September 19, 2013 | No Comments | Category: Charity, Golf, Lake Ridge, Operation Finally Home, The Sanctuary | Tags: charity,charity golf tournament,Dan Wallrath,Lake Ridge,Lake Ridge Patriot Cup,Operation FINALLY HOME,Tangle Ridge Golf Club,wounded veterans
Dignitaries and community leaders including SouthStar Communities’ executives break ground on the new home for a wounded warrior at Lake Ridge.
Want to have some fun and do some good at the same time?
Take part in the Lake Ridge Patriot Cup on September 11 at Tangle Ridge Golf Club in Grand Prairie, TX benefitting Operation FINALLY HOME to build a home for a wounded veteran at Lake Ridge.
The Golf Tournament
The Lake Ridge Patriot Cup is a charity golf tournament with all proceeds going toward the building of a custom, mortgage-free home for a wounded veteran. The veteran chosen to receive this home became an amputee while serving in the military in Afghanistan.
The Lake Ridge Patriot Cup at Tangle Ridge Golf Club:
• September 11
• Registration: 7:30 a.m.
• Shotgun start: 8:30 a.m.
• Four-man scramble
• Lunch provided
• $100 per player
• Deadline to sign up: September 6
Building a Mortgage-Free Home at Lake Ridge
The Lake Ridge Patriot Cup directly benefits Operation FINALLY HOME, who has partnered with Lake Ridge, SouthStar Communities, the Dallas Builders Association, Former NFL Players Association and Victory Custom Homes to build this home in Lake Ridge.
The new custom home is under construction on a one-acre, treed property in The Sanctuary at Lake Ridge, an exclusive gated community on the shores of Joe Pool Lake, one of the area’s most coveted spots for relaxation and recreation.
Participation and sponsorship in the Lake Ridge Patriot Cup event will help an American hero regain his life.
About Operation FINALLY HOME
Operation FINALLY HOME provides mortgage-free homes to wounded and disabled veterans and their families. Founded by CNN Top 10 Hero for 2010 Dan Wallrath, Operation FINALLY HOME has provided more than 40 homes to veterans throughout the country, including two that are currently being built in the SouthStar Communities of Vintage Oaks in the Texas Hill Country and King Oaks in Bryan-College Station.
CNN is documenting the building of this mortgage-free home at Lake Ridge for a new special.
Interesting in sponsoring or participating? Download a sponsorship packet or a player/registration form. The deadline for registration is September 6.
For more information about the Lake Ridge Patriot Cup, call (800) 984-4028 or email [email protected].
September 19, 2013 | No Comments | Category: Operation Finally Home, The Sanctuary, Uncategorized | Tags: Lake Ridge,mortgage-free home,Operation FINALLY HOME,The Sanctuary,wounded veterans
Ken Kalish gifted with mortgage-free home at Lake Ridge.
It’s tragedy to triumph for Marine Sergeant Ken Kalish, an American hero who lost three limbs during his service in Afghanistan and who was surprised with a new mortgage-free home at Lake Ridge.
Operation FINALLY HOME (OFH), the Former NFL Players Association, the Dallas Builders Association, SouthStar Communities and Victory Custom Homes teamed up to donate the land and home to Kalish. The Lake RidgePatriot Cup took place the following day at Tangle Ridge Golf Club, with all proceeds benefitting Kalish’s home.
The Sergeant was injured when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) or “road-side” bomb while serving our country on his second tour. The death of his fiancé from a critical illness while Kalish was in surgery was an additional, tragic setback.
Kalish had been trained to detect roadside bombs alongside his black lab, Fynn. Fynn was uninjured and returned stateside with Kalish, where he will also soon make his home at Lake Ridge. Construction on Kalish’s home, which is being built on a one-acre treed lot in The Sanctuary at Lake Ridge, an exclusive gated community on the shores of Joe Pool Lake, is expected to be finished within 90 days and will be part of a CNN special the channel is filming.
