- 2 days ago
Today on The Cameron Journal Podcast, we are joined by Lyubim Kogan who is a former finance guy who, after rebuilding his own life and discovering the new hobby of paragliding and parasailing, decided to start an organization to help veterans with their health issues by matching them with practitioners and taking them to the skies! This is an interesting conversation and about one of the best charities.
Donate and find out more at https://wings4heroes.org/
Donate and find out more at https://wings4heroes.org/
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00:00Thank you very much.
00:30Today on the Cameron Journal Podcast, I'm joined by Lubin Kogan. He is the founder of Wings for Heroes. He has a very interesting life with this one. So he survived 9-11 just in time to be a victim of the great financial crisis and has written a book with Steve Forbes and then now has started a new, I guess, charity sort of thing, National Infrastructure Company called WingsforHeroes.org, which helps wounded veterans.
00:58And so it's been a crazy journey and the details seem a little bit sketchy. He's also an Olympian as well. So we're going to find out all the details about this person.
01:09I do enjoy this where we find some random person who's been doing a lot of random things that make no sense whatsoever and find out why they've been doing those random things that make no sense whatsoever.
01:16So I'm excited to find out about the whole story. So welcome to the Cameron Journal Podcast.
01:22Thank you so much, Cameron. That was an amazing introduction and I'm wondering where should we start?
01:27Well, that, fortunately for you, that is my problem. So I would like to begin, why don't we begin from the beginning with, why don't we start with the Olympics and then NYU and getting to the financial crisis?
01:47Let's start with that because that's kind of the lead up into why you did Wings for Heroes. So let's start with your origin story.
01:53Okay. So I was born in the former Soviet Union in the mid 70s and I grew up, I'm a child of Cold War.
02:05The picture that I had of the United States growing up was President Reagan sitting in front of a red button and that he could push that red button at any time and we all die.
02:16Then the Soviet Union broke up in 91 and in 92, I immigrated to the United States.
02:24I consider myself very fortunate because, you know, I was a skier and I found a place that believed in me.
02:32It was the National Sports Academy in Lake Platton. I think it doesn't exist anymore, but they gave me a scholarship that I can go, I can live there.
02:40I had a home, you know, I had a place to live. I had three meals a day. I had places to go where I could learn English and, you know, all the other subjects I needed to finish high school.
02:53Plus, they let me ski as much as they wanted to. And, you know, that was my first experience with the United States.
03:01It was really generous, very open. And that's what helped me assimilate with the American culture and just cut the past off completely.
03:10You know, I didn't keep any friends or I didn't try to migrate to areas that had immigrants of my origin.
03:16I actually was fortunate enough to spend my first year living with Americans.
03:23And then from, you know, I've stayed in New York. I moved downstate. I went, I got accepted to NYU Stern School of Business.
03:30And I went to NYU and actually I was still skiing.
03:38And in order for me to do so, I had to pick up the 600 mile commute every week.
03:44I would go from New York City to Albany by bus and then I would get my car and I would drive to Lake Placid.
03:51And then at the end of the weekend, I would come back down to New York City and I'll leave my car in Albany, jump on the bus and then go to Manhattan.
04:00I qualified for the Olympics while I was still a full-time student at NYU.
04:06So, actually, I had to take only one semester to go ski in Europe.
04:10It was winter of 97, 98.
04:14And, you know, after doing that commute of 600 miles every weekend, I finally came to a place and it was our qualifiers were in Europe.
04:23But the weather was so bad that all we did, we were on the team bus going from place A to place B.
04:29But because I got two years of practice of traveling on the bus, for me, it was a normal thing when for the rest of the team, it was really grueling.
04:37And that was my competitive advantage.
04:41It was not on the hill, it was off the hill.
04:45And I qualified for the Nagano Olympics.
04:48It was a really exciting, you know, thing to make it to the Olympics.
04:52It was super stressful, man.
04:54It was one of the most stressful times in my life.
04:56And the month flew by like, you know, we came before and left a few days after the closing ceremony.
05:03But it was probably one of the fastest months in my entire life.
05:08After that, I stopped skiing right after the Olympics because, you know, my goal was to make it to the team.
05:14I was never good enough to become one of those great people who were competing for, you know, a podium.
