DuckSoup Rikon 8" Slow Speed Grinder - @schnewj Introduction Every year The Patriot Woodworker's adopt a Wounded Warrior or Gold Star family for Christmas. We do this through a great veterans support organization named Operation Ward 57. The Patriot Woodworker's submit an application to Ward 57 to be accepted to receive our family for Christmas, and each year we are chosen to participate. And each year, our sponsors donate wonderful items for us to raffle for this cause. We use 100 percent of the raffle proceeds to purchase gifts for the kids, and a Christmas dinner for the family and to fund related project expenses such as shipping fees for gifts. Our Mission We need your help to accumulate funds for our Wounded Warrior adopted family, who has given much to our nation in physical and emotional sacrifice and much more in family sacrifice. The Wounded Warrior Family This year we are proud to be supporting the Bassett Family from Las Vegas, Nevada. They include Wounded Warrior, Mr. James Bassett and his wife Mrs. Michelle Bassett, and their two boys Dalen (15 yrs) and Aiden (14 yrs). (Bassett family, image a couple years old) Mr. Basett and his boys Wounded Warrior James Bassett James went to Basic Training and AIT at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. He was stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and attached to multiple units under the 214th Fires Brigade. His combat deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom were to UAE & Kuwait while he was in Unit 114. His unit was the first live HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) ever fired in the UAE. James has many injuries, too many to list here by Mrs. Bassett's account. He has a Traumatic Brain Injury which has affected his impulse control and he has little to no short term memory capabilities. He is haunted by PTSD (mostly survivors guilt and hyper alert behaviors), and James suffers from Avascular Necrosis in his right leg (dead bones) and the family is currently putting off an ATK (above the knee) amputation for as long as possible. He wears braces from mid thigh to calf as well as ankle and foot braces on both legs. He has Plural Scarring on both lungs due to the fine metals he was breathing while "In Country" for 9 months. Army Service Basic Training and AIT - Fort Jackson, South Carolina Permanent Duty - Fort Sill, Oklahoma Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Combat Deployments - United Arab Emirates, Kuwait Medals - Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal The Wounded Warrior Mom and Wife Michelle Bassett, the hard working mother of two boys and the wife and best friend, and caregiver of her Wounded Warrior husband James is one busy lady! I have been in contact with Mrs. Bassett and I found out the sacrifices and volunteerism spirit is alive and well after her husband James' service and sacrafice to our nation. This family is still giving freely of their time to our country. Michelle is a highly active member and Fellow of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. I'd like to submit some excerpts of my discussions I've had with Mrs. Bassett. The Elizabeth Dole Foundation brings awareness to the community on the everyday life and struggles of our Military and Veteran Caregivers. Every state has a "Fellow" our job is to advocate and fight for the rights our Veterans and Caregivers deserve. I am the State of Nevada Fellow. Every year all the Fellows head to Washington DC for a week. We then "Storm the Hill" and have private meetings with our House Representatives and Senators and talk to them about what we need done. I helped pass two bills that were signed into law by President Trump. The first bill was the Family Caregivers Act. and Last year I focused on something near and dear to me which was our Vietnam Era Veterans. I am proud to say because of our Fellows hard work we were able to get enough Co-Sponsors and the VA Mission Act was signed into law by President Trump this year. This bill is the one that expands the Caregiver Stipend currently available to "Post 9/11" caregivers to include "Pre 9/11". It is starting with the Vietnam era since these are the Veterans that are sadly needing full time caregivers. It allows a family member or appointed person to get paid to take care of the Veteran in their home. This way they can spend their last few years at home and not in a state run