Sitting in the corner booth of a quiet Starbucks in downtown Phoenix, Lance Whitford pays tribute to the lives and sacrifices of veterans.
Vets 2 Work was created along with his first project: the 30/30 campaign. His goal was to raise money by doing 30 different jobs in 30 days focusing on veterans doing work around the community.
Back at the Starbucks, Whitford briskly hits the keystrokes on his laptop perched on the table in front of him. He focuses on the screen intently through his rectangular glasses. It was this focus that he used to create his service project.
Whitford was inspired to start his project while in his sociology class at Yavapai College in Prescott.
“I was working at the (Veteran’s Affairs Hospital) up in Prescott and I started to attend classes … and my professor challenged the class to go out and make a difference,” Whitford said. “I was working at the VA and I saw some problems.”
An Air Force veteran himself, he saw problems in some of the programs that focus on veteran transition to working in the community.
It all started when he created the organization called “Prescott Vets Helping Vets,” and raised money to put veterans to work in the community. His main project was raising money by walking from the Phoenix VA hospital to the Prescott VA hospital.
However, that service project came to an end when Whitford’s good friend passed away around the time the Yarnell wildfires took the lives of 19 firefighters. He took some time to himself for a few months and restarted the program, with a new name and new ideas: the 30/30 campaign.
The first job he took was at Laura’s Gourmet Granola in Tempe, where he helped bake granola.
“(Whitford) is a very positive person,” said Laura Briscoe of Laura’s Gourmet Granola. “His enthusiasm for what he's trying to accomplish is infectious.”
Not only is he raising money to help hire veterans, but he is also raising awareness. Briscoe said he enlightened others about the conditions that veterans come back to when they return from service, and expressed how well trained these individuals are if they are given the chance to excel.
The 20th job in his campaign was at the Community Tire Pros Community Garden. Along with other volunteers, he painted the tires that held the plants.
“Everybody painted tires and refreshed them in the community garden,” Patty Fleischmann, creator of the garden, said. “(It was) very joyous and colored our world.”
Whitford is now on job 21 and has the next two jobs lined up.
“I hope he takes it as far as he possibly can,” Fleischmann said.
Whitford has been working hard to make a difference in the lives of veterans and hopes to continue and expand his organization with more projects to get veterans working in the community.
“I don’t know myself (where I’ll be in five years),” Whitford said. “I know that I’ll be involved in giving back to the veteran community in some way shape or form.”
Correction: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this article misstated how Whitford's friend died, ending the “Prescott Vets Helping Vets" service project. This verison has been updated with the correct information.
Related Links:
New ASU office helps transition, use veterans in classroom
ASU clubs at all campuses help veterans transition into civilian life
Reach the reporter at larober3@asu.edu or follow @lindsayaroberts on Twitter.
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