05:21I was competing for an opportunity to, you know, wear the uniform and walk the parade, if you say so.
05:29But after college, I got hired by a trading firm.
05:32And, you know, my long life dream at that time was to work in the World Trade Center.
05:40Because to me, it represented the combined and collective success of all the generations who came before me in the financial world.
05:48And I was really fortunate to work in those buildings.
05:53And now talking to you almost 25 years, I know I am one of the fortunate ones to walk away on 9-11.
06:01And, you know, that experience was so traumatic.
06:04I left New York a few days after 9-11.
06:08And this winter was the first time that I had the strength to go back and really see what is there after the attacks.
06:18You know, I saw how the buildings came down on that day.
06:21And I saw them burning for a few days.
06:23But this was almost 25 years for me to go back to New York.
06:29And what was the next thing you asked me?
06:32You said Olympics, then New York, NYU.
06:35Yes, yes.
06:36Well, then I think we should briefly stop at the financial crisis then.
06:40So you seem to navigate that for your clients with a great day plan.
06:45Yes.
06:45And I have to give credit to the Stern School of Business and the professors that are teaching at that school.
06:53One of my accounting professors, he was the partner at Ernst & Young.
06:58And he showed us the first time we saw the financial annual reports.
07:03He brought in this.
07:04It was General Mills.
07:05It was this pretty fat book with really nice cover.
07:08And he said, OK, guys, look at the front.
07:10Look, the front looks really nice.
07:12Now, I hope this is the last time you see the financial statements or annual report from the front.
07:17Because everything that we need to find is in the back.
07:21And he flipped all the way back to that fancy report.
07:25And he went to footnotes.
07:26And footnotes is basically where the companies say that something may happen.
07:31You know, some things that do not need to be on the statements, on the financial statements.
07:36But they're big enough to be disclosed.
07:38And I was reading footnotes for Citigroup, for Citibank.
07:43And I found out that they had a $50 billion loss because of the subprime.
07:49And it was like, oh, wow, moment.
07:51Because big financial institutions, they're always piling to the same thing.
07:56So what you're saying is you're Ryan Reynolds in the big short.
07:59Like, you are kind of like, oh, I'm going to make my boy.
08:03Like, oh, I found the critical error.
08:06This is what I've had.
08:09But you see, it's so interesting because, you know, for Ryan Reynolds, those characters,
08:15they went in and they capitalized on that and they took the opportunity for themselves.
08:20I went and I told all my clients, I said, well, this problem is coming and we have to move now.
08:25Because when it gets here, it will be too late.
08:28And they all agree.
08:30And then I say, well, after all my clients agreed and we moved all the money out of the market
08:34and it was time to wait, I kind of had nothing to do.
08:38So I thought, what would be a way to tell people about the problem that I found?
08:43And I started a radio show.
08:46It was a KHOW in Denver, Colorado.
08:50And at first it wasn't working really well.
08:53But then I hired a person who just edited, you know,
08:56just made sure that the sound sounds better and it took off.
09:01And then in less than a year, I was in seven different states on 11 different stations telling people, look, it's coming.
09:09You know, it's coming.
09:10We just don't know when.
09:11But when it comes, it will be fast and it will be too late.
09:14And actually, you know, I was fortunate to save financial futures of a lot of families because a lot of people did call and a lot of people did listen.
09:25You know, they believe that it will be major.
09:28I didn't really capitalize on it like the movie characters did, but I think that, you know, I really made a big difference in many people's lives.
09:41You know, they didn't have to step through those years and really worry what is going to happen to them when they're retiring so soon.
09:50And it was real, you know, it's really scary.
09:53No, certainly.
09:54And now, well, and now that brings us up to the present.
09:58So you've got your Wings for Heroes t-shirt on.
10:00Why don't you tell us about this organization and what you're doing there?
10:04So, basically, after 2008-2009 financial crisis, I actually was fed up with the industry and I thought of not renewing my licenses and actually going doing something else.
10:22And then I got an invitation to go to New York City and present at Steve Forbes at the symposium.
10:27It was called Success in the New Economy and meaning like we just saw the foundation of our financial system like practically melted down.
