Help us help disabled US Veterans!
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Thank you for visiting our campaign to create much needed work for Disabled US Veterans!
BACKGROUND
Our journey to providing jobs for disabled U.S. Veterans was certainly not the most obvious. But how we ended up here has been a great blessing, both for K-CO Products AND for the Veterans we have been able to provide work opportunities for.
Here's how it happened:
In 2012, we decided to manufacture our brass hose nozzle, called the Little Big Shot(R) Super Nozzle, here in the USA and not simply "bring it in from China" as so many companies seem to do "instinctively" these days.
We wanted to create jobs for Americans as we prepared to bring this product to the North American retail market! The key for us was finding the high-quality seasonal assembly we needed, while remaining price competitive with imported products. Our nozzle is somewhat complex, requiring precision assembly, skill, repetition and consistency.
THEN WE FOUND THE VETERANS!
A close friend offered to assist us in finding the right assembly solution here in the US. She discovered Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) , an existing Veterans Administration program designed to provide disabled US Veterans much needed work opportunities with private sector companies like mine.
As it turned out, the CWT program was the perfect match!
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE VETERANS
David Kurrasch, Founder of K-CO Products, LLC
"I began working with disabled Veterans 3 years ago , starting with the CWT Group at the Long Beach, Calif. VA Hospital. What struck me in a powerful way right off the bat was how eager these men and women were to master the process. And, as this was a brand new project, we all learned together. I immediately saw that each Veteran took great pride in quality, a work ethic not always found in the private sector! Along the way, someone remarked to me that "doing things 'the right way' is how they're trained." Indeed."
To date, K-CO has provided jobs for over 40 disabled US Veterans in two California locations on this project. Through the chance to get to know them, and work with them, laugh with them and hear their individual stories, they've literally become family to us!
Meet Martin Alvarez, Army Artilleryman: 1977-1983 Post Viet Nam era: USA, Germany and Panama.
Martin Alvarez: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with K-CO as a disabled Veteran for almost 2 years now. Before this opportunity came along, I was unemployed for over a year. It has been a great blessing to me and my family to be part of this team. We have a great work environment where people treat each other with respect. I really feel like I am part of the family. It gives me a sense of pride and satisfaction to know that something I made is distributed all over North America.”
Martin was hired as a full-time employee out of the CWT Program in 2015.
It is stories like Martin's that make working with the Veterans such a profound experience for me personally.
Another Veteran (a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, or PVA) is paralyzed below the waist. He has been on the team from the very start. He really needed to work and so we got a higher table for him and he comes in with his wheelchair and just gets after it! It is difficult to adequately describe the feeling it gives us that our program has made a difference in the lives of so many disabled Veterans.
So, since 2012, the Little Big Shot super nozzle has been Made in the USA and assembled exclusively by disabled US Veterans through this program. And our Veterans get great satisfaction being able to go into a store and know that one of them assembled that nozzle.
The Little Big Shot is sold in many North American retailers including The Home Depot, whose Home Depot Foundation is dedicated solely to support Veterans Housing initiatives.
IN 2015, WE ADDED ANOTHER PRODUCT TO VETERAN ASSEMBLY. THE JOHNNY JOLTER.
By adding this item to the program, we have been able to increase the number of Veterans working with us and extend the duration of their seasonal work.
OUR VETERANS' NEED FOR PAYING JOBS:
The employement and well-being of our disabled Veterans is of great importance to each of us! When their service comes to an end, many Veterans return often to the difficult challenge of finding work in a competitive market. Some have paid a very dear price and their disability often makes this virtually impossible. NOT ONE of the Veterans in our program had any steady work before the Little Big Shot opportunity came along.
After 3 years of success, it is clear. Yes, we can do this! And we should. American business needs to help!
As you have seen by now, we are doing everything we can to make a difference and with your help we can do alot more. Because our business is seasonal, our team of Veterans only works for about 6 months of the year. We believe that by expanding awareness of what we have been able to accomplish within the CWT Program, we can dramatically increase work opportunities for our own team of disabled Veterans, but many more across the US.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US HELP THE VETERANS:
Our GoFundMe Campaign objectives are clear. We hope to raise $85,000 to create more work for disabled U.S. Veterans through the CWT program. Specifically, we are striving to:
1. Provide year-round work for our existing Veterans
2. Create work opportunities for additional Veterans within our program
3. Educate other US Companies on how they can do the same by sharing our experience, process, and Trademarked Logo (free of charge) with them.
All it takes is the awareness, desire and committment on the part of a company to make this a reality!
We hope you will support us in this effort! Be assured that any contribution you are able to make will be most appreciated!
IN CLOSING
We hear from so many of our customers who express their support for what we are doing to help Veterans find work, so we know that once other U.S. companies learn how we have been able to do it, other American companies will respond as well! And that will make a real difference in so many more lives.
The funds you help us raise will allow us to accomplish this goal!
So please help us so that TOGETHER we can help more Veterans generate income they so desperately need.
For more information about our products, and our work environment for the Veterans who assemble them, please click on our KCO-Innovations website.
K-CO Innovations Website
For more information about Compensated Work Therapy, click on the link below
VA's Compensated Work Therapy Website
On behalf of Disabled Veterans, we offer you our sincere thanks for any support you are able to provide.
Every donation is sincerely appreciated!
May God bless you and your family!