Kalish was under the impression he was coming in for an interview yesterday to determine if he was eligible for a mortgage-free home at Lake Ridge. Instead, he was surprised by more than 100 eager individuals including Lake Ridge residents; Mayor Pro Tem of Grand Prairie Ruthe Jackson; Cedar Hill City Manager Alan Sims, members of the Grand Prairie Police Department; the Grand Prairie Honor Guard; and fourth-graders from Lake Ridge Elementary, who led the Pledge of Allegiance and then joined the crowd in writing notes of love on the construction of a wall that will be included in Kalish’s home.
Also in attendance were several NFL greats, including Dallas Cowboy Bill Bates; however it was Kalish to whom the elementary students flocked, eager for his autograph, curious about his service, his injuries and his dog, and clearly moved by his heroism.
The non-profit organization Operation FINALLY HOME builds homes for wounded veterans and their families. This new mortgage-free home at Lake Ridge is the 10th with SouthStar Communities; homes are also currently being built in the SouthStar Communities of Vintage Oaks in the Texas Hill Country and King Oaks in Bryan-College Station.
Anyone wishing to join the list of volunteers for OFH at Lake Ridge can do so at Lake Ridge.
September 19, 2013 | No Comments | Category: Lake Ridge, Operation Finally Home | Tags: dallas builders association,former nfl players association,Operation FINALLY HOME,veterans
Sweet Surprise for a Hero
Marine Sgt. Ken Kalish, a triple amputee veteran of combat in Afghanistan, thought he was coming for an interview on Sept. 10 when he and his parents travelled two hours from their home in Live Oak to a hilltop lot in The Sanctuary at Lake Ridge near Joe Pool Lake.
“When I found out why we were really here,” he said, “it just blew my mind.”
He was the guest of honor at a surprise party at 3103 Koscher Lane where his mortgage-free custom home will be built in a collaborative project with the Dallas Builders Association, Lake Ridge Estates, Wounded Warriors Association, Victory Custom Homes and the Dallas chapter of the Retired NFLPA.
Oh, he was interviewed, all right – about two dozen times. Plenty of regional media was there as well as CNN, which filmed the event for a special to air in December – about when Ken will be moving into his new home. He’ll be settling in around the time of his 25th birthday on Dec. 11.
“I love this locations,” he said. “It’s a beautiful place in the country near a lake, but close to the Dallas-Fort Worth area with all of its attractions.”
Ken was born in Independence, Mo., and his family later moved to Hutchinson, Kan. By the time he was a freshman in high school, he wanted to be a Marine.
He felt called to the service, coming from a military family. His grandfather was an Army Ranger and his dad served in the Navy. After graduation, Ken enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2007 and reported to Camp Pendleton, Calif. Once he completed boot camp, he served a tour of duty in Iraq with a combat engineering battalion, then returned stateside to North Carolina and trained to be a dog handler. He was assigned to a black Labrador retriever named Flynn, and they were sent to Afghanistan in October 2010 to seek out IED (improvised explosive devices). Only one month before they were to return home, Ken stepped on an IED just moments after loading Flynn into an accompanying vehicle. Ken was severely wounded by the explosions, losing both legs and his left arm.
As we talked at his surprise party, I marveled at his positive attitude.
“There’s no point in being sad or depressed,” he said of his war experience. “I focus on what I have to do next.”
And soon the next big thing will be moving into a beautiful new home made possible through the efforts and generosity of dozens of admiring volunteers. The Retired NFLPA has gathered $100,000 worth of building supplies and furnishings and the Lake Ridge Patriot Cup on Sept. 11 drew 104 golfers and more than $17,000 in proceeds. Everyone is delighted to contribute.
“When we consider what heroes like Ken have done for this country,” said old Cowboy Bill Bates, a partner with Alan Dulworth in Victory Custom Homes, “we realize how lucky we are to have this opportunity.”
See more photos>>
Watch the video>>
This article originally appeared in The Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine. It was written by Sam Blair, for questions or comments, please email him at [email protected].
