"They were one of the first, beyond the traditional public service announcements, to really mobilize corporate support to raise public awareness and directly involve themselves in the ongoing fundraising activities of Keep Wisconsin Warm/Cool Fund, and more recently, Heat and Housing for Heroes,” says Energy Services, Inc. Executive Director Tim Bruer.
Weatherman Gary Cannalte shown here with a past weather calendar from 2014 when the partnership between KWW/CF and Channel 3000 started.
David J. Hosking, Outreach Specialist with the Wisconsin Vet Centers shown here with a co-worker in front of the Vet Center Mobile van at the KWW/CF Golf Classic
After serving for nearly 30 years, Dave Hosking has become very familiar with the difficulties that burden service members upon their return home from deployments and separation from the military.
Hosking, an Army and National Guard veteran who served in both Vietnam and Iraq, has been on the frontlines and realizes the vital needs of veterans. He tries to help solve them every day, too, as an outreach specialist for the Madison Vet Center, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-affiliated facility that works to perform readjustment counseling for combat veterans and their families.
Mike and John Schmidt, from Schmidt Auto Inc., as caricatures featured on the back of the vintage ice cream truck that the brothers donated and refurbished for KWW/CF to use at ice cream socials around the state.
Longtime supporters of the community, as soon as Mike and John Schmidt heard what KWWCF/Heat and Housing for Heroes was doing, they wanted to extend a helping hand to families in need, especially struggling veterans.
The Schmidts, co-owners of Schmidt’s Auto Inc., were immediately sold on the idea, offering to help the organization in any way. The family-owned business gifted and restored a converted ice cream truck for use in fundraising and outreach activities. Recognizing the importance of the impact the Divco ice cream truck has had, later unexpectedly, the family also contributed a converted van. The “vet mobile” has proven not only to be invaluable for special veteran events but with its patriotic graphics it too has become an incredible crowd pleaser.
The Heat for Heroes van, generously donated and maintained by Schmidt Auto Inc., travels around the state of WI to raise awareness and funds for Veterans facing energy-related emergencies.
The impact KWWCF/Heat and Housing for Heroes has on veterans and their families wouldn’t be possible without its relationship with those who serve veterans throughout the state. It’s those boots on the ground who hear firsthand from the veterans and families who are struggling that allows KWWCF/Heat and Housing for Heroes to lend a hand.
The need for a grassroots effort to help those in need became clear during a bitterly-cold winter in the 1980s.
The awareness of the growing number of people enduring life-threatening situations was amplified by the tragic death of hypothermia of an elderly woman during that winter. Months later, do to her utilities being disconnected at no fault of her own, an elderly and disabled victim also died of heat stroke during the stifling hot summer with no place to turn.
Something needed to be done, and the community acted to assure those most vulnerable during Wisconsin’s harsh seasons wouldn’t face a crisis, like being unable to afford power or heat, alone.
Energy Services Inc. was founded as a survival safety net for those in need of assistance for power or heating, and the initiative has grown to help low-income households across the state during times of need. But programs such as that wouldn’
