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Dept of Labor Joins Work Vessels for Veterans,US/DOL VETS to Honor 11 With Laptops
Traffic bandmember Dave Mason makes a special appearance. They gave freely of their time and skills to serve this country in Operation Iraqi. Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan. So, on March 17, employees from the Connecticut Department of abor’s Office for Veterans’ Workforce Development, joined with the Noank-based Work Vessels for Veterans and the U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), to give something back. Saluting 11 former soldiers from those wars, they presented each with a refurbished laptop during a ceremony in Room 217.

Attending from DOL, and joining John Niekrash, Work Vessels for Veterans president and founder, were Deputy Commissioner Linda Agnew; Terry Brennan, Director of the Office for Veterans’ Workforce Development (OVWD); and Louis Kennedy, USDOL-VETS Program Director in Connecticut. Participating from Work Vessels for Veterans was Niekrash’s wife, Debbie; Ted Knapp of Green Technology Recycling of Essington, PA; and musician Dave Mason, co-founder of the rock group, Traffic. Also taking part – and playing an integral role in the project — were DOL Office for Veterans’ Workforce Development employees James Campbell, a U.S. Army, a Operation Iraqi  Freedom veteran now assigned to the Hartford CTWorks Center; Jason Coppola, a Connecticut Army National Guard, Operation Enduring Freedom veteran now assigned to the Waterbury CTWorks Center; Timothy Rockefeller, a Marine Corps veteran who served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and  Operation Enduring Freedom, and who is now assigned to the Hamden CTWorks Center; and William Brewer, a U.S. Air Force and Vietnam War veteran who also works in the Waterbury

CTWorks Center. The four had collaborated with Work Vessels for Veterans to identify the veterans who would benefit from the laptops. Receiving the laptops were: Edwin Rivera of New Britain; Jennifer
Delgado of Plainville; Juan Manual Sanchez of New Britain; Carla Arroya Vega of New Britain; Tyeona Fletcher of Waterbury; Matt Rossi of Prospect; Patrick Hackett of Torrington; David Castro of Wolcott;
David Perotti of Torrington; James Charles of Waterbury; and Glenwood Anderson of Oxford. The story of John Niekrash – and that of the group he founded in 2007 – is an impressive one. A lifelong lobsterman by profession (and himself a non-veteran,) who was at the time in the market for a new boat, Niekrash decided he’d like to donate his old vessel, the Krasher III to a veteran from one of  those wars.

Inspired by the story of Stonington resident Justin Clough of Stonington, who was severely injured Iraq in 2006 and whom he had heard speak at a charity golf tournament, Niekrash contacted the publication, the Commercial Fisheries News, offering to donate the vessel to the first veteran who contacted him. He had only one stipulation – that the recipient promise that the boat be used solely for the purpose of  making a living. Niekrash eventually donated the boat to Marine Reservist Richard Giguere, a two-tour veteran of the Iraqi war; he today actively works the vessel in Rhode Island’s Narragansset Bay. Not long after that first donation, “people from other walks of life told me they’d like to help too,” Niekrash remembers. Among them were Kathleen Burns (general manager of Noank Shipyard, Inc, where Work Vessels for Veterans is headquartered), Ted Knapp, and Mason. They also helped set the organization’s
direction. “Ted (Knapp) asked me why the vessel had to be a boat,” Niekrash explains. “Why couldn’t we provide other vessels, or other methods of assistance to our returning veterans, something like a laptop, or a tractor or a truck - which was true, because our goal is not just to give the vets a hand, but a hand up,” he added.

That’s how the laptop aspect took shape. Earlier this year. Knapp and Kimberly Crew of Computer Systems and Solutions of Philadelphia, PA donated the laptops. GTR, a firm specializing in purchasing and refurbishing the devices, also became involved, as did Novartis Pharmaceuticals of East Hanover, NJ.

“We are pleased to be joining this volunteer organization to say thank you to these veterans for their continued sacrifices and as an agency, and we applaud Work Vessels for Vets in its efforts,” Agnew told those assembled. “At the Labor Department, we want to help our veterans return to a life that includes employment, or the opportunity to continue their education. These laptops will be a tremendous help with job search efforts or with academic endeavors.”

Click to enlarge the images below.

Work Vessels for Veterans is an all volunteer movement assisting returning veterans begin their civilian careers or educational pursuits by acquiring and distributing the necessary start-up tools. Founded by John Niekrash, with the gift of a fishing boat beginning a commercial fishing career for a returning Iraq veteran, the Foundation is expanding its outreach to other industries, to assist our returning military.

Ted Knapp and behalf of GTR was the first to step forward to expand the assistance program. Working his contacts throughout the country, Ted has most recently donated ten laptop computers that will be distributed in the same manner as the first boat, to returning veterans in need of a computer to either start a business or to use it to return to their educational pursuits.  His energy and enthusiasm will continue to expand the reach of this growing organization.

Ted Knapp, Richard Giguere, Ann Ligouri, John Niekrash

Ted Knapp, Richard Giguere

 

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