thedrifter
05-28-07, 08:50 AM
Man takes step after step to help troops' families
By Sophia Kazmi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched:05/28/2007 03:36:46 AM PDT
DANVILLE -- On Sept. 15, 2002, "Sparky" George Cave laced up his sneakers and ran 10 kilometers through his neighborhood.
He had never run until that day, but he hasn't stopped since.
Five days a week the former Marine runs through the streets of his hometown. He runs in the rain. He runs in the cold. He continues to run against advice from doctors and despite bouts with allergies. Even having a bottle thrown at him while running last week didn't deter him.
Taking that first run was his tribute, a show of support for U.S. troops fighting overseas. Continuing to run, that's pure Sparky -- a man whose friends describe as dedicated and determined.
"I put myself in (the soldiers') position and I run," he said. "Just because I pull a muscle or something of that nature, you can't stop in the middle of battle and walk away."
Sparky, 58, is a classic car restorer. He's a man whom friends describe as disciplined, the kind of guy who doesn't easily give up on people, ideas or things. He still drives his first car -- a 1957 Chevy with more than 400,000 miles on it.
"He's a good guy," said friend Al Newman of Castro Valley. "He cares about what happens in this world. He's just one of the few people you treasure."
Sparky has another idea he hasn't given up on.
A year after he began the running, he began raising money to help the families of troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. In March 2004, Hats Off America was incorporated as a nonprofit group that does exactly that.
At that time, about 1,000 American troops had died in the battles. Sparky, commonly known as "Sparky George" in his hometown, said that at that time troops' families were receiving $262,000 in benefits. His plan was to raise enough to make the payout $1 million for each family, a sum comparable to that received by the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But after nearly four years of fundraising, Hats Off America is struggling. Sparky says it has $13,000 in the bank, and it's not for a lack of trying. The group has held car shows, casino nights and 10k runs, with skimpy results.
Since the group was formed, the government raised benefits to troops' families to $500,000. Sparky says the plan now is to raise $500,000 and then distribute it to the group's first family.
Jake Rudisill, a former Hats Off America board member who helped Sparky incorporate the group in 2004, quit in part because of the group's financial goals. The original goal to give $1 million per family meant Hats Off America would have had to raise more than $3 billion for the nearly 4,000 troops who now have died.
Rudisill did his own research, talking to some Veterans Affairs groups who said the needs of those families are being met.
"I don't see this as a crying need any more," Rudisill said. "If you look at things, the real need is the number of injured. Dealing with that issue is a much greater need."
Although they have parted ways, Rudisill said Sparky is a genuine person with good intentions who has poured much his time and money into the foundation.
"I feel like he's paid his price," Rudisill said. "I hope he can get this personally resolved and step back from it. He's got all my respect."
But Sparky is not interested in calling it quits.
"He strongly believes in what he is doing," said Newman, who has been his friend for about 20 years.
Sparky knows something about perseverance.
He said his parents abandoned him and his two siblings when he was 3. He was raised in foster care in Oakland. He vowed to be a better parent. He is divorced, but he has two grown daughters.
His youngest daughter, Dawn Phillips, said her father was always energetic and athletic. She remembers how on camping trips he would chase off bears.
"He would get up and yell and get them away," said Phillips, 31, of Elk Grove. "I always felt safe with him."
He fell into fixing cars while growing up. When he joined the Marines in 1970, he hoped to be a mechanic.
The Marines told him he had no mechanical aptitude, and he was given a different job.
But that didn't stop him from fixing cars. In the 1980s he operated two repair shops in Castro Valley. When he moved his business to San Ramon 10 years ago, he decided to focus on cars built from 1915 to 1977.
Customers are impressed.
"He's really good," said Keith Chreston, chief operating officer of the East Bay Community Foundation. "There are not too many around that have the focus on that era of cars."
Chreston, whose group matches donors with nonprofit organizations in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, said Hats Off America has an interesting concept.
Sparky and the group need to focus on helping those on a local level as well as having more effective fundraising and focusing on local stories, Chreston said.
