Jeffrey AronsonI sat in the comfort of Cedric’s Tavern at The Biltmore, Asheville, NC, last March, listening to the moving presentations by the winning Defender Service Award recipients. The genuine nobility of their daily work on behalf of childhood community service, search and rescue, animal welfare, veterans’ outreach and outdoor education humbled me. I felt like Wayne and Garth, prostrating themselves in Wayne’s World before Alice Cooper, chanting, “I’m not worthy.”
JLR announced the winners of the 2024 Defender Service Awards at Destination Defender Malibu last fall, but it took until March for the fully kitted out Defender 130s to be available for the US and Canadian awardees. JLR CEO Joe Eberhardt led a team of Joe Stauble, Eric Valtos, Sam Allen and Cole Schrand in celebrating the vehicle handover to representatives of the excited organizations.
Also present were executives from the partner corporations: Chase Bank, Disney, ei3, Pelican, Hearts & Science and Outside Interactive. Chase made a significant donation to each non-profit, and the partner corporations contributed an additional cash donation as well as auxiliary kit for each winner in their category. Even the runners-up received cash donations.
Through video presentations, on-site conversations and phone interviews, I learned anew of extraordinary people in the US and Canada giving mightily of themselves. By the end of their presentations, everyone listening in the room — from corporate leaders to media representatives — reached for napkins or tissues to dry their eyes.
Outdoor Accessibility and Education [Outside Interactive]:
Pine River Institute (Toronto, ON)
Pine River Institute offers residential and wilderness programs for youth with addictive behaviors and mental health issues at its campus in Mulmur, ON. Jill Palmer, Director of Development, said, “we need vehicles to drive kids to our 6-week wilderness program on a 210-acre campus. We drive the vehicles on dirt logging roads, so the Defender will be essential. The idea to enter the DSA contest came from the Chair of our Board of Directors, who is a Defender owner, and we have driven our past vehicles into the ground.”
Anne Tong, Clinical Director, told me that “Kids can feel isolated from everything. The Defender reassures them they’re in a good place. It’s the same for our staff, especially in emergencies. The thing about Defender is its sense of community; it’s a brand that cares.”
Veterans and Civil Servant Outreach [Hearts & Science]:
Station Foundation (Bozeman, MT)
The Station Foundation has three major projects: a homecoming program for Special Operations veterans and their families, assisting in the emotional transition to civilian and family life; a program for spouses only; and a program to provide mentors for children of Gold Star veterans – those who gave their lives during active duty.
Nick Papsadora, Director of Operations, knows the challenges these families face, as he grew up in a military family and spent a tour of duty with the Marines. “We serve about 120 kids each summer, he said, “and we work with dozens of families at our campus outside of Bozeman and at satellite programs at bases such as Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg and Fort Carson.”
“We applied because a program participant had read about the Defender Service Awards in a Rovers Magazine article. And we really needed a Defender.”
Jazlyn Greenwood, the Director of Development, said, “Resilience and quality of life for our families is central to our mission. My background is a military family; a husband-and-wife team founded the organization after leaving the military.”
Reflecting on the Biltmore event, Jazlyn called it ‘surreal:’ “It was an amazing weekend, not just to learn about the Defender, but to realize that everyone there really cares about our cause. That’s what I walked away with, genuine care and inspiration.”
Community Service [ei3]:
Nathaniel’s Hope (Orlando, FL)
Tim and Marie Kuck founded Nathaniel’s Hope in honor of their son Nathaniel, who died at age 4 ½ from multiple birth anomalies. During his years of constant medical procedures, “we felt we were in a classroom to learn,” Marie told us at the handover. Tim remembered that “Our family business kept us afloat during this difficult time, but after his death, we turned our attention and energy to our non-profit organization.” Their small group has made an outsize, nationwide impact on the families of special needs children, “each of whom represents a [V]aluable [I]mpressive [P]urpose.”
From their home base in in Orlando, they now partner with churches in 38 states to provide respite services (“Buddy Breaks”) for families. An annual “Make ‘Em Smile” party in Orlando attracts over 3,000 children; over 17,000 kids nationally are registered for their “Birthday Clubs.”
At the Biltmore, Tim and Marie called their Defender 130 “essential for transporting kids and their gear on a daily basis.”