10:38So now we have to rebuild and I was one of these people who was invited to talk about what I did and how I see the future.
10:47And out of that came out an invitation to contribute to, you know, the book that he was putting together.
10:53And the book came out, it became a bestseller in 2014.
10:59And it so happened that it's the same year when Russia annexed Crimea and the Ukrainian war began the same year that our book became bestseller.
11:09So, yeah, next year I was in Ukraine visiting family and I got an offer to do an audit.
11:18You know, it was a nationwide infrastructure company.
11:20I did an audit and they presented what I found out and they saw it and they said, OK, great.
11:25Now, can you fix it?
11:28And I looked around and there were a lot of people in the room who really didn't know what to do.
11:34But I knew because we went through a crisis just a few years before in the States.
11:39So I knew what maybe I didn't know exactly what things I needed to do, but I knew how to lead a company.
11:46And I agreed before I really realized what I was getting myself into.
11:51And when I moved there, I found out that actually the war is going on and now I'm living in total chaos.
12:00And, you know, it was one day when I was at one of our gas stations and I saw a guy on a wheelchair without two legs rolling out and going towards the highway.
12:11But on the highway, there is no pedestrian walkway and you can forget about trying to, you know, roll there with a wheelchair.
12:20And 15, 20 minutes, like a huge summer thunderstorm rolled in.
12:26It was like dark, black clouds, wind, you know, it's like just Armageddon coming.
12:32And I'm thinking about this guy that I saw rolling down towards the highway.
12:37So one of the good things about, you know, running an infrastructure company is you have vehicles of any kind.
12:43And I called the garage and I said, look, I need a pickup truck here and I need it right now.
12:49So a driver came with the pickup truck and we got in the car and we followed the direction where that guy rolled in his wheelchair.
12:56And we found him on the side of the road, you know, all covered in mud because, you know, he was getting splashed by the trucks and he was in really bad shape.
13:05We put his wheelchair in the car and we put him inside.
13:08And then they saw that, you know, even if you clean him up, he's in really, really bad shape.
13:13Like he's barely alive.
13:16And then at that time, I knew that he, you know, he cannot go anywhere.
13:20He cannot do anything.
13:21He cannot say anything for himself, but like deep down inside, I felt like I have to do something.
13:29And then you fast forward another six years when the pool invasion started.
13:37I saw a young girl, a teenager walk out in front of a full stadium.
13:44She was missing a leg and she said, you know, they can take a part of our country.
13:48They can take a part of my body.
13:50They can even kill me, but they're not going to break me.
13:55And that was the reaction of the stadium was so amazing.
13:59Like that moment, I knew I am doing something right now.
14:02I am just not watching.
14:03You know, if a young girl who lost her beautiful leg, you know, it's to teenage girls, it's everything.
14:09And she's missing that part forever and her life is not, never going to be the same.
14:14And here I am sitting, you know, at home on the beach, whatever, enjoying this life that, that because of her, you know, I can enjoy my freedom and we all can enjoy our freedom.
14:26I got this idea that, well, I knew that I had to do something.
14:30Now the next question, what would you do?
14:32And, um, I am a paragliding pilot.
14:34I slide paragliders.
14:35It's that thing with the plastic bag over your head.
14:38You don't have a fuselage.
14:39You're hanging in the air way, way, you know, thousands of feet above the ground.
14:44And I remember my first flight.
14:47I got so scared that I forgot about everything.
14:50I sure didn't remember about any of my issues that I had in my life.
14:55And I thought, okay, what if we take an NPT veteran and we fly them with a paraglider?
15:02I know that for one moment they will forget about the fact that they're missing a leg or two, or they cannot hear or whatever.
15:09And, um, you know, it took a little bit more than a year to fly a first one, but last summer we flew our first veteran.
15:16And, um, the way I structured the program is that they come here for one week and they enjoy the sea, the mountains, you know, they meet people and they go flying.
15:27It's like the highlight of, of, of the whole thing.
15:30And the feedback that I got last year, they said, everything is great, but seven days is not enough because we just want like a two or three days to, to sleep and rest.
15:39And can you make it a little bit longer?