"What I would say is that he covers a lot of ground -- I mean that metaphorically as well -- with limited resources, and he's very active in what he's doing in the nonprofit," Chreston said.
Sparky is a recognizable figure in town, especially when he's on the road.
He runs bare-chested, wearing just a necklace with a bear charm on it, shorts, a pack of weights and an American flag covering his rear end.
Although he's known to everyone as Sparky -- a nickname he says two girls gave him because they liked the way his eyes sparkled -- he has picked up another moniker: the bear flag runner.
The outfit was chosen in part to draw attention to the wars' impact on troops, and, as Sparky says, the flag is strategically placed because the forces fighting are metaphorically "covering my butt."
His take on supporting the troops has had mixed results. His friend Newman, a Vietnam veteran, said he was concerned that Sparky's outfit was disrespectful of the flag.
"I told George, 'I think you're going to have a little bit of a problem by putting the flag over your butt,'" Newman said.
He suggested Sparky put the flag on his back and make a similar statement of the troops having his back covered. It's the only thing the two friends don't agree on.
Being an ex-Marine, Sparky feels a connection to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he remembers how troops returning from Vietnam and their families were treated.
"The families were spit on and cursed and disrespected in every manner, and I say we cannot do the Vietnam vomit again," he said.
He said he has dedicated himself to raising the money. The family to receive the first $500,000 already has been picked out. A newspaper story reporting the Bay Area family's mourning of their soldier is saved in his San Ramon shop. The family doesn't know yet, he said.
"I don't want to make promises I can't keep," Sparky said. "I know I have a lot more miles to go."
Reach Sophia Kazmi at skazmi@cctimes.com or 925-847-2122.
BIOGRAPHY
NAME: "Sparky" George Cave
AGE: 58
RESIDENCE: Danville
OCCUPATION: Classic car mechanic, owner of Classic Auto Restoration by Sparky George in San Ramon
CLAIM TO FAME: Founder of Hats Off America, an organization dedicated to raising money to help the families of U.S. troops who have died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
INFORMATION: For details or to donate, visit www.hatsoffamerica.us or call 925-855-1950.
Ellie
By Sophia Kazmi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched:05/28/2007 03:36:46 AM PDT
DANVILLE -- On Sept. 15, 2002, "Sparky" George Cave laced up his sneakers and ran 10 kilometers through his neighborhood.
He had never run until that day, but he hasn't stopped since.
Five days a week the former Marine runs through the streets of his hometown. He runs in the rain. He runs in the cold. He continues to run against advice from doctors and despite bouts with allergies. Even having a bottle thrown at him while running last week didn't deter him.
Taking that first run was his tribute, a show of support for U.S. troops fighting overseas. Continuing to run, that's pure Sparky -- a man whose friends describe as dedicated and determined.
"I put myself in (the soldiers') position and I run," he said. "Just because I pull a muscle or something of that nature, you can't stop in the middle of battle and walk away."
Sparky, 58, is a classic car restorer. He's a man whom friends describe as disciplined, the kind of guy who doesn't easily give up on people, ideas or things. He still drives his first car -- a 1957 Chevy with more than 400,000 miles on it.
"He's a good guy," said friend Al Newman of Castro Valley. "He cares about what happens in this world. He's just one of the few people you treasure."
Sparky has another idea he hasn't given up on.
A year after he began the running, he began raising money to help the families of troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. In March 2004, Hats Off America was incorporated as a nonprofit group that does exactly that.
At that time, about 1,000 American troops had died in the battles. Sparky, commonly known as "Sparky George" in his hometown, said that at that time troops' families were receiving $262,000 in benefits. His plan was to raise enough to make the payout $1 million for each family, a sum comparable to that received by the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But after nearly four years of fundraising, Hats Off America is struggling. Sparky says it has $13,000 in the bank, and it's not for a lack of trying. The group has held car shows, casino nights and 10k runs, with skimpy results.
Since the group was formed, the government raised benefits to troops' families to $500,000. Sparky says the plan now is to raise $500,000 and then distribute it to the group's first family.
