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 BRYAN HARTWIG Bryan Hartwig joined the US Air Force right after graduating Ironton (Ohio) High School in 1961; and the military has been a part of his life ever since. He retired from the Air Force in 1981; and worked for several companies involved in classified work for the defense department. After 19 years with his last company, SPARTA, Inc., he retired again in 2004 with a strong motivation to do more volunteer work in his church and to help a new non-profit, The Home Front Cares (THFC), grow in its mission to support the military troops and their families. What he saw in THFC was a group of extremely dedicated volunteers assembled by the two Founders, Bob Carlone and Joe Henjum. The mission of THFC was and still is to take care of family emergencies while the Colorado troops are deployed in harm's way. THFC also does what it can for the wounded troops when they return. For Bryan and many of the volunteers, this became a full-time effort; and worth every minute in solving these family emergencies. Money was initially in short supply; so Bryan was asked to organize and lead the fundraising effort. The first THFC budget had less than $100,000 to support the military troops; however, over the last 5 years the revenue increased each year to a 2009 peak of $1.1 million. At the same time, Bryan took on the unofficial role of marketing, community and public relations, and a big supporter of military relations across all the military facilities. He will tell you that he got back orders of magnitude more than he ever gave. The military troops and their families really appreciate that the people of Colorado care and that the companies and organizations look forward to contributing time and money. Bryan and his wife Jo Ann recently moved to Summit County (Silverthorne) where they are now more hands-on as volunteer instructors for skiing for the disabled. Bryan encourages the wounded warriors to come to the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC); and he really enjoys skiing with the amputees from the war to show them they have the ability to ski and cycle. He has also recently been helping another new non-profit for the wounded military named Active Force Foundation (AFF). AFF has an emphasis on providing unique cycles for exercise and rehabilitation; and was formed by a Denver Bronco player, Lonie Paxton. These organizations very activity help the rehabilitation of the wounded warriors.
Bryan keeps pretty busy with the organizations above; but he also tries to look for opportunities
to serve in the Catholic church and with the Knights of Columbus. He has been chairing the building
fund for the new church to be built in Silverthorne. In addition, he and his wife had been
active in the Marian House Soup Kitchen while in Colorado Springs and in serving at the Community
dinners in Silverthorne. The key thought is that all of us need to look for ways to volunteer
and help the less fortunate. |