Jeffrey Aronson
JLR launched the Defender Service Awards in 2021 to celebrate the invaluable work of non-profit organizations throughout North America. As of this fifth year, JLR and its corporate sponsors have awarded 30 Defenders and over $1,000,000 in cash to awardees.
If you have ever felt that you had undertaken selfless tasks and good deeds in your lifetime, these Defender Service Award winners will humble you. Eight hundred seventy-seven non-profit organizations from North America applied this year in six service categories: Animal Welfare, Community Services, Search and Rescue Services, Veteran and Civil Service Outreach, Outdoor Accessibility and Outreach, and Defender Service Honorees. Public online voting winnowed the entrees down to 30 finalists.
The six winners of the 2025 awards learned of their good fortune at Destination Defender in Temecula, CA, last November; after notification, they worked with JLR to determine the best kit for their missions and the customization of their exterior wraps. The actual handover of the US Defenders took place at a heartwarming and informative ceremony this March; Canadian winners received their Defenders in May.
The celebration weekend started at JLR headquarters in Mahwah, NJ, where JLR staffers, DSA award winner representatives and media gathered in a conference room. JLR’s Charlotte Blank noted that “while ‘unstoppable’ has always been a part of every Defender, the phrasing should become, ‘We, the unstoppable,’ because we always achieve more working together than alone. Land Rover has a legacy of service internationally through the Red Cross and TUSK; here in the USA, more recently, providing vehicles for the Los Angeles area wildfires.” [See Tusk.org –ed.]
Representatives from the winning organizations stepped out into the three-story atrium to a thunderous ovation from JLR employees, who showered everyone with confetti and balloons. The cheers and applause reached Taylor Swift and Rosé BLACKPINK concert levels. Moving outside, we watched a convoy of Defenders, each bearing the logo of a winning organization, drive across the hillocks surrounding the building; the cheering increased as the winners entered their Defender 130s.
The good times continued as the convoy of Defenders left New Jersey for the 180-mile drive to Manchester, VT, home of the Land Rover Experience Center. There, the winners received intensive trainings on the Defender’s capabilities and features from expert instructors who entertained the participants, media and corporate sponsor representatives with off-road problem-solving challenges. Kudos to David Nunn and his team of Chrystyna Young, Chris Nunn, Allen Luther, Tom Petrovich, Chad Laurie, Jonathan Jacobs, Issac Jones and Eric Weisssleder for their hard work. The team received many compliments on their training. One winning team told me, “it was above and beyond! It covered anything we would come across.”
The winners not only received a Defender 130: thanks to corporate partner Chase, they also received a check for $30,000. But wait, there’s more. Chase also awarded $5,000 to each of the 30 finalists. Stefan Christman, General Manager of Chase Auto, told me that “Chase is deeply committed to supporting non-profits in North America and strengthening the communities where our customers live and work… Personally, I am inspired by the compassion and courage that turn empathy into action. These remarkable organizations are building a better tomorrow.”
Another proud sponsor, Artemis Cars in Atlanta, contributed $10,000 to each of the second-place finalists. Rob Moran, Senior Vice President of Artemis, told me, “We honor the Defender marque in our work. We want to support the product and what it means to the brand.”
JLR CEO Joe Eberhardt stated, “The Defender Service Awards bring us together in divided times. And in the process of applying for the award, all the organizations that applied engaged in community building, vital to every service organization.”
The 2025 Defender Service Award winners and category sponsors are as follows:
Chilliwack Search and Rescue, Chilliwack, BC
[Search, Rescue and Emergency Support, presented by PELICAN]
Despite accomplishing 90–130 rescues annually, Chilliwack Search and Rescue has no paid staff; it’s entirely a volunteer organization. Kyle Klassen and Tom Pearson told me they “do it because we love to help other people.” The highly skilled team of 45 volunteer members provide ground searches, swift water rapid responses, avalanche responses and rope and mountain rescues.
The Fraser River region is quite popular with outdoor enthusiasts from hikers to rock climbers. With geologically diverse terrain spanning from sheer canyon walls, narrow gorges and eroded hoodoos to waterfalls, rapids, marshland and mud flats, passable roads are in short supply.
“In rescue situations,” Tom noted, “we have used our own vehicles or UTVs. The organization has two trucks that are not really trail ready. UTVs have limited carrying capacity and very little protection for the patients.” Kyle added that, “our Defender will let our volunteers get closer to our patients, and out of the field faster.”
During rescues, persistence plays a major role. Chilliwack had applied unsuccessfully in 2023 and is delighted to stand in the winner’s circle this year.
Vancouver Aquarium
Marine Mammal Rescue Society, Vancouver, BC
[Animal, Wildlife and Marine Mammal Welfare, presented by Disney]
The Marine Mammal Rescue Society, which operates Canada’s only specialized marine mammal hospital, is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing distressed marine mammals. It partners with the Vancouver Aquarium to treat over 300 marine animals each year.
Prior to their win, Marine Mammal Rescue had only one transporting vehicle to cover 25,000km of coastline, yet they manage to rescue 300 seal pups, sea otters and (even though they’re amphibians) sea turtles each year. Their teams also assist in the fishing net disentanglement of 400 sea lions annually. Since the society’s founding in the 60 years ago, they’ve accomplished over 4,000 rescues. They eagerly await their Defender 130 to augment their “fleet.”