15:42So this April, we had last session, April nine to 19, we had, um, one NPT who came out and they all come with families, you know, because it's really easy for me when there is a care caregiver, either a spouse, you know, or, or a girlfriend or family member, because hiring somebody would be really expensive.
16:02And for a short period of time, it's not effective.
16:05So I bring one plus one.
16:08So one was an NPT and one was a deaf on one side.
16:11He had a hand grenade explosion that left him deaf and, uh, they spent 10 days and they said, you know what, he actually can make it like nine days because the 10th day, it's just too much.
16:22But anyway, so they come, they rest, they feel loved, they feel cared.
16:27I have wonderful volunteers, you know, Cameron, I knew that if I build it, people will come.
16:33And before t-shirts were there and before we were flying and having them, it was like a concept and it was in my head, but now that it's visible, like everybody wants to help.
16:44So for me to find 20 volunteers, it's not an issue, you know, people are helping now.
16:51So then we realized that they need physical therapy.
16:57So we added physical therapy.
16:58We have a physical therapist.
17:00And then we realized that a lot of them have gotten no counseling.
17:05And now I have a psychologist, like I brought her and I said, look what we're doing.
17:09Just come and be with us for this few days.
17:13And she saw these guys and these girls and she said, like, you know, I'm not only going to help the veterans, I'm going to help their spouses because they are so emotionally exhausted helping men who were discarded.
17:27You know, they did their job and now the society just discards them and they don't have a place.
17:32They don't know what to do.
17:33They're like lost.
17:34And now we have a psychologist.
17:37So the mission is growing and it's including more and more and it's based on their needs.
17:42You know, I didn't invent anything.
17:44It's like, say, hey, can I help you?
17:46And they said, yes.
17:46And I said, what do you need?
17:48And we are slowly opening, you know, the things that they need.
17:53Well, I mean, that's all, that's all quite, I mean, that's all quite impressive.
17:59And what an odd way to have gotten inspired, you know, that man rolling along a highway.
18:07And then you've got this tremendous idea to, to, to, to do this and it's blossomed into so many other things.
18:15That's a little, that's quite a, that's, that's quite a journey.
18:19That's quite impressive.
18:20And of course, intensely, intensely, intensely interesting.
18:28So now let's, let's go back one moment.
18:30How did you get into paragliding?
18:35When I was in Ukraine, you know, the situation with the company was so bad that they couldn't pay me a salary.
18:41But for Christmas, they got me a gift to go skiing to Austria because my sport was skiing.
18:48And I was checking into the hotel and I see this ad for tandem paragliding.
18:54And I was like, I never saw it before, never paid attention.
18:57So I checked in, I turned around and they see the second one.
19:01The second ad is looking at me.
19:02And when I put the two together, I said, well, I never noticed anything like this, but now I see two.
19:08So I want to go try it.
19:10And I grabbed the brochure.
19:12I went straight up to my room and I called the phone number.
19:16A lady answered.
19:17Then she says, okay, come to this location at this time and you're going to go flying.
19:21So I get to this location.
19:24The pilot was an older guy.
19:26He was like in his 60s.
19:27He made some jokes, told me what to do.
19:30And then we ran off the hill and we got away from the ground.
19:34And I'm seeing like everything is getting smaller and smaller, you know, chairlift looked like tiny.
19:40And I'm thinking, man, I'm going to die.
19:41I don't even know this guy.
19:44You're going to kill me.
19:46So after we landed, I had this, you know, like I had this shaking.
19:50I'm looking at my hands and I always thought of myself as a brave guy, you know, come on.
19:54I ski jumped, you know, I can go 60 miles an hour head forward and I can split my skis.
19:58And I can fly and here I'm sitting, I'm like, what is going on?
20:03So when that stopped, I knew that not only I have to learn how to fly by myself, I have to get good enough to fly passengers.
20:13And it took me six years and then I got my tandem paragliding license and now I can fly passengers.
20:22Like that.
20:24No, no.
20:25I got really scared, man.
20:26No, no.
20:27I mean, that's very compelling.
20:28No, no.
20:28That's a very compelling story.
20:30It's very interesting.
20:31Yeah.
20:31It's kind of random by random happenstance.
20:34But that seems to be your thing.
20:36Random happenstance.
20:37That's kind of.
