Celebrities are teaming up on Veterans Day to raise money for Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a nonprofit organization that works to build and donate specially adapted houses for injured veterans residing across the United States.
The 8th Annual Veterans Day Celebrity Auction will have more than 100 items up for bid, including virtual experiences, meet-and-greets, and autographed memorabilia.
Potential buyers will have the opportunity to place bids on an 18-hole golf outing with actors Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, a Zoom call with “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston, or a chance to meet comedian Will Ferrell on the set of his next project, according to a press release issued on Nov. 6.
A cameo appearance in one of “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn’s forthcoming novels, along with a stunt team jacket from the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones” will be up for auction.
Sports fans will also have a chance to bid on tickets and field passes to see professional sports teams, such as the San Francisco 49ers and the Boston Red Sox, in action.
“For the past eight years, this partnership with eBay for Charity has been an incredible opportunity to spread awareness about our mission of ‘Building Homes and Rebuilding Lives’ for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans,” Renee Gugliotta, HFOT’s deputy director of marketing, said in a statement.
“Each bid in this auction empowers our veterans to live safely and independently, and it brings together communities across the nation—families, neighbors, and supporters—who honor the sacrifices they have made. It’s this collective strength and compassion that truly makes a difference in the lives of those who have given so much for our country.”
Gugliotta noted that this year’s auction would be particularly memorable because the nonprofit is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Homes for Our Troops
Founded in 2004, the Massachusetts-based charity has built and donated more than 400 homes in 45 states since its inception, per an Instagram post dated Oct. 7.HFOT currently has over 60 home-building projects active nationwide, all of which are designed to give veterans who have suffered significant injuries—such as multiple limb amputations, partial or complete paralysis, or severe traumatic brain injury—a fresh start in life.
“HFOT builds homes as a pivotal point for these Veterans to ... once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many of our Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families.”
Retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Adam Popp—who suffered the loss of his right leg, among other injuries, while deployed overseas in 2007—is one of the charity’s most recent home recipients.
Popp and his family moved into a specially customized house in Lafayette, Colorado, earlier this month. The home features stair-free access, lowered countertops, and widened doorways, among other wheelchair-accessible features.
“This is going to open up a whole new world to me, to be able to be in a safe environment to interact with my kids,” Popp told the Colorado Hometown Weekly.
Retired Army Sgt. Russell “Rusty” Carter is another veteran who has managed to rebuild his life with the help of HFOT’s support.
In January 2011, Carter sustained a spinal cord injury while on deployment in Afghanistan after a military vehicle he was riding in malfunctioned and fell off a bridge. He was left paralyzed from the neck down.
More than a decade later, HFOT was able to build a custom home for Carter, presenting him with the keys to a new, specially adapted house in Lithia, Florida, on Aug. 10 of this year.
The home features a single-level, open floor plan, and wider doorways, which allow him to navigate from room to room in his wheelchair with ease.
Carter told the Osprey Observer in August that the residence was the “first fully safe and accessible home” he had lived in since his accident.
“I am hoping it is the only home I ever live in again,” he said.
