A non-profit working with Honda and Wells Fargo has donated a car to an Air Force veteran in Irving. The Military Warriors Support Foundation surprised retired Air Force Staff Sergeant Eddy Kelly with a 2024 Honda CRV this week.
"This was just supposed to be an introductory thing," Kelly said. "I didn't know anything else was going on today."
Kelly joined the U.S. Air Force in 2007 and was a military dog handler. The foundation had only told him he would be touring the offices of the non-profit Canine Companions in Irving.
Kelly plans to open his own boarding and training center for dogs now that he has been honorably discharged from the military. He plans to use the car to move animals around as he trains them for physical and emotional therapy.
During his seven years of service, Kelly earned the Air Force Combat Action Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Purple Heart.
"It's an unbelievable program, and being a veteran and someone who's been combat-wounded, seeing the capabilities [of Canine Companions], I'm honored to have that capability," Kelly said. "There's hope; there are countless opportunities for us."
"Canine Companions is a national non-profit organization, and each dog is bred, raised and trained for about two years for this type of work," says Canine Companions' Courtney Craig. "Then we provide them free of charge to someone who needs them."
Craig said Canine Companions trains dogs for tasks like picking up things that are dropped, opening doors and turning on lights. She says the organization also trains dogs for veterans who may be dealing with post traumatic stress.
"They can wake them up from a nightmare, they can interrupt anxiety, they can retrieve medication, all things with the end goal to help provide enhanced independence," Craig said.
The Military Warriors Support Foundation has given 160 cars to veterans across the country since 2015. The organization's Ashley Clyne said they chose Kelly because he plans to use the car to help other veterans.
"This is absolutely amazing, working with the heroes and giving them a chance to be proud of their service, see the community come together and embrace what they have done for us," she said.
"We're very proud to be the 'bank of doing,' supporting our military service members, our veterans and their families," says Wells Fargo's Tanya Sanders.
Sanders says Wells Fargo has worked with Honda and the Military Warriors Support Foundation before, but in addition to providing cars, she says they also provide veterans and their families with financial coaching over the course of a year.
Sanders says the training can help veterans improve their overall financial help as they leave the military and return to civilian life.
"It's not just removing the payment for a new vehicle. It's also understanding the other expenses the other debts you have in life, how do you work through those commitments?" she says. "It makes a meaningful impact, an overall improvement in their debt burden."
Sanders says veterans who go through the yearlong course reduce their debt by an average of $56,000.
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