Hard Rock Cafe Event Benefits Building Homes for Heroes

Hard Rock Café of Destin will host a fundraiser on Setptember 27 at 6:30 to benefit Building Homes for Heroes. This event will help to provide a local wounded veteran, Air Force Master Sgt. Joseph Deslauriers and his family with a new home. Attendees will enjoy food by Hard Rock Café, music by the band Continuum and a silent auction. Special guests include Retired Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn who served in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia (Blackhawk Down) and Maryann Makekau, author of When Your Dad Goes to War, Inspirational Speaker, and Founder of Hope Matters. Retired USMC Veteran Joe Oliver, who has overcome the struggles of being homeless, will also be a keynote speaker at the event.
 
The general public is encouraged to contact Kelly Hale to purchase tickets or to request more information at 850-377-7121 or email: Kelly.Hale@BuildingHomesForHeroes.org. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Attendees will enjoy food, live music, inspirational speakers and silent auction.
           
Background Information: Building Homes for Heroes is a national non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2006 that builds homes from the ground up or modifies existing homes to meet the needs of wounded soldiers who have returned home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with severe wounds and disabilities. These mortgage free homes not only help to remove the family’s financial burden, but they also help to restore the individual’s freedom, and enable the veteran to lead a more independent and productive civilian life. For more information visit www.buildinghomesforheroes.org.

 
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Joseph Deslauriers was injured in September 2011 when on a combat operation in Afghanistan. Deslauriers was mounted in a mine resistance vehicle conducting a post blast assessment of an IED explosion. In an effort to get a closer look at the damage done by the IED blast, Tech. Sgt. Deslauriers dismounted and stepped on a secondary mine. The explosion that ensued resulted in Deslauriers losing both legs above the knee, and his left arm at the elbow. Deslauriers carried out two tours of duty in Afghanistan and served in Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo. Building Homes for Heroes will break ground on the Deslauriers family home in Destin in the near future.