I first heard about Run for the Troops about 10 years ago when making an announcement at Church about a Habitat for Humanity Veterans build project in Lawrence, MA. Afterwards Bill Pennington reached out to me about Run for the Troops and I’ve been involved as a team captain ever since.

I’ve attended several of the annual dinners and love how our veterans are the focus. At some point I usually get choked up by either the presentation of the colors, a video clip, or one of the speeches. And that same feeling occurs during the opening ceremonies on the day of the run.

I think Run for the Troops has made me think about our veterans every day, not just on Veterans Day. Since I’ve been involved with the Run for the Troops, I’ve advocated for veterans when building other Habitat projects and we are currently building a home in Hamilton, MA for Afghanistan Marine Veteran Yaddira Lopez-Garcia. It also inspired me to get involved with Operation Delta Dog in Hollis NH, an organization that rescues dogs and trains them to be service dogs for Veterans at no cost to them and serve as the Veteran Network Chairman while at Analog Devices. Run for the Troops is a big reason I got more involved with helping and advocating for our veterans.

• Tom Baird, Volunteer