Texas Sentinels Foundation To Announce New Home Recipient In Collin County
Wounded Veteran to be Honored for Service, Awarded Debt-Free Home
Plano, TX – May 12, 2011 – The Houston-based 501 (c) (3) non profit Texas Sentinels Foundation, which provides debt-free custom homes for disabled veterans in Texas, is starting a new project in Collin County. The announcement follows the completion and presentation of custom homes to two disabled veterans in Arlington and the San Antonio area in the last six months. An official Collin County Team was formed last week during an organizational meeting hosted by the Collin County Association of REALTORS®. The team will oversee building of a home in Melissa, Texas for an area resident and selected disabled veteran Justin Feagin.
The team will be led by Collin County Association of REALTORS® Board President Mal Smith, agent with RE/MAX Premier Group. Smith emphasized at the meeting held in Plano on May 5th that the Texas Sentinels Foundation is not a RE/MAX specific project, but a community project that reaches out to anyone who wants to contribute, regardless of what company they work for or what they do for a living.
“This is about our community supporting and caring for one of its own,” said Smith. “REALTORS® are in one of the best positions to further this project along, because community building is really part of their job description. We are reaching out to all real estate professionals, and all community members in Collin County and adjacent counties to lend their support as we give back to a soldier who has sacrificed so much for our freedom.”
Feagin, a native of Collin County was wounded in 2010 while serving as the head of an Afghan Border Police unit when he was hit with by an IED that cost him his left foot, a ruptured ear drum, several broken bones and numerous deep shrapnel lacerations, including one to his femoral artery. His inspiration to join the Army originated when, as a 13-year-old, he witnessed the terrorist attacks of September 11th unfold on television. He has been awarded over 16 medals and accommodations for his service and sacrifice, including the Purple Heart. Feagin learned he would be a Texas Sentinel recipient while attending the RE/MAX of Texas Statewide Convention as a special guest in February. Medically retiring from the Military within the next year, Feagin intends to enroll in college.
Justin Feagin will be officially introduced as the newest Texas Sentinel at a special KICK-OFF Luncheon and Fundraiser on June 16th, at Harry McKillop Elementary School in Melissa. “We are hoping to raise the remaining funds needed to start building by the close of the luncheon,” adds Smith. The Team is tasked with raising $76,000 in order to break ground on the home in August/September. “We invite the Collin County community to join us in Melissa on June 16th, to visit our website to make a donation to the Texas Sentinels Foundation, and bring us closer to our goal of seeing this young American Hero and his family receive a piece of the American Dream.”
For more information on the Texas Sentinels Foundation and to make a donation to the Collin County Texas Sentinels Team, visit www.TexasSentinels.org.