It moved from those electric shavers to buying airline tickets so injured warriors could travel home for the holidays. The Warrior Foundation Freedom Station has raised more than $20 million in donations and services. Turned out that Sandy was just getting started. ![]() The campaign raised more than $68,000, and Norelco provided the razors at cost. The radio station, which is now 760AM (iHeart Media), was more than just interested, it chipped in. That’s why she wound up writing to KFMB 760 AM the next morning to see if they’d be willing to help spread the word about what these warriors needed. Except it was 300 razors, and they were $68 a piece so she needed a little help She believed that we should do better and that the country could do better was to get these razors for these Warriors who’d already given so much. Back before the Warrior Foundation raised a single cent, or opened either of its Freedom Stations, Sandy Lehmkuhler believed we could do better for our critically injured and ill Warriors. This is where the Warrior Foundation started, not in terms of paperwork or formal designation as a 501 (c) (3), but something more important: its mission. The four Marines were amputees, and while they were able to help each other with the buttons and tie their shoes, shaving was impossible, hence the razors. Turned out there was something: a Norelco Cool-Skin electric razor with built-in lotion dispenser. She was a Navy wife, a Navy mom and she really wanted to know what the one thing was they needed. Only the second time, she asked after she had stepped between them, pushed the “Stop” button on the elevator so those Warriors would know she was serious. She asked them what they needed with Christmas coming up, and after those the four Marines stood up as straight as their injuries allowed and insisted, they were just fine, ma’am. That’s what Sandy Lehmkuhler thought when she was visiting an active-duty Naval Hospital in November 2004, but more importantly it’s what she felt as she met a four Marines, each of whom had lost an arm, leg or had a neck halo on because of an IED explosion. ![]() The Warrior Foundation Freedom Station didn’t start with an idea so much as a belief. Warrior Foundation Origin Story: Sandy Lehmkuhler We vow to be a “Hand-up and not a Handout.” To serve this last group in particular, Warrior Foundation Freedom Station pioneered a new approach and created Freedom Station – a unique recovery transition center and housing facility that provides injured Warriors with the acclimation time, guidance and resources to successfully make the transition from military service to civilian life. ![]() ![]() Warrior Foundation Freedom Station assists four main groups of Warriors: (1) The seriously injured returning home from war (2) those suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) (3) those undergoing physical or occupational therapy (4) and warriors who have been medically retired and remain in our community We are committed to supporting our warriors in a variety of ways, providing quality-of-life items and numerous support services designed to assist them and their families during recovery. Warrior Foundation Freedom Station aspires to be the leading force in assisting, honoring and supporting the military men and women who have so bravely served and sacrificed for our country.
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