20:38Exactly.
20:38I just, I just followed.
20:40That works for you.
20:41That works for you.
20:42Yes.
20:43So.
20:43Can I share this part with you?
20:45Because I think it's really important.
20:47Because I think once I started being guests and people really want to do it, like want to know what, how and why.
20:55And I have this analogy, you know, I say like we have two compasses.
20:59One compass is in our head and another compass is in our heart.
21:04So the head compass is always talking.
21:07You should do this.
21:08You should go there.
21:09You should make this.
21:10You should.
21:10You should.
21:11It just tells you a lot of things.
21:14But then this heart compass, it kicks in very rarely.
21:17And it's that feeling, you know, like when you feel from the inside, like you have an idea.
21:22And it's not just an idea.
21:23It connects to something inside.
21:25It's like, oh, I want to do this.
21:28So for me, I started, a long time ago, I started paying attention to those little feelings.
21:34And I found out that if I follow that, like what really comes from my heart compass, it can go on for five, ten years.
21:43And then when I get there, the satisfaction of getting to something that came from the inside, it cannot compare with anything that my head compass was telling me to do.
21:54Like finish in business school, go get a great job, start accumulating, come on, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero.
22:03You know, just keep adding on zeros.
22:05And that's one thing that worked for me, you know, just following what, if I have the feeling from the inside that I, something inside me wants to do it, then the outside starts doing it.
22:17And I'm going to keep doing it until I get there.
22:20And that's the only way that Wings for Heroes flew.
22:22You know, nobody cares about an idea that you have in your head, really.
22:27And there is a period of time between the idea in your head becomes the reality.
22:33And now once it became a reality, like it's really amazing.
22:38And I think if you saved somebody's life one time, you know what I'm talking about.
22:44You know, if you are the person that changes life for somebody else, you will remember that forever.
22:49And there's nothing else I want to do.
22:51And there's no money in the world that can, you know, or offer or some promise or something wonderful can make me stop doing this thing.
23:02The only thing that can make me stop doing this thing is if I die.
23:05No, I mean, that's, I mean, no, I mean, I've had plenty of people doing inspirational things on this show, the years have gone by.
23:17And they all, they all say the same, the same thing.
23:21So it appeared, it must work as you all seem to share it in common.
23:27Okay.
23:27Thank you for sharing.
23:29I don't feel like that black sheep as much as I felt a few minutes ago.
23:32No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
23:35I mean, there's been several, several people who've come through and they, they, yeah, everyone has this, a similar, a similar story like that.
23:45And for some people, it's, you know, well, I think for all of them, it's the finding the purpose greater than themselves.
23:53That is, you know, very, very important.
23:55But I think also just, you know, people, they find something, a need or a problem, and they get very passionate about it.
24:06And then they find a way to do something about it.
24:08And for some people, it's in their community.
24:11For some people, it's a whole nationwide thing.
24:13You know, whatever it ends up being, they do it all.
24:16And so I'm always, I'm always perpetually impressed by it because my life could not be more different.
24:23So I'm always interested in people who, you know, are doing something different with themselves or having a different experience.
24:30So it always, it just always fascinates me.
24:35May I share with you an inspiration that I found inspiration for me, a story in a man, it's a historical figure.
24:42Of course.
24:43It would be okay.
24:45His name is Henry.
24:46No, his name was Henry Dunant.
24:49He was a Swiss banker.
24:50And in 1859, he was traveling for business to Italy from Switzerland.
24:56And he arrived to a place called Solferino on June the 25th of 1859.
25:03It's the day when the Imperial Army of French and Italians, about 140,000 strong, fought the Austro-Hungarian army, which was about 170,000 soldiers.
25:16At the end of that day, there were more than 40,000 dead and wounded left in that battlefield.
25:22But there was nobody who was helping.
25:25So Henry Dunant organized all the villagers around.
25:28And at that time, they were mostly women because, you know, all the men were fighting wars.
25:33And him and those women, they were pulling out the injured from the field.
25:38It took them more than a week.
25:39They said there were some churches were filled.
25:41They had between 500 and 1,000 people.
25:44And when he finished that war, he went back to Geneva and he wrote a book that is called A Memory of Solferino.