care facility where they aren't cared for well. also With the Elizabeth Dole Foundation we have a campaign called Hidden Heroes (Tom Hanks is our spokesman) and I was personally able to get a day named Hidden Heroes Day in the city of Henderson Nevada. I also volunteer with Operation Homefront and I am the Hearts of Valor leader for Southern Nevada. Family Snapshot by Michelle Bassett James and I met online through a Cancer support community. He is a Leukemia survivor and I am a 2 time breast cancer survivor. Right after we started communicating he joined the military. James is a 40 year old Army Veteran who served a combat deployment that forever changed our lives. He is an amazingly strong man who battles mental and physical disabilities daily but still gives 100% for his family. He loves his car and tinkering around with it is cathartic for him. He loves food and is a total meat and potato guy. Watching NASCAR and going to the gym are 2 of his favorite ways to relax. Dalen will be 15 years old and definitely marches to his own drum. He is a self proclaimed nerd and proud of it. He joined a Dungeons & Dragons club at school and has been enjoying that. He wants to design video games and loves computer graphics as he gets older. He has great taste in music (Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffet, Billy Joel and lots of 80s) so I feel I'm doing something right! Aiden will be 14 years old in about a month and is the typical "cool kid". He loves all typical teen boys stuff. He has recently started showing an interest in photography and has been taking pics on an old cell phone of mine. He is a jokester but such a sweet kid and loves volunteering with James & I. Links of Interest Michelle and James Hidden Heros Page Injured Service Members and Their Families Participate In Family Fun for a Day (story with James and Michelle) Prior Years Projects Adopt a Wounded Warrior Family for the Holidays 2015 Adopt a Wounded Warrior Family for the Holidays 2016 Adopt a Gold Star Family for the Holidays 2017 Rules Sorry, only Residents of the US and Canada may participate All are welcome to participate, members, forum hosts, admins and non-members. (John Morris (Founder) and family may not participate) Please allow 1 to 3 weeks for delivery of prizes, most of the time prizes are sent out immediately You may purchase as many raffle tickets as you like Raffle ends 4pm Eastern time, January 1st. 4 names will be randomly drawn by Raffle River, and prizes will be awarded in the order of names drawn, starting with Laguna Certificate, then the Full Size Easy Wood Tools, then the Rikon Slow Speed Grinder, then the Woodriver Spindle Sander. You may also enter by mailing check or money order made out to The Patriot Woodworker and send too: The Patriot Woodworker - 977 Sussex Rd, San Jacinto, CA. 92583 You may also request one free entry by submitting your request through regular postal mail, please use address above. Click on the ticket to enter! This year, the items our sponsors have donated can be seen in the image below, these are some great prizes folks! The tickets are only 2 dollars with multiple ticket bargains, and your odds of winning are very high given our typical turnout. To view the ticket prices, and to purchase your tickets please click on the Raffle Ticket above! A full accountability of the proceeds will be reported on at the end of the raffle so you know your hard earned money was used for our Adopted Family. Please be advised, the Laguna Certificate is also good at their new store, Supermax Tools. In addition, there are many items you can purchase directly with the 500 dollar certificate such as Laguna Bandsaw Accessories for most bandsaws, please see Band Saw Accessories. Their Drift Master Fence System is pretty nice from what I hear. In Closing Ok Patriot Woodworker's, it's time to muster and it's time to show everyone what we are all about! The purpose our woodworking community was created is for this reason, to help those who have served us, and paid the price. Remember this is not charity, this is not a hand out, this is payback! Thank you sponsors! We also need to thank our sponsors Woodcraft Supply, Laguna Tools, and Easy Wood Tools for their generous support and for donating those wonderful items for the raffle! For without them, we would not have a community, nor would we be able to perform the work we do. Thank you guys!

