HASKINS, Ohio — One local veteran and his family received thousands of dollars in free home insulation from USA Insulation of Toledo's Hometown Hero Insulation Giveaway. It's part of the company's way of saying thank you to veterans.
Former Marine Corp machine gunner Drew Teifke served in Syria, Latvia and as a Jungle Warfare Instructor in Okinawa, Japan.
It was in Japan he earned an award for rewriting a portion of the Navy’s jungle warfare course. His honorable discharge was in 2020. Afterward, he came home to Ohio and then became a father to almost three-year-old Kinley. He and his girlfriend Stephanie Operacz have lived in their home for two years.
"To see the support and things like this from the community is just incredible," Teifke said.
Their home is getting the works and they were all smiles as the over 40-person crew from USA Insulation of Toledo updated the home from top to bottom. The company CEO David Potts said it's with the very best.
"We try to go way over the top. So this one we're taking insulation out," Potts said. "Replace it all with fiberglass after we spray foam it and then obviously use our injection foam. So we're using all three of our top-of-the-line products for this house."
The family said the house has extreme temperature issues, especially during the winter. Since the Midwest winters aren't always the easiest, Teifke said this means so much to him.
"It's something that is so practical and useful for me and my family," Teifke said. "To help our home where we live. You know our safe place. So it's awesome."
Home insulation is not cheap and for the company to give it away for free is costly. So far, more than $75,000 in funds and hundreds of manual labor hours have already been donated to 11 veteran homes since 2018. However, Potts said the Hometown Hero Insulation Giveaway started in Toledo for a reason.
"It pays itself back in that day just in the teamwork, the camaraderie, the culture," Potts said. "Even during COVID, we expanded it to three [veterans] a year. Ultimately we want to go even harder, maybe 12 a year which would be awesome."
While Potts has set his sights high, saying he feels lucky to give to those who've given so much. Operacz said she's grateful for everyone on this day.
"Every day I feel so thankful for everything that he's done," she said. "So seeing that everybody else is also willing to support him just warms my heart."
If you would like to help a hero you know, USA Insulation of Toledo wants you to nominate them HERE. They say the more nominations, the more veterans can know that the support from home is always there for them.