25:51It's a little paperback, you know, just tiny, thin paperback, just him telling how he saw what happened.
25:58And that book received such a wide attention that he was able to start the Red Cross.
26:05And then 11 months later, after starting the Red Cross, they signed the first Geneva Convention.
26:10And the first, and the Geneva Conventions, they're important because they tell us the rules of how we deal with injured soldiers and how we deal with innocent bystanders, you know, because sometimes, or worse, they touch people who have no business in the conflict.
26:28But, um, and I was thinking, you know, like today we have more than 11 million volunteers around the world working for the Red Cross.
26:40And after the September 11th, I left New York and I went to California and then I went to Texas and I ended up in Colorado.
26:46Like I went around the States to find my new place and my new home.
26:50And at that time I was classified as a displaced person and the Red Cross sent me a check for $15,000.
26:58They didn't ask for anything.
26:59They just said, here, just get back with your life, like rebuild.
27:03And all my life, I have this great appreciation to what they've done for me.
27:08And now years later, 25 years later, I'm running a mission and I find that there was one guy who just was in the place and, you know, he saw what was happening and he couldn't look away.
27:20And I think that the biggest issue that Western society faces right now is just we're so numb and we can look away so easily.
27:31It could be any tragedy going around us.
27:33We just look away.
27:34And I think that apathy is the biggest threat that's facing the Western civilization right now.
27:40And it just so happened that I don't know why, but something inside me, it didn't allow me to look away.
27:46And now when I see what I do for these guys and girls, you know, like really their life is different.
27:53This is the life-changing event that they've been waiting for.
27:56And that's what I decided to dedicate my life to, to take care of people who protected us and help them rebuild and show them that they're still important, you know, and somebody cares.
28:09Well, no, I'm, I'm always perpetually impressed by the people I find who go and do relief work.
28:20I've known a few, some who work like with disaster professionally and others who just volunteer to do relief work because they have skills in medical or whatever have you.
28:30Um, and I, um, I figured out pretty early on that I was never going to be the sort of person to be able to go and do that sort of work, but I've always been impressed by the people that, that do.
28:41Um, and, and some, and sometimes from completely random, very normal, very ordinary sort of people you would never kind of suspect would be going and doing that sort of thing or putting themselves in that type of harm's way.
28:53And they do. Um, and, uh, and that's always kind of been just sort of an interesting, interesting thing because in all these, you know, these things that happen, we always talk about, oh, you know, relief workers sort of thing, but we never, we very rarely put faces to the name sort of thing, you know, but then you kind of meet these people randomly in the comings and goings of your life.
29:15Um, and suddenly you're like, oh, these are the actual people who go and, and do this sort of thing.
29:22And it's always, you know, kind of very interesting that to me, the people that go in and choose to choose you that.
29:28And just like this situation, um, you know, someone that you might not suspect has created this wonderful, this wonderful thing that's helping people and moving the needle in something.
29:38So that seems to be how it goes, I think.
29:41Yes. And you know what?
29:42I have to tell you that, you know, to every, to every hole, there are little parts and pieces and they all extremely important.
29:52And one thing that I needed right now is to tell people, look, that this existed works.
29:57It took two years to get it going.
29:59And there was just one guy, you know, me who was doing all the work, but you are the guy who created the space where people like me can come in and share our mission.
30:11And the work that you're doing, it's as equally as important, maybe even more important than what we are doing, because you are letting our voice to be heard.
30:20You know, I don't know social media.
30:23I am trying to, I'm trying to make documentary videos and put them out there.
30:29So on our website at the bottom, there are all the videos that I've created and put out to tell about the organization and what we're doing.
30:36And again, like the fact that your platform exists, it allows me to share my work.
30:42And I want to tell you, that's how I see you.
30:46And I am grateful for people who are like you, who said, I know I'm not going to do this kind of work, but you did something and you made the space for me to come in and share with your listeners about the work that I do.
31:00So I am really grateful to you for this opportunity and for the fact that you created the safe space where we can have this discussion.
31:08No, no, thank you, you're welcome.
31:12I always refer to myself as America's most non-essential employee, because what I do is completely non-essential to the functioning of society.
31:22But no, I very much, I very much appreciate that.