We are proud to have our woodworking community featured on the Woodcraft Blog. Thank you Patriot Woodworkers for making this project a great success! And thank you Woodcraft for your incredible support in all our veterans projects! The Patriot Woodworker organization is asking the public to support a fundraiser that will make the Christmas holiday brighter for a severely wounded veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and his family. Woodcraft is one of three retailers sponsoring the project. Read more...

I'm a bit behind on my emails, but this one sent out by Woodcraft on June 8th recognized "all" of us here and featured our adopted family, the Thomas Akin family. Well done gang! ( @John Morris...if this needs to be moved within the forum, please do so...thanks,dz) BTW, Woodcraft has a pretty good price this month on the Rikon 8" Slow Speed Grinder too...that was brought the article to my attention. Woodcraft email Sales Circular 06-08-17 https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/woodcraft-supports-patriot-woodworker-project-to-adopt-a-wounded-warrior-family-for-christmas

Here ye here ye here ye! Donate 10 dollars to Operation Ward 57 and recieve a very cool birch tree ornament! See details by clicking on the ornament below!

We are proud to announce that we have been selected to Adopt a Family for Christmas by Operation Ward 57. Let us introduce you to the father and Wounded Warrior of the family as pictured left, his name is Joe McGlaughlin, he served in Iraq for 18 months during his time in service from 2004 to 2014. SGT. McGlaughlin received a Traumatic Brain Injury and hearing loss during a convoy mission when an Improvised Explosive Device was detonated by a convoy that was passing his convoy. Along with his physical injuries he is suffering from PTSD as well. Since his return to the civilian world SGT. McGlauphlin suffered a stroke, and to top it all off he fell 40ft and fractured his skull and broke his pelvis. But, within all this chaos Joe is a family man, he has a wonderful wife with two sons and they are now our family. The Patriot Woodworkers are proud to show our thanks and appreciation for the service Mr. McGlaughlin provided our nation. And we want to show our appreciation by just simply giving. We also want to thank Operation Ward 57 for allowing us this opportunity to pay it back. Donate cash to the cause and you are entered into our tool giveaway. 100 percent of the proceeds will be used to purchase gift cards for our family at the following locations. Stater Brothers for a Christmas meal Amazon.com for the boys Christmas gifts Walmart for mama, she loves shopping there And yet to be determined, a gift card from any Rock Shop for dad, he is a rock hound and he loves polishing rocks If you would like to just simply give without being entered into our big tool giveaway, please contact us at community@thepatriotwoodworker.com for kids clothing sizes, shoe sizes, and a detailed wish list from the two boys. This is our chance to show our appreciation for a great family, who both served and sacrificed much in the way of their own physical well being and mental stress by having loved ones deployed to the combat zone. This is what we do best Patriot Woodworkers, it's time to put our gloves on and get to work! Thank you all so much in advance for caring, you are the best! Please view below the big giveaway details. 1 Entry into the draw for a $2.00 donation3 Entries into the draw for a $5.00 donation7 Entries into the draw for a $10.00 donation15 Entries into the draw for a $20.00 donation Your donation entries will be confirmed within one day of submission. The drawing will be held on December 19th and the winners will be notified via email and newsletter. Please view the fantastic inventory up for grabs below as donated by our supporters, Laguna Tools, Bessey Tools, Woodcraft, Easy Wood and Pony Tools. Woodcraft Supply 1 Winner will receive: Crown Nosing Plane $99.00 (RON DUDELSTON) 1 Winner will receive: Lynx 8" Crosscut Tenon Saw $134.99 (ALFRED TICKELL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laguna Tools 1 Winner will receive: Resaw King Blade Value $150.00 - $300.00 (depending on size of bandsaw) Maximum size of 175 inches (JOSEPH MORDENTE) 1 Winner will receive: Set of 5 bandsaw blades (Value $125.00) (KEN MARTINEZ) An awesome Laguna Tools Golf Shirt will also be shipped to each winner! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bessey Tools of North America Package 1 Winner will receive this complete Package: (JAMIE GUERRERO) 2 x KR3.524 (24” K-Body REVO) Bar Clamps 2 x KR3.540 (40” K-body REVO) Bar Clamps 2 x KBX20 (K-Body Extenders) Total Bessey Package worth $220.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Easy Wood Tools’ package: 1 Winner will receive this complete package: (KEVIN WELLS) (1) – Mid-Size Easy Rougher (1) – Mid-Size Easy Finisher (1) – Mid-Size Easy Detailer Total Easy Wood Tools Package worth $359.97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pony Tools’ package: 1 Winner will receive this complete package: (GEORGE KNUTSON) (2) – Jorgensen 36" Heavy Duty Steel Bar Clamp (2) – Jorgensen 24" Heavy Duty Steel Bar Clamp (2) – Jorgensen 36" Medium Duty Steel Bar Clamp (2) – Jorgensen 24" Medium Duty Steel Bar Clamp (2) – Jorgensen E-Z HOLD 6" Medium Duty/Spreader Clamp-EXPANDABLE (2) – Jorgensen E-Z HOLD 12" Medium Duty/Spreader Clamp-EXPANDABLE (2) – Jorgensen E-Z HOLD 18" Medium Duty/Spreader Clamp-EXPANDABLE (2) – Jorgensen E-Z HOLD 4" Hobby/Craft Clamp (2) – Jorgensen E-Z HOLD 6" Light Duty Clamp Total Pony Tools Package worth $407.12

