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We are honored to introduce you to this month's Spotlight featured guest, Mr. Dave Hintz. Dave is the founder and driving force behind Hides for Heroes, an incredible fundraising effort based in Waupaca, Wisconsin that raises support and awareness for WWIA and our Heroes through collecting and preparing deer hides, then selling those hides to fur traders. Hides for Heroes has an incredible network of volunteers and community sponsors who passionately embrace and support this initiative. Through their collective efforts, Hides for Heroes has donated over $46,000 to WWIA since 2012! We are grateful and humbled by Dave's dedication and thoughtfulness and hope you enjoy getting to know him and the incredible story of how one person's ingenuity and generosity can blossom into something truly amazing!
Dave, can you please give us a brief introduction and tell us a little about yourself?
First of all, the good Lord blessed me with four wonderful healthy kids, three boys and a girl. Those children gave us four wonderful grandkids, three girls and a boy! I love the outdoors and spend as much time as I can at our cabin in Phillips, Wisconsin. I enjoy turkey, deer, bear, and grouse hunting, in addition to fishing, cutting wood, snowshoeing, and collecting and cooking maple syrup with my kids and grandkids. We love sitting around the fire pit enjoying life and sharing stories. I am an addicted shed hunter, walking many miles each spring in search of antlers. I also enjoy kayaking, a round or two of golf, pitching corn hole bags, hiking, waterfalls, and sunsets. I am also a High School and B.A.B.A. umpire. I have been employed at Waupaca Foundry Inc. (who has been a huge sponsor and supporter of WWIA and Hides for Heroes) for 30 years where I work in the Q.C. dept.
How did you first get involved with WWIA?
I met Matt Tennessen, a WWIA Associate, at a fundraiser in Phillips, WI. Matt explained how WWIA was serving Heroes and how it had helped him through some difficult times. I had been doing fundraising for my son's high school band by collecting hides and then donating the proceeds to them. Since my son was graduating, I decided I could continue this fundraising effort but change the recipient to WWIA.
What are the origins of Hides for Heroes? When was it created and how was it implemented?
I am a meat cutter by trade, and I would process deer each fall on the side. As a result, I would end up with a few hundred hides each year that I would sell to a fur buyer. In 2000 our local high school was looking for ways to make money for a new football field and that is when we started collecting deer hides. In only three years, with the help of all my children collecting and salting hides, we raised over $8,000.00 toward the new football field. Collecting deer hides was a valuable resource. We did several other fundraisers for church, a baseball Florida spring trip, band trips, band uniforms, and also one year for a cancer patient. This year will be our 7th year collecting hides for WWIA. Who would have thought that collecting deer hides that most hunters throw out would make such a tremendous difference? We went from 4 hide collection boxes when we first started fundraising for the football field in the small village of Iola-Scandinavia to now having 50-60 boxes throughout Northern and Central Wisconsin! We've also expanded into the OshKosh Fond du Lac region due to the outstanding efforts of Rachel Walters. The naming of Hides for Heroes just popped up in my head while having a few beers with friends at my cabin. Everyone liked it and it clearly represents what we do and who we do it in honor of.
What has been the biggest benefit of operating Hides for Heroes?
The biggest benefit has been meeting everyone God has put in my path. I've met some amazing people along this journey, including all the Heroes I am privileged to spend time with each year at Camp Hackett. WWIA Associate, Matt Tennessen and I have become good friends over the years since that first meeting and enjoy an annual grouse hunt up at the cabin each year. Guide Jake Whipkey. WWIA staff Nichole Veesaert and WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel.
I am also blessed to have met so many outstanding business owners who graciously allow us to put our collection boxes out and help us promote our initiative. The people we meet collecting hides, thanking us for what we do for our veterans and Heroes.
In addition, the support we get from the city of Waupaca, the town of Phillips, and the surrounding communities is simply unbelievable. The best part of doing what we do is when veterans we don’t know thanks us for what we are doing. Getting a thumbs up from strangers while we are driving the Hides for Heroes truck collecting hides is priceless!
Hides for Heroes is an incredible example of patriotic communities working together to selflessly support our Heroes. How have you been able to galvanize such a tremendous support network of volunteers, individuals, and businesses over the years?
After two years into collecting hides, I was getting overwhelmed. The company I work for, Waupaca Foundry, Inc. did a television segment on Hides for Heroes with a few of the local stations featuring employees that do work to benefit veterans. It aired the week of Veterans Day after that, the interest, support, and hide donations took off!
I remember speaking with John McDaniel for some advice on how to manage this growing initiative and be able to meet the demands surrounding the time and effort it required. I told him, "I’m just a foundry guy, how can I do this"? He gave me the best advice I could have asked for, to recruit foot soldiers to help me with the many tasks at hand.
I was very fortunate to have some good guys helping me. Many of my fellow employees stepped up to assist like Chuck Hultman, an Iraq veteran, Steve Buck, a Navy Veteran, Bob Swanson, Amie Borchardt and her young daughter McKenna, just to name a few. I will admit that salting hides isn't a fun job as it requires long, cold, strenuous work! Despite the difficulty involved in the process, I am amazed at the incredible dedication people put forth to support this important cause.
I received a call one day from a Conservation Warden Jeff Knorr, who saw Hides for Heroes featured on television and loved the idea so much that he wanted to get kids involved. He contacted the Weyauwega High school FFA director and soon after we had and continue to have high school kids helping us. Jeff also reached out to Myron Construction Inc. and got them involved to sponsor and offer a $1,500 scholarship each year. We now have several schools involved and some amazing students helping out. I also spoke with the local GM dealership Neuville Motors, to ask if they would sponsor a truck to enable us to collect deer hides, and they surprisingly but graciously said yes! I couldn’t believe it. Our biggest expense is gas, so to help offset this cost, we went door to door asking local businesses to help sponsor us and in return, we place their business logo on our Hides for Heroes truck. We proudly have thirteen sponsors now and are growing! One of our sponsors, Strategies LTD., now donates all our Hides for Heroes shirts, beanies and can coolies. Waupaca Foundry Inc. donates all the hide collection boxes, all the salt required for salting the hides (6,650 pounds last year), as well as generously making monetary donations. Madie Wilson, a Wapauca Foundry Inc. employee at our Pennsylvania sister facility read about the work we are doing and wanted to get involved. She ran a t-shirt benefit, raising $650 and is planning another one! There are just a few examples of the kindness and generosity from those who have come to support Hides for Heroes. I cannot thank God enough for the bountiful resources he has blessed me with and the selfless people that work on behalf of our Heroes.
What would you say to others who are considering getting involved with WWIA as a supporter, fundraiser, or in some other capacity?
My dad served in the Korean War, and my brother retired from the Army and served in Desert Storm. I never served, but this is my way of giving back. It’s not much, but to be involved with WWIA and being able to meet and listen to the Hero's stories is humbling and gratifying. To see first-hand what a difference WWIA is making in the lives of our Heroes brings joy to my heart. I've made priceless friendships and met some of the most patriotic and amazing people through my journey with WWIA and I look forward to meeting many more. Please consider getting involved with WWIA. No matter how you choose to get involved in, you will enjoy the ride!
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