David Kurrasch
Owner
K-CO Products, LLC
https://www.gofundme.com/Jobs4Veterans
BACKGROUND
Our journey to providing jobs for disabled U.S. Veterans was certainly not the most obvious. But how we ended up here has been a great blessing, both for K-CO Products AND for the Veterans we have been able to provide work opportunities for.
Here's how it happened:
In 2012, we decided to manufacture our brass hose nozzle, called the Little Big Shot(R) Super Nozzle, here in the USA and not simply "bring it in from China" as so many companies seem to do "instinctively" these days.
We wanted to create jobs for Americans as we prepared to bring this product to the North American retail market! The key for us was finding the high-quality seasonal assembly we needed, while remaining price competitive with imported products. Our nozzle is somewhat complex, requiring precision assembly, skill, repetition and consistency.
THEN WE FOUND THE VETERANS!
A close friend offered to assist us in finding the right assembly solution here in the US. She discovered Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) , an existing Veterans Administration program designed to provide disabled US Veterans much needed work opportunities with private sector companies like mine.
As it turned out, the CWT program was the perfect match!
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE VETERANS
David Kurrasch, Founder of K-CO Products, LLC"I began working with disabled Veterans 3 years ago , starting with the CWT Group at the Long Beach, Calif. VA Hospital. What struck me in a powerful way right off the bat was how eager these men and women were to master the process. And, as this was a brand new project, we all learned together. I immediately saw that each Veteran took great pride in quality, a work ethic not always found in the private sector! Along the way, someone remarked to me that "doing things 'the right way' is how they're trained." Indeed."
To date, K-CO has provided jobs for over 40 disabled US Veterans in two California locations on this project. Through the chance to get to know them, and work with them, laugh with them and hear their individual stories, they've literally become family to us!
Meet Martin Alvarez, Army Artilleryman: 1977-1983 Post Viet Nam era: USA, Germany and Panama.
Martin Alvarez: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with K-CO as a disabled Veteran for almost 2 years now. Before this opportunity came along, I was unemployed for over a year. It has been a great blessing to me and my family to be part of this team. We have a great work environment where people treat each other with respect. I really feel like I am part of the family. It gives me a sense of pride and satisfaction to know that something I made is distributed all over North America.”
Martin was hired as a full-time employee out of the CWT Program in 2015.
It is stories like Martin's that make working with the Veterans such a profound experience for me personally.
Another Veteran (a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, or PVA) is paralyzed below the waist. He has been on the team from the very start. He really needed to work and so we got a higher table for him and he comes in with his wheelchair and just gets after it! It is difficult to adequately describe the feeling it gives us that our program has made a difference in the lives of so many disabled Veterans.
So, since 2012, the Little Big Shot super nozzle has been Made in the USA and assembled exclusively by disabled US Veterans through this program. And our Veterans get great satisfaction being able to go into a store and know that one of them assembled that nozzle.
The Little Big Shot is sold in many North American retailers including The Home Depot, whose Home Depot Foundation is dedicated solely to support Veterans Housing initiatives.
IN 2015, WE ADDED ANOTHER PRODUCT TO VETERAN ASSEMBLY. THE JOHNNY JOLTER.
By adding this item to the program, we have been able to increase the number of Veterans working with us and extend the duration of their seasonal work.
OUR VETERANS' NEED FOR PAYING JOBS:
The employement and well-being of our disabled Veterans is of great importance to each of us! When their service comes to an end, many Veterans return often to the difficult challenge of finding work in a competitive market. Some have paid a very dear price and their disability often makes this virtually impossible. NOT ONE of the Veterans in our program had any steady work before the Little Big Shot opportunity came along.
After 3 years of success, it is clear. Yes, we can do this! And we should. American business needs to help!
As you have seen by now, we are doing everything we can to make a difference and with your help we can do alot more. Because our business is seasonal, our team of Veterans only works for about 6 months of the year. We believe that by expanding awareness of what we have been able to accomplish within the CWT Program, we can dramatically increase work opportunities for our own team of disabled Veterans, but many more across the US.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US HELP THE VETERANS:
Our GoFundMe Campaign objectives are clear. We hope to raise $85,000 to create more work for disabled U.S. Veterans through the CWT program. Specifically, we are striving to:
1. Provide year-round work for our existing Veterans
2. Create work opportunities for additional Veterans within our program
3. Educate other US Companies on how they can do the same by sharing our experience, process, and Trademarked Logo (free of charge) with them.
All it takes is the awareness, desire and committment on the part of a company to make this a reality!
We hope you will support us in this effort! Be assured that any contribution you are able to make will be most appreciated!
IN CLOSING
We hear from so many of our customers who express their support for what we are doing to help Veterans find work, so we know that once other U.S. companies learn how we have been able to do it, other American companies will respond as well! And that will make a real difference in so many more lives.
The funds you help us raise will allow us to accomplish this goal!
So please help us so that TOGETHER we can help more Veterans generate income they so desperately need.
For more information about our products, and our work environment for the Veterans who assemble them, please click on our KCO-Innovations website.
K-CO Innovations Website
For more information about Compensated Work Therapy, click on the link below
VA's Compensated Work Therapy Website
On behalf of Disabled Veterans, we offer you our sincere thanks for any support you are able to provide.
Every donation is sincerely appreciated!
May God bless you and your family!
David Kurrasch
Owner
K-CO Products, LLC
https://www.gofundme.com/Jobs4Veterans
Organizer
David Kurrasch
Organizer
San Juan Capistrano, CA
