LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Military men and women spend their careers serving others. That’s why when Chris Lazar left the Navy, he didn’t want to stop giving back.
“We’re not doing enough for veterans," Lazar explained. "And this is our little way of saying thank you for your service.”
He and his business partner, Ray Pardiny, run a home contracting business, and they are on a mission this year: provide free home paint jobs to 12 local veterans and vet families in need. Visual Enhancements will be helping one veteran per month.
“Service for Service” is behind by one month because rain delays, so volunteers were eager to get started on veteran #6's home.
“We are helping U.S. Navy corpsman Angeline Robinson,” said Lazar.
Robinson had reached out to Lazar about a quote for a paint job. After the two got to talking, he learned of her time in the armed forces and her current battle with a crippling disease.
“She doesn’t know that we are showing up to do this for free; she just knows that we are showing up to paint the house,” Lazar said before he put his car in drive.
When Robinson answered the door, she was surprised by the number of people at the door and even more by what came next.
“Remember when I came to the house and I gave you a price to paint the house?" asked Lazar. “Alright well, this is our way of saying thank you for your service. We are going to do that for free today.”
As reality sank in for Robinson, she cried, “Thank you guys. I am used to giving. And so it’s hard to receive you know. And you know I’ve been through a lot, so I really appreciate it.”
Right now, Robinson is giving all of her attention to fighting Cushing's disease.
“It was this monster basically that just took over every function of my body.” The diagnosis has left her largely immobile and fighting multiple health issues.
Robinson went in for a brain surgery earlier this month to remove a brain tumor. Then just a week later, she had to go in for surgery again.
“Something hit me hard, a new diagnosis, there was a blessing that followed, that kind of comforted me," Robinson said. "And so, I’m just really appreciative.”
For Robinson, the act of kindness was almost incomprehensible.
“Most of the time when you’re like, ‘hey I’m a veteran, do you have veteran discount?’ ‘Oh yea I’’ll give you 10 percent.’ Which is amazing, I’ll take $5, you know what I’m saying, I’ll take whatever. But for him to say free? That is absolutely amazing," she said. “Because this is not something little. This is not a burger and fries, this is not… this is a paint job. This is like several thousands of dollars of labor. And these are people who have families and lives, that are taking time. A whole day.”
And in the army of red-shirt volunteers, are some of the able-bodied recipients of “Service for Service” from months one through five.
For Sgt. Josh Hanson, he was grateful and wanted to continue to give back.
"I mean, she, especially she’s a corpsman. I’m Marine Corp. They are the ones that take care of us," Sgt. Handon explained. "It’s good to give back to someone who took care of me.”
It was by no means required for any of the recipients to come back, but like Hanson, Tim Mouse knew he could be coming to the future houses as soon as Lazar told him the plan.
“Just because we are no longer on active duty doesn’t mean we stop servicing others," explained Air Force Master Sgt. Tim Mouse.
- Police warn flushing drugs down the toilet could create 'meth-gators'
- Florida man convicted of molesting pre-teen girls while his daughter had sleepovers
- Florida inmate posts video of correctional officers beating another inmate
- Customer tells Puerto Rican woman to 'go back to her own country' after she spoke Spanish
- Construction workers catch baby, toddler dropped by dad from burning building
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10News app now.
Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
