Western Summit Constructors
In support of Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit that provides specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans at no cost to them, Western Summit’s project team constructed an entire house foundation for U.S. Army Cpl. Nick Orchowski, a veteran who was severely injured while serving in Iraq. Western Summit’s portion of the work required constructing approximately 350 linear ft of a 3-ft tall spread footing. The donated materials included formwork lumber, hardware, small tools, survey equipment, trucking and a crew of 20 volunteers.
The company and volunteers have strong convictions about serving our veterans and wanted to focus their efforts on those who give so much for our country. The team felt a strong connection with the mission of Homes for Our Troops and reached out to the organization inquiring how they could assist in Orchowski’s home build.
Original plans stretched the foundation construction over four weekends to not overburden the workforce. However, Homes for Our Troops condensed the foundation work into two weekends in an effort to make the target completion date of July 1, 2012. On the first weekend, a crew of 20 volunteers constructed forms and poured the base slab of the spread footer. The following weekend, a second crew of 20 poured the remaining concrete stem walls. On Monday, the forms were stripped and the entire jobsite was demobilized and turned over to the general contractor.
The outpouring of support by company volunteers was immediate — from craft all the way up through management. Many of Western Summit’s employees continued to volunteer their own time and labor, working on the framing of the structure and landscaping, after the company’s portion of the project was complete. Employees are looking forward to working on another Home for Our Troops project in 2013.