By Samantha Holm | Arts & Culture Editor
In 2011, US Air Force veteran Phil Labrie graduated from Whitworth University at 28 years old. For the past three years, he has channeled his appreciation for veterans into his work within his position as Whitworth’s assistant director for veterans’ outreach. His latest project is the establishment of Whitworth University’s new Military and Veterans Resource Center (MAVRC).
Labrie’s pursuit of a veteran’s resource center was informed by his own time at Whitworth. “There was not a place for me to connect with other veterans,” he said. “I was kind of the outsider being older than the other students.”
Up until now, there was no centralized location for Whitworth’s ROTC students. According to the Whitworth’s ROTC Program website, Whitworth collaborates with Washington State University to host the Air Force ROTC Program and with Gonzaga University to hold the Military ROTC Program. As a result, most ROTC classes and Practical Military Training (PMT) events are hosted at these universities rather than at Whitworth.
Labrie wanted to create a space where these events could be held, where Whitworth ROTC students could study and relax together.
During the summer of 2021, Whitworth agreed to give Labrie a 3,000 square-foot house on the west end of campus to repurpose for a veterans’ resource center. According to The Spokesman-Review, Great Floors donated flooring and La-Z-Boy donated two recliners, while Ashley Furniture and Casual Spaces offered substantial discounts on furniture. Many organizations gave monetary donations as well, including the Disabled Veterans of America, Northwest Golfers for Warriors and Michele Palm, owner of Inland Empire Tax & Accounting Services, which amounted to $20,000 total.
In November 2021, the MAVRC officially opened its doors. However, Labrie’s vision for the resource center wasn’t complete. The outside of the MAVRC wasn’t a place where people could congregate, and more importantly, it wasn’t accessible to veterans with disabilities.
That is why in January 2022, Labrie reached out to KXLY’s Extreme Team.
According to its founder and leader, weather anchor Mark Peterson, “The Extreme Team exists to help those who financially or physically cannot do the improvements themselves,” he said. “We’re geared toward helping community nonprofits. We’re trying to affect the largest amount of people per project on average.”
Two weeks prior to breaking ground on MAVRC, Peterson and Lance Pouder Excavation drafted the plans for the ADA accessible sidewalk, installed by Cole Concrete. Peterson said Cole Concrete both poured and finished a 38-yard sidewalk, adding up to nearly $18,000 of work that they completed for free. In addition, FMI Equipment donated tractors and mini excavators, Zips and Aloha Island Grill donated food, Industrial Common Rock Engraving donated a large rock decorated to designate the building and Mountain States Electric donated lights that illuminate the center at nighttime.
During One Pine Day, Labrie and Peterson raised an additional $9,000 to establish a flagpole, which will help students identify the location of the MAVRC as a place for students to honor their country and those who have fought or are fighting to protect it.
Labrie and Peterson reported that the first couple iterations of the plan for the MAVRC were vetoed by the university because of concerns over the safety of university-protected ponderosa pine trees. Peterson also said his team had to do additional work due to the age of the house.
He lightly put it, “We found bad dogs lying beneath the rugs.”
Their efforts culminated into a televised unveiling of the MAVRC on March 24.
But the work on the building is far from over.
In the future, Labrie will be focusing on making the building ADA accessible. He said, “In my mind this is going to be an ongoing project and improvement throughout the year.”
Labrie hopes to implement a wheelchair lift inside the building to help veterans with disabilities travel down the steps from the building’s living room to the kitchen and bathroom. In addition, he also wants to install a door that can be opened via student ID keycards. After these major concerns are addressed, Labrie will focus on making cosmetic improvements.
As for the Extreme Team, Peterson said that this May, the team will be remodeling baseball fields for Air Force cadets in Fairchild. This gives the young airmen spaces to relax and enjoy time with one another.
“We love the military,” he said.
The Extreme Team itself comprises military veterans. Peterson tearfully recalled members of his team working on the MAVRC, stopping what they were doing to rise for the National Anthem as it played for ongoing baseball games at Merkel Field, screaming ‘Play ball!’ and going right back to work.
“The bottom line [is that] it’s appreciation,” he said. “We appreciate what [veterans] have done for the country. More importantly, they appreciate the hell out of what we do. And when we need volunteers, they show up.”
Borne out of a desire to provide a space for veterans to commune, the remodeling of the MAVRC evolved into a demonstration of the generosity of Spokane companies and organizations, opening the door for future collaboration.