Jake Rudisill, a former Hats Off America board member who helped Sparky incorporate the group in 2004, quit in part because of the group's financial goals. The original goal to give $1 million per family meant Hats Off America would have had to raise more than $3 billion for the nearly 4,000 troops who now have died.
Rudisill did his own research, talking to some Veterans Affairs groups who said the needs of those families are being met.
"I don't see this as a crying need any more," Rudisill said. "If you look at things, the real need is the number of injured. Dealing with that issue is a much greater need."
Although they have parted ways, Rudisill said Sparky is a genuine person with good intentions who has poured much his time and money into the foundation.
"I feel like he's paid his price," Rudisill said. "I hope he can get this personally resolved and step back from it. He's got all my respect."
But Sparky is not interested in calling it quits.
"He strongly believes in what he is doing," said Newman, who has been his friend for about 20 years.
Sparky knows something about perseverance.
He said his parents abandoned him and his two siblings when he was 3. He was raised in foster care in Oakland. He vowed to be a better parent. He is divorced, but he has two grown daughters.
His youngest daughter, Dawn Phillips, said her father was always energetic and athletic. She remembers how on camping trips he would chase off bears.
"He would get up and yell and get them away," said Phillips, 31, of Elk Grove. "I always felt safe with him."
He fell into fixing cars while growing up. When he joined the Marines in 1970, he hoped to be a mechanic.
The Marines told him he had no mechanical aptitude, and he was given a different job.
But that didn't stop him from fixing cars. In the 1980s he operated two repair shops in Castro Valley. When he moved his business to San Ramon 10 years ago, he decided to focus on cars built from 1915 to 1977.
Customers are impressed.
"He's really good," said Keith Chreston, chief operating officer of the East Bay Community Foundation. "There are not too many around that have the focus on that era of cars."
Chreston, whose group matches donors with nonprofit organizations in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, said Hats Off America has an interesting concept.
Sparky and the group need to focus on helping those on a local level as well as having more effective fundraising and focusing on local stories, Chreston said.
"What I would say is that he covers a lot of ground -- I mean that metaphorically as well -- with limited resources, and he's very active in what he's doing in the nonprofit," Chreston said.
Sparky is a recognizable figure in town, especially when he's on the road.
He runs bare-chested, wearing just a necklace with a bear charm on it, shorts, a pack of weights and an American flag covering his rear end.
Although he's known to everyone as Sparky -- a nickname he says two girls gave him because they liked the way his eyes sparkled -- he has picked up another moniker: the bear flag runner.
The outfit was chosen in part to draw attention to the wars' impact on troops, and, as Sparky says, the flag is strategically placed because the forces fighting are metaphorically "covering my butt."
His take on supporting the troops has had mixed results. His friend Newman, a Vietnam veteran, said he was concerned that Sparky's outfit was disrespectful of the flag.
"I told George, 'I think you're going to have a little bit of a problem by putting the flag over your butt,'" Newman said.
He suggested Sparky put the flag on his back and make a similar statement of the troops having his back covered. It's the only thing the two friends don't agree on.
Being an ex-Marine, Sparky feels a connection to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he remembers how troops returning from Vietnam and their families were treated.
"The families were spit on and cursed and disrespected in every manner, and I say we cannot do the Vietnam vomit again," he said.
He said he has dedicated himself to raising the money. The family to receive the first $500,000 already has been picked out. A newspaper story reporting the Bay Area family's mourning of their soldier is saved in his San Ramon shop. The family doesn't know yet, he said.
"I don't want to make promises I can't keep," Sparky said. "I know I have a lot more miles to go."
Reach Sophia Kazmi at skazmi@cctimes.com or 925-847-2122.
BIOGRAPHY
NAME: "Sparky" George Cave
AGE: 58
RESIDENCE: Danville
OCCUPATION: Classic car mechanic, owner of Classic Auto Restoration by Sparky George in San Ramon
CLAIM TO FAME: Founder of Hats Off America, an organization dedicated to raising money to help the families of U.S. troops who have died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
INFORMATION: For details or to donate, visit www.hatsoffamerica.us or call 925-855-1950.
Ellie