Veterinary Techs Kendra Lucklow, Social Media Specialist and Lindsaye Akhurst, Senior Manager of Marine Mammal Rescue, represented the organization at the handover weekend. They praised the Land Rover Experience team for the training and team-building exercises made possible at the hand-over weekend. The Defender’s off-road capabilities, cargo space for equipment, towing capacity and crucial temperature control will assist the organizations veterinarians and volunteers in their rescue missions.
Starlight Children’s Foundation, Toronto, ON, Dorval, QC
[Outdoor Accessibility and Education, presented by Outside Interactive]
The Starlight Foundation in Canada works with families of critically ill and disabled children to connect their families with hospital-to-home programs, as well as a host of outdoor activities that bring the great outdoors to them.
Kristina Hopp, Communications Director, and Carly Parker, Development Manager, represented the organization at the Defender Service Award handover ceremony. Land Rover West Island, Dormand-des-Ormeaux, QC, nominated the organization – to its delight and surprise – and they went about creating a short video on their services. As Kristina said, “I’m still in shock in the best of ways, and I think that will stay with me for a long time. I’m feeling beyond grateful! It really was a special weekend. Getting to meet everyone, hear the stories, and just be around people who genuinely care the way they do – it stays with you.
For Starlight, “the Defender 130 brings us reliability. We travel all over the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Our current vehicles have gotten stuck in the past, and more problematic, they’re not reliable for transporting children, their families and volunteers.”
The Defender will be used to enhance programs that provide out-of-hospital experiences, helping children with severe illnesses access outdoor activities, nature and community events.
Feeding Northeast Florida, Jacksonville, FL
[Community Services Award, presented by ie3]
Sarah Hall, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, and Robin Warren, Director of Marketing and Communications, represented this organization. They noted that “our former Board chair owns a Land Rover, and she told us about the competition. But that gave us only two weeks to create and produce a video.”
Feeding Northeast Florida serves as the regional food bank for 12 counties – an area the size of New Jersey. In those counties, 310,000 adults and 97,000 children struggle with food insecurity. Receiving donated food from stores and farms, they send out 20 refrigerated trucks, each with a 26-foot trailer, on a regular basis. The Defender 130 will enable them to distribute food on roads too narrow for the semi-trucks, and to respond to the ever-increasing number of natural disasters.
As part of the its mission to solve hunger in Northeast Florida, the organization provides nutrition education, teaching gardening and supporting workforce development through their kitchens. Sarah and Robin emphasize the organization’s aim of restoring dignity in their interactions with their clients, and work closely with medical providers to help identify solutions. During natural disasters, they coordinate closely with other food banks in the state. One example is the island city of Cedar Key, reachable by a narrow causeway in the Gulf of Mexico. Three hurricanes over 13 months have devastated the small town. Sarah said, “The Defender will give us the ability to get food to its residents, no matter what the weather.” The enormity of their chosen tasks stood out to everyone listening to their presentations, but the challenges didn’t appear to phase them one bit.
Jason’s Box, Paris, KY
[Veterans and Civil Service Outreach, presented by Hearts & Science]
41-year Army veteran Joseph Trione founded this all-volunteer organization 21 years ago when he arranged for the personal effects of veteran Jason Pautch, killed in service, to be sent home in a handmade box. Since then, he and volunteers like veteran Trampus Miller have created supportive activities for nearly 300 catastrophically injured service members, who spend reflective time in Kentucky or at a 3,000-acre ranch in Texarkana, TX, courtesy of another supporter. Volunteers organize and operate multiple events such as hunting and fishing excursions for veterans and their families.
Tirone noted, “The cash award will go toward adaptive equipment for our guests and volunteers. The Defender will make it possible for us to transport seriously injured and wheelchair-bound veterans.”
West Place Animal Sanctuary, Tiverton, RI
[Finalists Award, presented by S&P Global]
What would you do if you lost everything? Wendy Taylor practiced law at a major law firm in Providence, RI, until a house fire in 2003 caused her to search for deeper meaning and shelve her 20-year career. The tragic loss of her nine beloved pets in the fire convinced Wendy that she needed to create an animal sanctuary on the 8-acre farm. Turning tragedy into desire to make a difference for injured and abused animals, she stepped away from her law practice, and with the help of her husband, Tom Humphrey, created the West Place Animal Sanctuary.
Today, West Place is a nonprofit dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and responsible care of farm animals and wildlife. “Our animals never give up,” Wendy explains, “and neither do we.”
Since its inception 20 years ago, the Sanctuary now has five employees and between 90–120 volunteers who care for animals ranging from horses, alpacas and pigs to barnyard fowl, even a peacock. Wendy has observed over time that the volunteers gain as much from the rescue animals as the animals gain from the volunteers’ compassionate care. She recalls, “I started West Place to help myself heal after the loss of my pets and intended it to remain small scale. As the saying goes, ’if you build it they will come.’ I had no idea of the size of the need!”
The Sanctuary’s Defender 130 will join Tom’s Defender 110 L316 200Tdi. As Wendy notes, “The Defender 130 will expand our capacity to rescue and rehabilitate underserved animal populations, respond to emergencies, and forever change the lives of both animals and our students interns. It is truly transformational.”
[To learn more about West Place Animal Sanctuary and watch Wendy’s inspiring Ted Talk, visit https://www.westplace.org/ -ed.]
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