JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kevin Crowell served our country in the military for many years. He came home from Iraq with PTSD. He even plotted out his suicide.
But now with his service dog, Bella, from K9s for Warriors, Crowell is spending his energy helping others, especially other veterans in St. Johns County.
He spends countless hours in the blazing heat cleaning up homeless camps in St. Augustine. That involves carrying out heavy buckets of human waste to landfills in the area. He is careful to follow all rules, he says, and it's part of his desire to give folks better surroundings.
He and his neighbor also constructed the "LIFEBOX," a wooden box on legs grounded in cement off 312 and 207. People drop off everything from bandages to loaves of bread to granola bars for anyone who wants to get some free help.
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Crowell says people just pull off the shoulder onto the grass and walk a few steps to the "LIFEBOX" to donate, including employees from a local Panera Bread Company.
"I'm not here to judge people," Crowell explained. "I'm just here to help out."
He says at the homeless camp behind the "LIFEBOX" are working people just struggling to make ends meet.
"I saw young people with full-time jobs working at fast food places near here and they live back here," he said, pointing to the homeless camp in the woods.
Crowell also spends time working with veterans to guide them towards services and employment. He does motivational speeches for high school students and gathers donations for their events. Just recently, he was able to persuade a local eatery to donate two dozen pizzas to a high school band in St. Augustine.
As a member of the 82nd Airborne and then the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Crowell developed a deep pride in the U.S.
This past June for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, he joined in re-enactment jumps in France to honor the 13,000 American paratroopers who jumped behind enemy lines and helped bring the end to World War II and Hitler's Nazi war machine.
Now Crowell is helping First Coast News teach high school students about the importance of D-Day.
Congratulations to Kevin Crowell for being one of our 12 Who Care Winners. He certainly goes way above and beyond.
