Dave and Teresa Wonka, owners of Creative Floors Carpet One, were recently honored with an award, recognizing their company’s support of Building for America’s Bravest, an organization which builds specifically adapted “smart” homes, to help restore independence and improve the quality of life for the nation’s most catastrophically injured service members, including police, firefighters and other first-responders, and veterans.
The award itself holds special significance and, unlike typical plaques, trophies and certificates, is unique in its own right: it consists of a shadow box containing not only the usual verbiage, but also a segment of steel beam from the Twin Towers, where hundreds of first responders were among those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
Building for America’s Bravest (BFAB) is a program of the non-profit 501c3 Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Its goal is to raise funds to build custom designed, specially adapted homes for the most catastrophically injured American service members.
The legacy began when FDNY father of five, Stephen Siller, was on his way to play golf with his three brothers. When he heard on his scanner what had happened at the World Trade Center, he strapped on 60 pounds of gear, rushed on foot through gridlocked traffic and ran from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center site.
Stephen was last seen with his fellow firefighters of Squad 1. They all died saving others.
Stephen’s family organized the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and, through it, the Tunnel to Towers Run, an annual tribute to all who died on 9/11 and to those who serve in the line of duty to protect our country.
Participants of the Tunnel To Towers Run retrace the final footsteps of heroic Stephen Siller from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center site.
The Carpet One cooperative stores across the country raise funds for BFAB on monthly basis. When a “smart” home is built, the Carpet One business in that area provides materials and labor. The Wonkas have participated for a year and a half, working with the Veterans Affairs Council to identify local needs.
Among those present for the presentation were Martin Zickert of the Veterans Affairs Council, Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey; Vero Beach Mayor Dick Winger, Sheriff’s Department deputies, and members of the Indian River County Fire Department.
