Sara Stadem | Editor
Dave & Co. Real Estate Team of Hegg Realtors are back at it again this month.
Every other year for the last six years, Dave Larson and his team hit the streets in the month of November going door-to-door, not to sell or buy homes but to hand out green lightbulbs for Greenlight a Vet.
Greenlight a Vet is a National campaign that was first created by Wal-Mart, according to Larson. The intent of Greenlight a Vet is to show support to veterans back home or out in uniform by changing a lightbulb in your home or on your front porch to a green lightbulb.
Larson continued to explain, “Greenlight a Vet is to bring awareness for vets. No matter what, whether we are in an active military conflict or not, there are always people overseas, on duty, we always have people deployed and fighting for us. This brings awareness to that.”
When asked why he started delivering lightbulbs, Larson said, “Someone told us about it. I’m a veteran and about 75% of my staff are veterans.” He continued, “So, as we got further into our agency, we decided to do this in November to show support.”
Larson purchases all of the lightbulbs and keeps it local by purchasing the bulbs from Hartford Building Center.
According to Larson, he and his crew load up their golf carts and go around Hartford throughout the month of November to anyone who wants a green lightbulb or needs a new one. “We have over 4,000 bulbs so if you already have one and it burns out, we are more than happy to bring another one.”
Larson is also hoping to cover Humboldt this year and is willing to deliver elsewhere to anyone who wants to show support to veterans. “I just delivered a group of lightbulbs to the Sioux Falls area for people that requested them. We want to get the word out and show support.”
Even though Larson takes the lightbulbs around in the month of November, the campaign is meant for the lightbulbs to be kept up year-round, Larson explained. He chose the month of November to deliver the bulbs as a way to help celebrate Veterans Day.
Dave & Co. Real Estate Team recognize several servicemen and servicewomen that work with them every day on their team. They include:
David J. Larson, Army National Guard, 25 years
John Mallinger, Army National Guard, 35 years
Jayme Werning, Air National Guard, 14 years
Bradley S. Miles, Army National Guard, 9 years
Steven T. Skinner, Army National Guard, 12 years
Larson is not new to helping with National programs to show support to veterans. He also participates with another National program called Homes for Heroes. This program helps heroes save money when selling or purchasing a home.
“We cater to a lot of veterans which is why most of my team are veterans. If you are a veteran, healthcare provider, teacher, police officer, fire fighter, EMT or clergy, you are considered a hero,” Larson said. “This qualifies you for the Homes for Heroes program. So, you get 25% of our commission check whether you are buying or selling. Last year it came to over $140,000 to heroes in our community (Sioux empire/Hartford area).”
So, if you are looking to participate with the Greenlight a Vet program or know someone who is, go to Larson’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LarsonSells/.