Hampden Zimmerman honored for work on marine's new home

Date: 12/17/2012

SPRINGFIELD – Hampden Zimmerman Electric Supply Co., 274 Taylor St., received recognition for their dedication to Homes for Our Troops (HFOT) and their contributions that went into to building a home for Marine Sgt. Joshua Bouchard of Granby.

The gala event took place at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee on Dec. 5. Hampden Zimmerman donated all of the indoor/outdoor lighting, fixtures, wall plates and motion sensors in the massive volunteer construction effort to benefit Bouchard, a decorated war veteran and local hero.

Bouchard was on his second deployment when he lost his left leg and broke his back after his vehicle drove over a pressure plated IED in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on July 8, 2009.

In April 2012, Taunton-based HFOT stepped in to help Sgt. Bouchard, by building a specially designed home located in Granby.

Dozens of local businesses from the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Western Massachusetts, along with the Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together Springfield donated their time and services to this incredible cause.

It took a year to bring all parts of the project together, but the home, adapted to Bouchard's disabilities, was completed in three days.

"Being recognized by the Home Builders and Remodeler's Association of Western Massachusetts for our work on the HFOT Project is a great honor," Mark Lauria, regional president of Hampden Zimmerman and Warren Electric, said, adding that it's important for Hampden Zimmerman to be involved in the community and assist in any way possible.

"Homes for Our Troops is a great cause which supports local veterans who risk their lives protecting ours. Our involvement is a simple way of saying, 'Thank-you,' not only to Joshua Bouchard, but all military personnel," he continued.

Hampden Zimmerman was formed when Hampden Electric Supply and MW Zimmerman Electric Supply merged in the mid 1980's.

Both companies had independently served Western Massachusetts as far back as the early 1930's.

In 1985 the first start-up branch opened on Pleasant Street in Northampton followed by the purchase of Bland Electric Supply in Pittsfield in 1990 to complete the HZ brand. HZ is a full service electrical distributor with a lighting showroom open to contractors and retail customers

The organization is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization founded in 2004.

It is committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since Sept. 11, 2001.

The group assists severely injured Veterans and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and to coordinate the process of building a home the provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.

For more information, visit www.homesforourtroops.org.