Building Homes for Heroes

Veteran's Day is an important holiday in the United States, honoring active service members, military veterans, and their friends and families. 

While November 11th only comes once a year, several corporations and organizations, RealTruck included, proudly honor our service members day in and day out through our contributions to such great charities as Building Homes for Heroes, ensuring the proper care of our country's heroic veterans. 

This Veteran’s Day, to highlight the tremendous work of both RealTruck and Building Homes for Heroes, we’re taking the time to touch on the missions and achievements of both companies.

Building Homes for Heroes: Mission and History

Building Homes for Heroes has proudly assisted veterans of the United States Military since 2006. Let’s learn more about the organization, its history, and its mission.

Who Is Building Homes for Heroes?

Building Homes for Heroes is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2006. This charitable organization has a simple yet commendable mission: building and retrofitting homes for our nation’s veterans injured in combat, drastically improving their and their family's quality of life. 

As outlined in Building Homes for Heroes' official mission statement, 

Building Homes for Heroes® is determined and devoted to bringing renewed hope to our nation’s injured veterans. The organization builds or modifies homes, and gifts them, mortgage-free, to injured veterans and their families, while providing support services to enable them to build better and brighter lives and reach new heights. It’s truly an honor to serve the men and women who have courageously served and sacrificed for our country.

At RealTruck, we pride ourselves on supporting our veterans, and in our eyes, there’s no better means of showing our support than partnering with a great organization like Building Homes for Heroes.

A History of the Organization

Building Homes for Heroes was founded in 2006 by Andy Pujol, a successful business owner who, after the tragic attacks on September 11th, 2001, volunteered on search-and-rescue teams alongside our nation’s brave first responders. After witnessing the horror and devastation, Pujol vowed to find a means of supporting the men and women who so generously risk their lives to serve and protect our country; just a few years later, Building Homes for Heroes was born! 

Since the organization's conception, Building Homes for Heroes, in addition to the thousands of generous donations and tireless volunteers, has built and renovated over 300 homes. By 2024, with the assistance of such companies as RealTruck, the organization hopes to hit a 400-home milestone.

RealTruck & Building Homes for Heroes

With such a noble mission that aligns with the values of RealTruck and its staff, Building Homes for Heroes and RealTruck have partnered for 5+ years, with RealTruck donating over 1 million dollars in the process. 

Like Building Homes for Heroes, RealTruck is dedicated to serving the hard-working community that keeps our proud nation afloat. While Building Homes for Heroes directly serves our military, RealTruck does so indirectly through its contributions. RealTruck also serves the devoted trades workers, blue-collar community, and their pickups with premium parts, information, and industry-leading customer service. 

While RealTruck’s mission differs from Building Homes for Heroes, both share the same vision and unrelenting support of our nation’s hard-working citizens and service members.

Contributions

RealTruck has proudly supported Building Homes for Heroes for over half a decade, providing numerous lump-sum donations and partnering for holiday sales and other contributions. RealTruck even allows its 5,000+ employees to donate a portion of each paycheck to the organization, as well as provide physical assistance on local builds. 

In 2022, RealTruck gave a $125K check to the organization, offsetting the tremendous costs of Building Homes for Heroes’ building and renovation projects. At this year’s SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) show, RealTruck staff personally presented Building Homes for Heroes’ founder, Andy Pujol, with a surprise $50K donation, further supporting the organization’s 400-home goal.

The Matchbox Jeep Gladiator

At this year’s SEMA show, RealTruck brought out several striking builds, including a stylish and heavily modified JT Gladiator built alongside die-cast-legend Matchbox. Of our various SEMA builds, the JT may be nearest to our hearts here at RealTruck, considering it’ll soon be up for auction, with proceeds going directly to our friends at Building Homes for Heroes. Let’s learn a bit more about the exceptional build!

The Concept

The concept behind the RealTruck/Matchbox Gladiator JT was simple: build a capable and stylish mid-size pickup that’d be just as comfortable in a business park as an off-road park! The team behind this impressive rig opted for an overland approach, taking full advantage of the craze’s recent success, as well as the massive overland booth at this year’s SEMA show.

The Build

If you ask us, this vision most certainly became a reality. The striking black 2023 Gladiator Rubicon is nothing short of an overlander’s dream, outfitted with all the makings of a high-end off-road rig. This build, made possible by the good folks at Doetsch Off-Road in Chandler, AZ, includes such features as a rugged overland rack, off-road lighting, a 4” lift kit, and more! 

For more information on the parts and accessories that went into the build, check out the complete vehicle guide in our RealTruck at SEMA piece! 

The Payoff

Ultimately, the end goal of the Matchbox/RealTruck Gladiator JT is, and always has been, to auction the vehicle off and donate the proceeds to Building Homes for Heroes. This build has been a labor of love for all parties involved, and with SEMA wrapped up and our contributions finished, we couldn’t think of a better path than further supporting the organization. 

Here is a link to the auction listing on Barrett-Jackson's website where this JT build hammered on January 27th, 2024 for $250K with an additional $75K in contributions on top for a total of $325,000!

Veteran’s Day, 2023

This Veteran’s Day, be sure to pay your respects to the service members in your life; if you don’t have anyone to thank personally, consider donating to Building Homes for Heroes to help the organization reach its 400-home goal in 2024. 

And to all currently active or past service members, from the entire RealTruck family, thank you for your service.