And the winner is…
By Holly Shaffner
– The San Diego County Veteran of the Year Program is in its 29th year and on the Friday before Veterans Day we will have a new winner! Not just one winner, but four winners. The four categories are: Veteran of the Year, Will Hays Lifetime Achievement, Veterans Allegiance for a non-profit organization and Meritorious Support of Veterans for a for-profit organization.
The program is hosted by The Veterans Museum at Balboa Park and started in 1989 when a group of veterans wanted to recognize veterans for all the work they were doing in the community. What started as a one-category recognition has developed into a complete program, media coverage and a 400+ person luncheon to announce the winner. The planning committee and judges are sworn to secrecy about the winner until the luncheon. The program is a fitting way to honor the winners who give so much to the San Diego County community. This year for the first time, all four winners will ride in the San Diego Veterans Day parade on Saturday, November 10th.
The criteria for each category is different but one thing remains the same – must support the local community. For the Veteran of the Year and Lifetime winner, they must have served in the United States military, been honorably discharged and a resident of San Diego County. For the Lifetime winner, they must have volunteered in the community for greater than 10 years. These two awards are for their “service after service” so it is for volunteer work or going above and beyond in their paid job.
This year’s San Diego County Veteran of the Year is retired Master Sergeant Matthew Foster, United States Marine Corps!
Matthew was nominated by the Veterans of Foreign Wars 1st District for his exemplary service after service. Matthew retired after 24 years on active duty and since then he continues to serve as VFW Post 1513 Post Commander, Chairman of North County Stand Down for homeless veterans, and helps to organize the City of Escondido’s Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day ceremonies which he often emcees. Matthew routinely volunteers 40 hours a week which may not sound like a lot for a retiree, except that he also works full-time! His paid job is with Northrop Grumman where he takes his experience as a flight line mechanic and maintenance chief and couples that with his experience as senior enlisted service member to fix solutions to complex airplane issues.
When asked what he is most proud of since leaving active duty, Matthew said, “It is starting North County Stand Down where we served 130 homeless veterans our first year and we hope to serve 250 in 2019.”
And for all of these reasons, he has been selected to represent 240,000 San Diego County veterans this coming year!
The Will Hays Lifetime Achievement Award is named for retired United States Navy Captain Will Hays who is one of the founders of the San Diego County Veteran of the Year Program and the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park; and for 27 years was the chairman of the annual recognition program.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner is being awarded posthumously as the awardee passed away in January 2018. The winner is retired Rear Admiral Rodrigo (Rod) Melendez, United States Navy.
Rod retired in March 2002 after completing over 36 years of combined Active and Reserve service in the Navy.
He was a dentist and over the course of his career, he served 10 years overseas, 10 years with the USMC, on the hospital ship USS Sanctuary and three tours in Washington, D.C.
As soon as he retired, he dedicated his free time to volunteering at The Veterans Museum at Balboa Park – first as a board member then as the Executive Director and finally as the Director of Program and Exhibits.
Rod was a staunch supporter of military men and women and their families. He produced programs to honor active duty and veterans and greatly expanded the museum’s role in Balboa Park and in the San Diego community. Under his leadership the Veterans Museum expanded their exhibits and educational programs, developed a new Military History Reference Library and upgraded the archival storage areas. For many years Rod volunteered on the Veteran of the Year planning committee and for sixteen years he set the bar for continuous support of the military community.
Commitment, Accountability, Respect, Excellence and Service are the core values that define the San Diego Allegiance Award winner – Homes For Our Troops.
This nonprofit organization builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post – 9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. Most of these Veterans have sustained injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury.
These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.
What is so great about this organization is that there is ZERO cost to the veteran; the brand new home is donated for free. Each home that is built involves the local community to help support the veteran and his/her family.
Three major events involve the community during the building of each new home.
There are three major events associated with each home:
“Community Kickoff” is when the public is invited to come out and welcome each Veteran and their family to their future community. Kickoffs are held at a local establishment such as a church or school.
“Volunteer Day” is where the entire community is invited to help complete the landscaping plan (and other projects for each Veteran’s home). Volunteer Days are scheduled toward the end of each home build.
“Key Ceremony” is when the entire community comes out to welcome each Veteran and their family to their new home.
In San Diego County, 15 homes have been completed and donated and there are 12 more currently being built.
The San Diego Meritorious Support of Veterans Award honors a corporation that contributes, supports and serves active duty personnel and Veterans in San Diego County. This year’s winner is JDog Junk Removal and Hauling. JDog, as they are known in San Diego, is a team of veterans and military family members offering junk removal and hauling services for homes and businesses.
JDog is Veteran-owned and their mission is simple – they serve the community by giving back through donations, they protect the environment by recycling, repurpose, and reusing to keep junk out of landfills.
So how do they do it? They ensure unwanted home or business items make it into the hands of people who could use them. They donate items to the charity of their customer’s choice, or they choose one of their partner Veteran, children or family charities. They are committed to protecting the environment and 60-80% of the items JDog hauls away are kept out of the landfill.
Since January 2018, JDog has hauled away over 90,000 pounds of recycled material. Some of their customers have been some of San Diego’s nonprofit organization such as Support the Enlisted Project, Veterans Village of San Diego, Honor Flight San Diego, Equine Horse Rescue Foundation as well as the Regional Chamber of Commerce, several schools and military bases.
And those are the 2018-2019 San Diego County award winners – the best that San Diego has to offer.
Each and every winner is receiving a well-deserved award and to be nominated is an honor. If you are interested in submitting a nomination for next year, they open on August 1st each year. Each nomination is submitted online and judged by a panel of local judges from across diverse organizations, agencies and markets.
Maybe someone you know or an organization or corporation will be the 2019-2010 winner?
For more information about the San Diego County Veteran of the Year program, go to: www.sdveteranoftheyear.com.