31:26Well, this is the portion of the show where we do plugs, which not that we really have to, because you've been wearing it the entire time.
31:32But tell us where we can learn more about your organization, where we can find you online.
31:39Okay, so the website is wingsforheroes.org.
31:43The way I structured the website first, it was, this is what I'm going to do.
31:49And then I did it.
31:50And then I just updated the website saying, this is what's been done.
31:54And this is what we're going.
31:55Plus, I added all the videos at the bottom of the page.
31:58There are different things that I try to share with you, but that's probably my bottleneck.
32:06You know, my actions are way ahead of my video editing skills.
32:10But in any case, if you go to wingsforheroes.org, and four is the number four, all the information is there.
32:19And if somebody, at the Red Cross, I've learned that, you know, there are three ways that we can help, that all of us, there are only three ways we can help.
32:27Number one is we can donate blood, because there is a huge shortage all the time.
32:34And number two, we can volunteer and give our time.
32:39And, you know, providing service and taking care of other people is the biggest thing that you can do.
32:44Just take something that you will never get back, like your time, and give it to somebody who's less fortunate.
32:52And the third way, you can write a check.
32:55You know, you can donate money.
32:56And this is actually our biggest issue right now, because I brought – this is our last group.
33:06The guy in the Red Shorts, he's deaf because a hand grenade went next to his head, and it took off his right side, and, you know, he cannot hear.
33:14And obviously, the middle guy is the guy who is missing the leg.
33:17And he came here for 10 days of breath and relaxation, and we found out that his only leg needs urgent care.
33:25You know, if we don't attend to his muscles, they are starting to push on his sciatic nerve, which can push into his disc, and he will become paralyzed.
33:32And there was – they came in in April, and he needed to come back right away.
33:38So what I did on this card, I wrote, you know, why we are here, saying this guy must begin a 30-day physical therapy program in May of 2025 to save his only leg.
33:48And I had no idea how I'm going to do it in May, you know, because we just finished – we're small, you know.
33:55We finished one, and we're looking for the other.
33:59And I was fortunate enough to find, you know, a sponsor for him to come in, and he started – on May 29th, he started his first rehab.
34:07He has physical therapy, he has Pilates, he has swimming, he has cycling, he has acupuncture, he has everything he needs.
34:16But Ukraine has –
34:17That's exhausting is what it sounds like.
34:19Yeah, well, you know, I go to all of those things, and I find all those people, and I watch the process.
34:24I need to know how it works.
34:26And so for me to bring next people, I need help, and mostly, you know, we're talking about financial help.
34:32But I understand some people are not ready, and on WingsForHeroes.org, if you hit the contact button, that information goes to me, and I'm open to having conversations with people who are interested.
34:44And if somebody ever wants to come and see what we do, how we do it, it's all open source.
34:49There's nothing to hide.
34:51In the first two years, I raised $36, Cameron.
34:55Like, I don't know how to raise money.
34:56Like, I have to learn now, I realize, because, like, your own and family funds is not the way to run a mission.
35:03But I have to do it to get it off the ground.
35:06And if somebody's interested, it's really easy to get in touch with me.
35:11WingsForHeroes.org, contact button, and I'll be the one who's going to call you.
35:15I'm not going to spam you or share your email.
35:18I don't have anybody to share it with.
35:20But I will call you, and I will talk to you.
35:23Yes, there is a particular art fundraising for charities that is quite sophisticated, but works very well.
35:35It's basically corporate marketing on steroids.
35:37That's a whole other conversation.
35:39We want to keep the focus on your organization, though.
35:41So thank you so much for coming on the Cameron Journal podcast and telling your story.
35:48Thank you, Cameron.
35:48Thank you, Cameron.
35:53That's all for this episode of the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:05Thank you so much for listening.
36:07Visit us online at CameronJournal.com.
36:10We're on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
36:13And I love to talk to my followers and listeners.
36:16So please feel free to get us on social media at Cameron Cowan on Twitter.
36:21And we'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:46We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:47We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:48We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:49We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:50We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:51We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:52We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:53We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:54We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:55We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:56We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:57We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:58We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
36:59We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
37:00We'll see you next time on the Cameron Journal podcast.
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