21-Yr Army Vet's Wife Panics: Home Repair Costs

Kenneth Jensen is organizing this fundraiser.

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My name is Kenneth J. Jensen (Ken).

I'm writing this on behalf of my mom, Sonja Jensen.

Last August, my dad, Ken Jensen, a 21-year retired Army Reserves veteran died of pancreatic cancer.

Dad left us rather quickly and didn't suffer much. But Mom was left devastated and facing a house that needed many large upgrades.

At 75 years of age, Mom cashed in an investment, which provided the $36,000 needed for the most pressing repairs. This was her cushion, which left her in an anxious state of mind.

While upgrading the badly degraded bathroom, we discovered a roof leak. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that the entire roof was shot.

The initial quote sent her into a panic that, as she put it, "made her feel as bad as the day Dad died."

She was beyond distraught.

As her son, myself a 5-year United States Marine Gulf War veteran (my buddy's arm's over my shoulder), I quickly got to work trying to solve this overwhelming monetary issue.

I made one call to the Ulster County Veterans Services Agency, seeking government aid for widows, knowing no program existed. But it felt like a sensible place to start.

Turned out to be one of the most powerful phone calls I've ever made.

The agency had no government help to offer. But they maintained a private network of business owners and others, who like to help veterans in need. My mom qualified.

Calls and emails started flooding in, the very next day!

Short story:

A local roofing company, J&A Roofing, called up. Ian, the owner, shared that his company wanted to help my mom.

And he could do it for a whole lot less than our initial quoted price.

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I found Ian's energy to be a blast and the quote was ridiculously generous. So we went

with him.

And with the highly focused and far-reaching help of Bob Ryan, at Ryan & Ryan Insurance, we kicked off the initial fundraising effort.

Commander Tom from WPDH called me shortly thereafter, and he agreed to give our story some air time on his show. He probably sent a fair amount of you our way. Thanks Tom!

Mom is not used to being helped in this way and is doing her best to just accept the help offered by a loving community.

She is overwhelmed for the best of reasons, and the rest of my family is not too far behind her.

We are all beyond grateful for this help!

I promised my dad, on his deathbed, that Mom would never need for anything while on my watch.

You, good people, are helping me keep my promise to my dad, someone who helped many hundreds of people get through some of the worst times of their lives, as well.

Thank you!