Main aim of the charity

Pull-up Bars for Patriots mission is to establish permanent memorials by raising sets of pull-up bars to honor fallen service members while encouraging physical fitness in communities across the United States.

How the employee got involved and why

I have never been Mr. Fitness or the star athlete. Like most, when I was in grade school, I wasn’t a fan of jumping up to the pull-up bar and would make excuses why I couldn’t do pull-ups. Then in high school I joined the United States Marine Corps and was, let’s say, encouraged to do pull-ups. The more I did, the better I became and the more confidence I gained. After my four years in the Marines, I met my wife and we had a son. I would take him to many different parks and there would never be a pull-up bar for adults. I began to think, what if a pull-up bar was established for a fallen service member? When I found out my wife’s friend’s cousin, Marine Corps LCpl. Nick Larson, died in Iraq in 2004, I had more than an idea, I had someone to personally do it for and Pull-up Bars for Patriots was born.

What work does the employee do for charity?

While I created, founded and run the organization itself, my largest role is sharing the mission of honoring fallen service members through my participation in community and veteran's events with our portable pull-up bar. During these events I encourage everyone and anyone to do a few pull-ups for the hometown hero even when they think they can't. This helps build confidence in the individual and promotes physical fitness. In 2019 we established the inaugural pull-up bar memorial and had a Dedication-Celebration which even included the delivery of the ceremonial ribbon cutting scissors during the event by DHL. This year has been unique and while some projects have been pushed to 2021, we have established the Naperville, Illinois memorial honoring ten fallen service members. I had the privilege of speaking to each of the families and sharing our mission to honor their loved one. The stories and emotions they shared were incredible. Their stories are the passion behind my mission to make sure they are never forgotten.