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Homes For Our Troops - A Soldier & His Family Get a New Home Part III - The Key Ceremony

By Judy Jennings

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Top Agent Plus

February 28, 2010 07:23 AM

Saturday was key turnover day for the Downing family at their brand new Homes For Our Troops custom built home in Middleboro. It was a day of celebration regardless of the dreary weather and hundreds of volunteers, supporters, family & friends, the media and politicians were there to participate in the event.

If you missed my last two posts, I have included links for you at the bottom. However, it is important that you see the video that tells the story of how life was forever changed for SSG Michael Downing during his second deployment to Afghanistan.

Now back to the celebration, take a look at some of the photos of the absolutely beautiful custom built home which was constructed by Falconeri Construction of Middleboro, and the numerous businesses that donated materials and/or labor to complete this project, along with the HFOT organization and the numerous volunteers. From site work, to finished product. Nice job!

"HFOT home of SSG Michael Downing & Family"

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The Homes For Our Troops organization is one of the most professional, highly organized charitable foundations, I have ever seen. They are so efficient, they make coordinating an event like this look easy. However, anyone that has ever tried to organize a large number of people to accomplish even the simplest of tasks can attest, it is far from easy and takes a great deal of behind the scenes work. Hats off to Homes For Our Troops for your dedicated commitment to improving the lives of our disabled heroes.

Here SSG Michael Downing expresses his sincere gratitude to the Homes for Our Troops organization, the hundreds of volunteers, and his beloved family & friends.

Here he is captivating a small group of young men and women from the crowd.

Anyone that has family or friends in the military know the risks and sacrifices that our service men and women take everyday by serving our country in areas like Afghanistan.You don't have to agree with "why" our troops are serving oversees, but that does not give you a reason why you should not offer support and appreciation for their service to our country.

Thank you to all the service men and women out there, I hope you know how much you are truly appreciated.

Previous posts on SSG Michael Downing:

Homes for Our Troops - A Home For a Soldier & His Family - Part I
Homes for Our Troops - A Home For a Soldier & His Family - Part II

Please visit the website of Homes For Our Troops and see if there is a project scheduled for your community, your support and assistance is welcome.

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Andrea Swiedler

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties - New Milford, CT

Realtor, Southern Litchfield County CT

Judy, I read all three, I have been a bit on the busy side and missed your other posts. What a wonderful project for a well deserving family. And yes, thank you to all who serve our country. They give so much. This man gave more. Wow.

Feb 28, 2010 07:51 AM

Judy Jennings

Top Agent Plus - Middleboro, MA

Tap into Judy's real estate expertise & resources.

Andrea - This project had the highest number of volunteers thusfar for the Homes For Our Troops organiztion. I hope HFOT continues to gain the recognition, sponsorship and volunteers that it deserves. This is such a worthy cause.

Feb 28, 2010 10:20 PM

C. Bartch

Newark, OH

Judy, Thanks for blogging about this organization and of course for sharing SSG Michael Downing's story. I'm left speechless so I'm off to read you other two posts. This needed to be featured.

Mar 01, 2010 01:24 AM

I forgot to add I like seeing in the video how important it was for him feel like he could still be there for his family member's if needed and feel like the man of the house. There he was, still still thinking of others...he surely is THE MAN!

Mar 01, 2010 01:51 AM

Kim Curran

RE/MAX Unlimited of Northern Virginia - Bristow, VA

How wonderful. I believe that we should all support those that are willing to give their lives for our country. They deserve the best of the best. Isn't it wonderful to have been able to take part in this?

Mar 01, 2010 05:59 AM

Liz Loadholt

Liz Loadholt- AgentOwned Realty- Covering SC - Mount Pleasant, SC

Realtor--Broker-in-charge - Trainer--Relocation Director Covering SC

Judy ---- thanks so much for posting about the great organization and especially SSG Michael Downing's story -- this is very "moving" to me -- it's people like Michael that inspire me to have our agents wear red, white & blue every Friday -- Thank you, SSG Michael Downing.

Mar 01, 2010 06:10 AM

Russel Ray, San Diego Business & Marketing Consultant & Photographer

Russel Ray - San Diego State University, CA

These types of events are wonderful, but sometimes the rest of the story doesn't get told. For example, there was a similar event here a couple of years ago. The family eventually lost their home because they couldn't pay the property taxes.

Mar 01, 2010 12:35 PM

Cynthia - I think you and I have similar feelings about this story. I am in awe of SSG Michael Downing and his family and the whole Homes For Our Troops organization. Good stuff.

Kim - I was thrilled to be such a small part of this, and YES our service men and women deserve the best of the best.

Liz - Anyone reading this (locally) may not know how much of an inspiration you are with supporting our troops. I tip my hat to you and your dedication for getting the word out about how important it is to recognize and support our troops. Thank you Mama Liz!

Russel - I don't know what happened with the situation that you are referring to or what organization was involved, but it saddens me deeply that the result was so unfortunate.

Mar 02, 2010 11:17 AM

Just wanted you to know Judy your blog has not left my mind and have been spreading the word about this organization!

Mar 11, 2010 12:37 AM

Cynthia - Thanks. They just had a feature about the family & Homes for our Troops organization on Chronicle last night. Once a week Channel 5 features a section on New England's back roads and main streets. Last night was all about our troops and some of the charitable organizations that support them. It was excellent.

Mar 12, 2010 06:18 AM

Homes For Our Troops - A Soldier & His Family Get a New Home Part III - The Key Ceremony

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