About

Vets Helping Heroes was founded by Irwin Stovroff, a highly-decorated WWII veteran and liberated-POW who spent 13 months in Nazi “Stalag Luft I” Prisoner-of-War camp after being shot down on his 35th combat mission as a Bombardier with the 44th Bomb Group. He discarded his dog tags before his capture to hide the fact that he was Jewish. He thought all was lost when he was recognized by a Nazi interrogator. Irwin had been his family’s newspaper boy in Buffalo, NY. The interrogator told Irwin that he wanted to help him and he put a "?" on Irwin’s records next to religion, effectively saving his life.

Determined to pay it forward, after retiring from a long career in sales, Irwin volunteered at the West Palm Beach, Florida VA Hospital. In 2007 he learned that there was no money in the VA budget to provide service dogs of any kind as a form of treatment. At that time, even Guide Dogs for the visually impaired, could only be provided from private donations. Despite his own PTSD and other personal challenges, Irwin worked feverishly to found Vets Helping Heroes, a non-profit charity, formed in 2007, dedicated to providing service dogs for active duty military and retired Veterans recovering from the physical and psychological challenges they suffered as a result of their service to our country.

Vets Helping Heroes has a versatile and active all-volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders, professionals, philanthropists and retired high-ranking Veterans.  This dynamic team enables us the best opportunity to achieve our goal.  In addition, many of our retired military Board members have first-hand knowledge and experience of the plight of the disabled that we seek to help.

irwin deceased

Irwin J. Stovroff   (Deceased)
2nd Lt. , Army Air Corp - POW WWII
1922  -  2018
Founder Emeritus

Executive Director

Lisa A. Fendrich
Email:  Lisa@vetshelpingheroes.org
Office Phone:  561-927-VETS (8387)

Officers

Chairman of the Board
Don Werner
Retired President, CEO and Chairman at Werner Co.

President
Melvin Pollack
Lt.Col., U.S. Air Force, Retired, (POW Vietnam)
Chairman of the Boca Raton Airport Authority

Vice-President
Charlie Morecraft
World-Renowned Motivational Safety Speaker
Owner – Phoenix Safety Management Company

Secretary/Treasurer
Robert "Bob" Engelman
Capt. U.S. Air Force (Veteran), Commercial Airline Captain, Retired

Directors

Louis Molina
Filmmaker/U.S. Network News Contractor, Retired

Paul Barreto
Capt., U.S. Navy (Naval Aviator), Retired

John Van Blois, Ph.D.
Maj. Gen., U.S. Air Force, Retired
Board Member/Director Emeritus

Chairman, Advisory Board

John Van Blois, Ph.D.
Maj. Gen., U.S. Air Force, Retired

Ambassadors

Alan L. Feinberg

Steven A. Melman, VMD

Steven Salovitch

Sheila Morgenstern

Talya Kelly

Laura Malone Millward

Sofia Moyet-Friedman

Benefactors

Major Donations Received From:

ANONYMOUS
San Rafael, California

SCHMIDT FAMILY FOUNDATION
Boca Raton, Florida

THE RETIREMENT RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Chicago, Illinois

ESTATE OF GROVER THOMAS ALLEN
New Zealand

MARY ALICE FORTIN FOUNDATION
Palm Beach, Florida

LEO J. SIGNAIGO CHARITABLE TRUST
Welch, West Virginia

THE MILNER FAMILY FUND
Sidney, Nebraska

McS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Paradise Valley, Arizona

THOMASES FAMILY FOUNDATION
Youngstown, Ohio

BURNS FAMILY FOUNDATION
Redwood City, California

THE CLIFTON B. & ANNE STUART BATCHELDER FOUNDATION
Omaha, Nebraska

THE PATTEN FAMILY FOUNDATION

BATCHELDER FOUNDATION

BLACK HILLS ENERGY CORPORATION

LESLIE L. ALEXANDER FOUNDATION
Delray Beach, Florida

THE SHIPLEY FOUNDATION
Boston, Massachusetts

COOPERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
Boca Raton, Florida

BETSY RINEHART and BRUCE LEEDS
Boca Raton, Florida

REUBEN H. FLEET FOUNDATION
San Diego, California

PANGEA FOUNDATION
Delray Beach, Florida

THOMAS AND SUSAN STAUDT
Vinyard Haven, Massachusetts

WILLIAM DONNER FOUNDATION
Tarrytown, New York

MARY E. PARKER FOUNDATION
Bradenton, FL

TRUST FOR EDWARD SPECIALE
New York, New York

FIDELITY CHARITABLE
Cincinnati, Ohio

SCHWAB CHARITABLE FUND
San Francisco, California

ESTATE OF THE MICHAEL SIMM REVOCABLE TRUST

PHOENIX SAFETY MANAGEMENT COMPANY

AASBCR (Supporting AT&T, Ameritech, SBC and Bell System Retirees)
Cleveland, Ohio

DON AND BARBARA WERNER FOUNDATION
Boca Raton, FL

We are grateful for every donation -- no matter the size.

HELP US HELP THEM

All donations are tax deductible and you will be emailed your tax receipt.