Search, Rescue & Emergency Support [Pelican]:
Linville-Central Rescue Squad (Newland, NC)
Christopher Brown represented one of 75 volunteers who devote countless hours between organizing and training, in addition to actual searches and rescues in the mountainous region of North Carolinas’ Avery County — all 152,000 acres of it. “I founded Apex Video Productions, but I’ve always been a recreational climber and serve as a Wilderness EMT. A call-out can take us 6–12 hours, and our Forest Service roads remain in terrible shape as a result of the recent floods.”
Derik Calloway, a veteran Search and Rescue leader, and Elizabeth Trott, an environmental educator who has been active for 4 years, both attended the DSA ceremony and enjoyed the planned activities. “We were in the middle of the tour of the Biltmore estate house when we received a search and rescue call,” she remembered. “We were lucky that there were enough responders so we could remain at the Biltmore for the handover!”
A couple of weeks later, while interviewing Elizabeth during a series of wildfires, she said, “Last year’s Hurricane Helene and the resultant flooding had taken all of our energy, and then suddenly, it was so strange to have something so good happen to our organization!”
Animal, Wildlife and Marine Welfare [Disney]:
Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary (Cochran, AL)
The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary, a two-person organization in rural Alberta, houses 58 wolfdogs that have been abandoned, neglected or otherwise displaced, and serves as a rescue and educational resource for the entire country. It started in 2011 when Georgina got her first wolfdog. “She was a high content wolfdog,” Georgina remembered, “and despite my best efforts, neither of us was very happy at the beginning. I was in the middle of university studies and had changed my major to pre-veterinarian studies. It was a big learning curve to immerse myself in the wolfdog community. I didn’t get into vet school, but my wolfdog captivated me so much that I decided to create a sanctuary for them — in the hope that fewer rescues will be required over time.”
Joel Cates grew up in a tiny town in northwestern Ontario, spending “lots of time outdoors riding motocross and driving snowmobiles professionally. I saw lots of wolves; their natural draw developed into quite an affinity. A railroad desk job took me to Alberta, where I made a visit to Georgina’s sanctuary and her 5 wolfdogs. In 2019, I left my 15-year railroad job and started working with her instead.”
As Georgina and Joel presented their video, the emotional appeal of the wolfdog was evident in the sighs, ooos and ahhhs that you heard from the attendees — but wolfdogs require a high level of learning by their owners. Georgina and her small team know each of their charges intimately; all seem to thrive in the 160-acre sanctuary.
Their Defender will help as a work vehicle on the sanctuary grounds, but also for long-distance transport of new wolfdog rescues (Joel said recent rescues took him all the way to British Columbia). Georgina was impressed with “the intentionality of the engineering in the Defender.”
Joel reflected that “In today’s world, where everything is down to financial return, it’s amazing to see a company like JLR give away a Defender and bring partners to donate additional funds. Georgina agreed, noting, “I hope they can continue to do the Defender Service Awards. It’s been a life-changing experience. And everyone was so kind and welcoming, as if we joined a family. It’s so nice to be part of a community and so amazing to meet such wonderful people.”
DSA Honoree: [Multiple sponsors]:
Appalachian Wildlife Refuge (Candler, NC)
Executive Director Savannah Trantham noted that “we were a runner up last year in the Animal Welfare category. When this year’s contest came up, we jumped onto the need for a vehicle – as we didn’t have one. We’ve relied on volunteers and their personal vehicles for all of our rescues.
We cover 21 counties in Western North Carolina, approximately 11,750 square miles. The majority is mountainous, rural, up the top of mountains and down in the valleys. We joke that volunteers can experience all four seasons in one day.”
“The hurricane and its resulting flooding derailed our efforts to drum up online voting for our organization. We were stunned and delighted to be selected!”
“Being a part of Destination Defender for two years in a row was thrilling. It means so much to small non-profits that do amazing work but without the resources to purchase vehicles. The reality is that it opens so many opportunities for us to achieve our mission and grow. We now have a work vehicle that will not require immediate attention. The generosity of the corporations at the Biltmore was humbling!”
[Congratulations again to all the winners of the 2024 Defender Service Awards – and welcome to the family. -ed.]
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