Thousands of veterans die each year from suicide according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Judie Granderson’s son, Richard E. Holmes II, unfortunately, became part of those statistics after he overdosed in 2011.

“Subsequent to being in the military, different things happened and he became addicted,” Granderson said. “When he came home, he told us about his addiction. So, what we did was make sure we got him into a program. He seemed to be doing well and was in school and went to Park, Florida. He was there for about a year and a half and he succumbed to an overdose.”

This was the driving force behind the formation of the Richard E. Holmes II Memorial Foundation. It was, fittingly, established on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, of the same year.

“We knew that, with the heart he had for people and caring, we needed to do something to honor his heart,” she said. “That was to establish the foundation.”

The group started off small, working with local veterans agencies, in the four-county area it serves, to help with different needs.

“When they would have veterans that would come in that were in need, and they couldn’t satisfy the need, they would call us and we would do what we could,” Granderson said. “We would do things like pay utility bills, pay for tanks of gas in the winter time. We had a tornado that came through several years back and we took food out to those who were affected. Just things like that. Just having a presence in the area.”

The organization grew over the years, but then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and it brought about a change of perspective.

“During that time, the board members and I started thinking about how we could expand our reach,” Granderson said. “Once we started to think about it and talk about it, we knew that we needed to start to look at everybody and their needs. Even though the mission is going to stay what it is, it is going to expand.”

This expansion led to the rebranding, which took effect on the organization’s 11th anniversary, as the Honored Warriors Memorial Foundation.

“Our new faces (on the Board of Directors) and our new ideas represent the foundation’s future; with the same commitment to our Veterans as the past,” said James Jordan, a member of the board.

Other members of the board include Dixie Butler, who Granderson said has been with the group since “day one,” Lemmia Ogedengbe, Eileen Williams, Aundrea Self, Michael Valentine and Rikeeda Jordan.

The group said it will continue to put veterans first though.

“We are going to service the veterans first, but anyone in this community that’s in need, we certainly want to be there to help,” Granderson said.

The group is largely funded through private donations as well.

Prior to the pandemic, it hosted walk/runs as its big yearly fundraiser. Community participation is good as well.

“We’ve had very good participation,” Granderson said. “We have donors that have donated to us every year since we’ve been established. We would just like to thank them first and foremost for being so supportive. We want to let them know that we’re not stopping, we just want to reach a little bit further.”

Kicking off
To kick off the rebranding, the newly named Honored Warriors Memorial Foundation made a donation of turkeys and hams to Helping Hands of Columbus.

These will be provided to needy families at Thanksgiving.

“I’m so excited because when we do sometimes get Thanksgiving bags to hand out, it might have a small canned ham in it,” said Jennifer Garrard, executive director for the Helping Hands. “So, this is amazing that we are going to be able to give out full sized hams and turkeys. I am very excited about that.”