Gene and Beverly Grant, owners of Grant & Power Landscaping, presented the volunteers of Operation Support our Troops – IL with a check for $30,000 on Nov. 29. They are sponsoring a new warehouse in Lisle, Ill. for the coming year. The warehouse will be used to collect items donated to the organization. Volunteers will pack and send the boxes to American troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations around the world.
“This is a dream come true for us,” says OSOTIL president Deb Rickert. “We have been operating out of a warehouse donated to us by a Vietnam Veteran for the last four years but as we have grown we have required more space to continue to meet our goals. Grant & Power’s generosity is overwhelming.”
The warehouse includes office and meeting space that will be used for the organization’s Family Resource and Support Team, according to Rickert. OSOTIL has sent over 15,000 25-pound care packages to deployed troops since March of 2003.
“Our support for OSOTIL has personal ties to it. Our daughter Vicki, son Michael and nephew Brian served our country in the military," say Gene and Beverly Grant. "Michael served in the Persian Gulf in the Navy. He was killed in a car accident while on leave. We know the hardship and sacrifice the young men and women make to serve our country. We are happy and very pleased to bring a little ray of sunshine and a smile to the faces of our troops by helping OSOTIL send these care packages to them.”
Grant and Power first became involved with OSOTIL as a sponsor for last summer’s Rockin’ for the Troops event with Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band. The company then decided to commit 3 percent of their new business for the months of July, August and September, which resulted in the $30,000 donation.
Grant and Power Landscaping, Inc. started in 1978 with 2 men and now employs over 100 people. They are a landscape design/build firm and also provide landscape maintenance and commercial snow removal services. They work in most of the Chicagoland area. They are located at 700 E. Roosevelt Road, West Chicago, IL, 60185 and their website is www.grantandpower.com. Contact them at 630/231-0069 or grantandpower@grantandpower.com. For more information on OSOTIL, visit their Web site at www.osotil.org.