For more information on how you can help Operation Finally Home, please visit our Veteran page >>
September 5, 2013 | No Comments | Category: Cedar Hill | Tags: Cedar Hill,community fire station,Grand Prairie,Lake Ridge
Residents here at Lake Ridge at Joe Pool Lake can sleep safer at night thanks to our neighbors over at the Cedar Hill-Grand Prairie Fire Station #4. Located at 15105 Lake Ridge Parkway, the cities of Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill have worked together to create a station that responds quickly to emergencies, at an average 3-4 minutes faster than the next closest station.
This one-of-a kind joint effort was brought to life near the end of April 2009, but was voted on initially in February of 2007, where it was decided that joint funding and construction would take place between the two cities of Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill. After a long time of planning and recruiting, the station opened up and began doing its job in our local community.
There are many other benefits to having a joint community Lake Ridge neighborhood fire station, including:
- Faster response times. When a fire is burning, 3 or 4 minutes can make all the difference. By having access to a station in the middle ground between Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie, firefighters can respond to emergencies in a more timely manner due to the close proximity.
- Insurance rates drop. The closer the fire department is to you, the less damage can occur to your home by fire. Thus with the introduction of a new community fire station, you are at less risk to extreme damage to your home, dropping your home insurance rates.
- It’s a unique concept. This station’s dual-city partnership is something totally different. After careful planning, city council meetings, interviews, and a lot of work out, the two cities came in agreement to combine funds and resources to build the fire station serving both areas.
You can find the Lake Ridge neighborhood fire station on the corner of Lake Ridge and Eagle Creek, just minutes away from the Lake Ridge at Joe Pool Lake community, keeping you safe from random mishaps that life throws at you. You can visit their station’s page on the CedarHillTX.com to learn more about the station, and to view photos and videos.
August 20, 2013 | No Comments | Category: Operation Finally Home | Tags:
Winning one for the Good Guys
It was another triple-digit day on the prairie – Grand Prairie, to be exact – but a couple hundred people were enjoying something really cool: The groundbreaking where a home will be built and given to a Wounded Warrior this fall.
Dan Vargas, executive director for Operation Finally Home, welcomed everyone on behalf of his association, which has inspired the building of 70 Wounded Warrior homes in 17 states with invaluable help from regional groups such as those involved in North Texas. Like every organization contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, they’re in the business of changing lives.
For Jerry Norton, John Teltschik and their pals in the Dallas chapter of the Retired NFLPA, this is old business, but now they’re stimulated by working in a new direction. For 14 years they built homes for low-income families in west Dallas. Chapter president Norton, star SMU tailback in the early 1950s and Cowboys defensive back a decade later, handled the nuts and bolts, securing a lot more donated supplies as well as the necessary permits. Teltschik, renowned punter at Texas and with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1980s and a veteran homebuilder, directed construction. Now their chapter is joining other major contributors like the Dallas Builders Association, Lake Ridge Estates and Victory Custom Homes in Operation Finally Home.
This house will be built by Victory Custom Homes on a lovely rise overlooking Joe Pool Lake in The Sanctuary at Lake Ridge. Alan Dulworth and Bill Bates own the company and Bates, a super-aggressive Cowboys safety for 15 years (1983-97) and an assistant coach for five more, said Dulworth is the construction expert.
“Alan builds walls,” he said. “When I played, I tried to run through walls.”
Bates and Norton and a dozen or so other former Cowboys attended the ceremony, along with Teltschik and few more NFL retirees from the Dallas chapter. After Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and government and sponsor representatives made their remarks, they all grabbed new shovels for the groundbreaking. As dirt flew, the crowd cheered.
A lot more will fly soon, and a new home will rise for a Wounded Warrior.
This article appeared in the August 10, 2013 edition of Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine. It was written by Sam Blair, a writer and columnist for the Dallas Morning News.
For more information on The Sanctuary at Lake Ridge groundbreaking or Operation Finally Home, please visit our Veteran page >>
