Vets helping vets: Local businesses help Mount Dora VFW with repairs

MOUNT DORA — Local veteran-owned and operated businesses came to the aid of the Mount Dora VFW Post 8087 after their roof began leaking in December.

Rich Smith, auxiliary president at the VFW, also happens to work for Eustis Roofing Company, owned by Jason Reisman, who donated the labor and material to repair the roof.

“The VFW is a non-profit so it’s not a booming industry and costs like this are hard,” Smith said. “We discovered the leak was coming from under the air conditioner. Cameron Lucas from Lucas Air Conditioning and Heating is also a member here and he suggested since we had to take the old units out to repair the roof, we might as well see about replacing them too.”

Lucas contacted his supplier, Ferguson HVAC, and told them about the project and they too jumped on board, donating about $10,000 worth of equipment. Lucas and his crew installed the two new units and Ed’s Crane in Eustis donated the crane to get the job done. The project would have cost the VFW nearly $20,000 in total.

“We brought them up to code,” Lucas said. “It was in terrible condition. The air conditioner units were sitting on rotted 4x4’s so we put them on hurricane stands and strapped them down and placed smoke detectors in them.”

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Lucas served eight years in the Army and knew when he got into the HVAC businesses that he wanted to be sure to give back to veterans.

“I’ve seen first hand having served in Iraq, but a lot of these veterans served in Korea and Vietnam and I can’t even imagine what they went through,” Lucas said. “It was a totally different war. When they got back, they went through some crazy stuff and weren’t appreciated. I think helping them is the least a young veteran can do.”

Smith became an auxiliary member at the VFW since his father served in the military. As an Army brat, as he called it, he grew up with a respect for those who risked their lives for others.

“Sometimes I think we forget about our veterans,” Smith said. “My dad went away to war and I didn’t get to see him for a year. Most young people today have no idea what that’s like. These guys are just good old guys that enjoy a place to shoot the breeze and talk about their days in the trenches. We really appreciate everyone getting together and helping them out.”

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Local businesses answer the call to help Mount Dora VFW