Today I was on the Facebook page of Kevin McHarg and I saw that a friend of his had posted the following :
William Mensie "Hey everyone I just wanted to let all those out there that Bob Bailey MPP has a request out there for nominations for the Queens Jublie Medal I thought it would be nice to nominate Kevin McHarg of Hero to Hero for all his work in supporting the troops over the years. So if everyone could take the time and leave a note on Bob's page that would be great."
I thought this was an amazing idea and messaged Kevin and asked him if he would mind me posting on our blog here about him and Hero To Hero Team Canada on our page and his response simply was "I would be honoured, Thank You" You can read more about the nomination below but first here's a little bit about this amazing man who I'm proud to call a friend.
I met Kevin McHarg a few years ago who is the director of Hero To Hero Team Canada, their motto is "Troops Don't Choose Their Battles Any More Than Firefighters Or Police do", Kevin had contacted me through my email and told me about what Hero To Hero US & Hero To Hero Team Canada was doing for troops and I instantly wanted to help him get the word out about it.
Without asking Kevin has always been there to offer assistance with any of our projects including this photo he sent in for "The Gratitude Project"
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Kevin has also helped other organizations spread the word of what they are doing and never asks for anything in return. He has helped "The Petrolia Cookie Lady" sends thousands of home baked cookies to our men and women serving also through his program.
The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal Nomination
Bob Bailey - MPP for the Sarnia region is accepting nominations for the area for people deserving of The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal and I want to help with the nomination of Kevin McHarg from Hero To Hero Team Canada for nomination for this medal.
Ever since I've known Kevin he has been behind us 100% and always helps us with our projects. He has sent 1000s of shirts from first responders to our men and women serving in operations all over the world as well as care packages for troops.
"We first met Kevin about 5 years ago after he contacted me regarding the Red Fridays Campaign and how he wanted to make the Red Friday Ladies (myself and Lisa Miller) celebrity ambassadors of the Hero to Hero Team Canada program.From that moment on we have been great friends! Kevin has always supported our cause and has always made extreme efforts to help us in any way possible.
Hero to Hero has had such a positive effect on our troops far and wide because of Kevin's dedication. Kevin has always been so dedicated to putting smiles on the faces of deployed troops. He invests so much of his time to supporting our Canadian soldiers, he is truly an amazing man, a hero to us!"
Recently,we, the Red Friday Ladies were honored with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award and I believe that his honor should also be bestowed upon Kevin McHarg for his dedication to Hero to Hero!" - Karen & Lisa - The Red Friday Ladies
Please include the following at the top of your email and then feel free to add what you like.
I support the nomination by Dave Murphy (Thank A Soldier) & William Menzie of Kevin McHarg - Hero To Hero Team Canada for consideration of The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal
(Add optional text here)
Your Name
Your location
Contact email
THANK YOU
Dave Murphy - Thankasoldier.net
Read more about HERO TO HERO TEAM CANADA below :
From the Hero To Hero Team Canada Website : "In September of 2005 when I met Liz Jackson, the Founder and Director of HeroToHero.US at the International Association of Firefighters Memorial in Colorado Springs, I had never heard of this Troop Morale Campaign.
She filled me in pretty quickly. It didn't take much to convince me that this was a great way to show support for our troops. Like most people, i wanted to do something to show my support but wasn't sure what to do.
I also happened to be working with Jason Bosker one of Sarnia Fire Rescue's newest recruits at the time who had come to SFRS after 15 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He had been deployed to Kosovo and Croatia for 3 rotations during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. He served during a period where support for our Armed Forces was lacking on many fronts.
When I returned to work after the Memorial I asked Jason what he thought of the idea of First Responders giving the worn shirts off their backs to our soldiers. Actually the way I put it to him was ... "Would you have given a Rats A** if some firefighter or cop had sent you his used t-shirt when you were deployed?" Without hesitation, as his eyes began to gloss over he told me that if anyone had sent him a Labatts Blue bottle cap it would have made his day because it was from home and someone had taken the time to send it to him.
That was the defining moment in bringing the HeroToHero.US program to Canada ... our humble beginning.
We started laying the ground work in Canada almost 5 1/2 years ago and it has been just over 4 years since we shipped out our first "Packout" of T-shirts from First Responders across Canada. In March 2007 (our first effort) we shipped 228 shirts to deployed troops. In April 2008 we shipped over 1200 shirts. Between March & July 2009 we shipped 2200 shirts and 450 hats.
Originally, we collected shirts for a year and then held what we called a "Packout" where many of our volunteers gathered at a firehall in Sarnia, Ontario and helped pack up all the shirts for shipping to Canadian troops deployed all around the world. Since July/2009 we have been receiving enough donations on a regular basis that we are now able to ship shirts year round instead of just once a year. As of April 2011 we have shipped a total of 6000 shirts and hats to deployed troops.
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