Fisher House I

Press Release

June 2008, The Fisher House, Inc. Board of Directors approved the acceptance of Mr. Mark A. Ferguson to the Board of Directors. Mr. Ferguson will be a great asset to the Fisher House team with his vast experience as the current AVP, of Banking Compliance at USAA. The entire team at Fisher House, Inc. welcomes Mr. Ferguson to the team.

12 June 2008, Fisher House joins effort to conserve energy, by Meredith Canales, 37th Training Wing Public Affairs, LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- With energy conservation becoming more and more important, Fisher House devised the idea to install energy efficient light bulbs throughout all three of its houses. "The mayor from downtown and the governor of Texas, lots of people are encouraging everyone to go energy efficient," said Fisher House Executive Director Dwayne Hopkins. Responsible energy practices are increasingly falling into the hands of individuals, with more and more people coming up with innovative ideas to save money and electricity and paying more attention to the environment. "We are all responsible to save energy, regardless of the utility," said 37th Training Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Len Patrick. "When we turn off lights, only use the minimally necessary water, watch the thermostat and car pool, we guarantee the energy needs of our grandchildren are taken care of. We are also good neighbors to our local community. We need to create a culture that is determined to conserve our scarce energy resources." Mr. Hopkins said Lackland's Fisher Houses stand out among the others in the Air Force community. "This will be the first Fisher House of 38 worldwide to go 100 percent light bulb energy efficient," he said. Fisher House had some unique allies in its efforts to save electricity in all three of its houses. "Galm Elementary helped us raise a lot of the money for the light bulbs," said Mr. Hopkins. "They sold these little rubber duckies for a dollar. They raised more than $500, and the ducks cost them 50 cents per unit." "I have a deployment group, with kids whose parents are deployed, that I work with throughout the year," Galm school counselor Janine Cleveland said. "Most of these kids' parents come from Lackland and Wilford Hall. My dad was in the Air Force and spent time in Wilford Hall, so I identify with them." The children sold the ducks at their school, where they were extremely popular. "We ran out in three days and had to put a 'sold out' sign out," said Ms. Cleveland. "We just ordered more and kept selling them." Galm was not the only entity to raise money for the cause. Lackland Airman Leadership School students and Senior Airmen Shannon Murray, Krystal Hoy, Brian Graef and Garrett Simerson were among many from the school who helped raise the $1,257.80 they donated to the Fisher House June 6. "The commissary donated chips and hot dogs that we sold," said Airman Simerson. "We raised $670 from that, and the rest was raised through donations and collections." All of the money going to install the light bulbs is going to save the Fisher House even more money, said Mr. Hopkins. "We have 642 light bulbs, and each light bulb saves $32 a year," he said. "You save $20,544 in a year. The total cost of the light bulbs was $1,500, and we'll make that up in about six weeks." At a ceremony June 6, Airman Simerson installed one of the last of the light bulbs. Though he did help, most of the heavy lifting was done by Staff Sgt. Geoffrey Lewis, who said he spent three weeks installing bulbs at all three Fisher Houses. "I was put on casual duty and was really into helping the Fisher House," he said, noting that he'd been volunteering since February. "My family was at Fisher House while I was hospitalized at Travis Air Force Base, (Calif.)." At the ceremony to install the last of the bulbs, Mr. Hopkins praised all of the various organizations for helping get the light bulbs to Lackland. "I'd like to thank the NCO Academy, who are always supportive of us," he said. "ALS is always a huge supporter. The students are always here helping out. [Ms. Cleveland] did an outstanding job in her effort to raise money for the bulbs. The kids had a great time, and showing them while they're young how to be community leaders is very positive." .

Jan 2009,Fisher House Inc. welcomes two new members to the Board of Directors. Maj Gen Robert Parker (USAF Retired) brings a lot of leadership experience to our already experienced Board of Directors. We also welcome back Col Doug Walker (USA Retired) to the board of Directors and Fisher House Inc. team. Fisher House Inc is blessed to have such an active Board of Directors of influential leaders in our community..

Feb 2009,The $190,000 renovation of Fisher House III is now complete. The renovation replaced carpet, provided fresh paint and installed all new furniture. The 37th Training Wing Base Civil Engineering Squadron, Services Squadron, and Fisher House Inc staff worked tirelessly to ensure Fisher House III was available for military families after the holidays..

 

Fisher House, Inc. 7323 W. Highway 90, Suite 107 San Antonio, TX 78227-3562
Tel: 210-673-7500 * FAX: 210-673-7579 DSN Tel: 473-6037Email: FisherHouseInc@sbcglobal.net