WNY Heroes News & Announcements

Before volunteering with WNY Heroes, Rick Sepanski served in the Air Force as a Senior Master Sergeant all over the world. Rick has donated his time and effort at local events and now works part time as our bookkeeper. WNY Heroes simply couldn’t function as well as it does without reliable, selfless people like Rick.

It’s simple. Visit our office, say “Hello” to the staff, support local Heroes by purchasing some boxes of delicious crispy chocolate bars by Niagara Chocolate, and watch these double sized bars fly off your desk at work.

As long as there’s Veterans, there’ll be a need for assistance. Rent, mortgage, utilities, service dogs, kids programs and activities, peer-to-peer get-togethers, scholarships and more are provided at no charge to those who’ve served and their immediate, nuclear family members.

Why wasn’t the “D” included in this title? Let’s save the word “disorder” for something that isn’t a NORMAL reaction to an abnormal situation. As many already know, one of our most successful programs is Pawsitive for Heroes. It exists because there aren’t any governmental agencies out there providing these animals, arranging for training and paying for that training, for local combat Veterans with PTS in Western New York.

Staff Sergeant Casey Bukowski was 20 years old when his B-17 was shot down over Germany. He lost an eye and was captured. He survived an 82-day forced march while allied forces closed in on his German captures. Casey would also tell you he was lucky. Lucky because 6 of his fellow crew members didn’t survive to tell the tail. WNY Heroes keeps tabs on Casey during these isolating times. Casey knows we have his back and benefited from our recent visits and food distribution effort.

WNY Heroes is a big Bills backer and remembers the family of Ezra Castro, aka “Pancho Billa”. Pancho is pictured here with one of our Army Veterans and his service animal. This memory was made possible by the generosity of the dog’s sponsor, Seneca Creek Casino. Training typically takes a year with one of our three local trainers. The Veteran accompanies their dog once a week at various locations including nearby malls. It should be noted that these animals have more rights and protections under the law than emotional support, or therapy dogs.

Did you know the Defense Authorization Act of 2009 allows U.S. veterans to render the military hand-salute during the national anthem? Previously, hand-salutes were permitted during the raising, lowering, or the passing of the flag while wearing their organization’s headgear. Now that the guidelines have expanded, feel free to exercise your first amendment right while others do the same.

Author Karen Zale’s book can be found at www.Lulu.com and all proceeds go to WNYHeroes.

“In my opinion The Will to Survive should be mandatory reading for all High School students.”
-Rick Sepanski,
Senior Master Sergeant (Ret.) USAF

“As a 17-year-old reading this book, my mind couldn’t possibly grasp how I would have acted under such great pressure. My generation has had quite the opposite upbringing. We live in an era of instant gratification free from hardship. Men like John Zubrzycki who fought for our country exemplified tenacity. They never lost their sense of purpose.”
-James George,
Lancaster High Senior

Navy Veteran Adam Hoopengardener recently enjoyed a Sabres game with WNY Heroes and visited with former first round pick and Sabres goalie Marty Biron. The Sabres beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the early season match up. It’s not often fans can walk into the arena in shorts and not freeze! A win all the way around.

The last Friday of each month gives Veterans from any branch from any era an opportunity to start the day off right. The inaugural meeting saw a great mix of about 13 female and male Vets gather at a local restaurant, some with service animals. All were well behaved, including the dogs! Those who didn’t know one another got better acquainted as the conversations, reminiscing, coffee, and even tea started flowing. Since its inception, the clubs attendance has continued to prove what a great idea this was.

Nov. 10 saw many local Veterans attend a Sabres game dedicated to them. Captain Jack got a chance to say “Hi” to one of our Army Veterans in the Pawsitive program, while former Captain Danny Gare visited with Army Master Sergeant Anthony Kuhn.

On Sept. 22 American Legion Jesse Clipper Post 430 will honor us with their Community Veteran Service Award for exceptional service to veterans and active duty service members. Pvt. Jesse Clipper of the 317th Engineers, was from Buffalo, was wounded in France, and hospitalized for several weeks. Soon afterwards he was gassed and had two additional stays in the hospital. He died on February 21, 1919. The post helps us all remember the valiant service of all negroes in all wars.

So far, over 50 children will go back school with free supplies from WNYHeroes. Parents just fill out the application found on our website, bring in birth certificates, a DD-214, and a supply list until Sept. 14 any Mon., Wed. or Fri. From 3-6pm. We’ll have the child select from a variety of backpacks while we fill it with supplies. All mom or dad needs to do is write a brief “Thank You” note to our donors, like Fiserv Lending Solutions for their generosity.

Your tax deductible donation to WNYHeroes can be done digitally at nearby ATMs. Just look for our logo and use either your credit card or bank card. Remember, 80% of your donation goes to helping the Veterans of Western New York. How do we keep overhead so low? A huge reason is that our employees, who are also veterans, don’t rely on the organization for their benefits.