With the technology the way it is today, and with the support our men and women receive, it's no wonder that anymore a lil ol thing like an amputation isn't going to keep a soldier from serving on the front lines. Who would of thought! These Three Soldiers Fought Their Way Back To The Front Lines After Losing Legs  

Operation Ward 57 is once again teaming up with Yellow Ribbon Fund to treat wounded warrior families in the DC area to ICE! featuring Frosty the Snowman at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center this December. Tickets are first come first served. 2 Days to choose from. Sign up info on the flyer!

Challenge Coin Holders for Ward 57-

Good morning folks, while perusing Operation Ward 57 Facebook Page I thought I'd share it with our members here on The Patriot Woodworker. As some of you may have noticed we have installed an Operation Ward 57 graphic on our home page. You can click on the graphic above and be taken to their website, and you can click on the Facebook Page link I provided in the opening lines of this post to be taken to their Facebook page as well. Since I have been involved with various wounded warrior organizations in the past 5 years I have come to know and respect greatly the term they use "Alive Day". The "Alive Day" is a very important day in a wounded warriors life, it is the day they celebrate or recognize as the day they were wounded, and they survived their wounds. On their Facebook Page you can scroll down and see many of the wounded warriors photos in recognition of their alive day. The image to the left is Army Sgt. Kevin Gatson of the 101st Airborne as he celebrates his 4 Year Alive Day. Click on his image to be taken to the Facebook page and send him a warm greeting. I know what you are thinking, why would anyone celebrate a horrific day such as this, well in short, during the process of recovery from their wounds their is much counseling and attention given to psychological wounds that are present as a result from the trauma they received such as amputations and loss of sight and the list goes on. During this healing process is a recognition that they still have much to be thankful for, life for one. Thus the term "Alive Day". I have personally met and spoken with our wounded at the various events we attend, and I can tell you they appear to be dealing with their new life very bravely, and in some cases with the aura of having a new lease on life. It is an incredible thing to talk to one of our heroes, as they stand in front of me with their artificial limbs or from a chair and talk about the day as if all is good, and life is perfect. Of course I am seeing them well after they have gone through intense therapy and group counseling, and they are emotionally well and stable and excepting, it's an incredible experience for me on a personal level and humbling, and my context in life is improved greatly each time I attend one of the events. The things I would normally complain about day to day, just don't seem that important anymore after standing next to one of these warriors and hearing them speak. Life is truly a gift from God to be enjoyed as each hour of the day passes. I would like to encourage our members and visitors to visit the Operation Ward 57 Facebook Page and leave your wishes for the "Alive Day" men and women. You can also visit our Patriot Woodworker Facebook Page and leave your comments as well, we are sharing the "Alive Day" posts on our page for members and fans. The Patriot Woodworkers are now supporters of Operation Ward 57. And don't forget to jump in and build a Challenge Coin Display for the men and women of Operation Ward 57! Go to Challenge Coin Display Campaign to see how you can help!