84 Lumber, Pittsburgh Penguins donate $50,000 to local Vietnam veteran
GIBSONIA, Pa. (KDKA) - The Pittsburgh Penguins and 84 Lumber teamed up to provide a local veteran with $50,000 in home renovations as part of their Home for a Hero campaign.
The recipient, Frank Hepler, is a Vietnam veteran who worked with the Boys and Girls Club after returning home from the war.
"It's just a small way to say thank you for this incredible life that you've had," Phil Bourque told Hepler when presenting him with the special gift.
Hepler and his family will use the funds to upgrade his 130-year-old farmhouse, as Hepler also battles a form of Parkinson's disease.
"Overwhelming," he said. "(The money) will be used to make my life so much easier."
Hepler believes his exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam has contributed to the severity of his illness.
The funds will go to replacing a railing that will assist Hepler with getting into and out of his house. Additionally, a first-floor bathroom also will be installed.
"When I saw that check for 50,000 dollars, I did think it wasn't real," Hepler said. "The gratitude I have for 84 Lumber and the Pittsburgh Penguins is over the top. Because I know (from my experience) whenever you invest in people or agencies, you do your homework, you do your job. You make sure that whatever gift you're giving or whatever grant you're giving, it's going to the right person for the right reason. What happened here today, I hope I'm the right reason!"
"He always told us no matter what you want to achieve, you can do that. There's no excuses. There's no can't," Frank's daughter Jenny said. "So, me and my brothers have always followed that throughout our lives. So, to see him go through something really difficult now with his Parkinson's and for it to take away some of his ability, but that he still stays so positive… it's incredible."
"This is something that's really going to make a difference in his life. It's help that he needs, and he's too proud to ask for help a lot of the time," Jenny said. "This is a way to help a hero. Sometimes they need a little bit of help, too."