The good life comes in triplicate, suiting Meyer to a tee

By Rick Dana Barlow

When push comes to shove, there just may be two things that Carl Meyer, Bellwether Class of 2019, Vice President, The Wetrich Group, appreciates more than golf: Charity work and customer service.

Pour all three passions into a mixing bowl and stir, and Meyer likely will tell you he has the recipe for the good life that satisfies the old adage that if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life.

On Independence Day 2021, Meyer completed the trifecta, raising donations by playing charity golf for the 14th Annual 100 Holes for Our Heroes benefiting Hire Heroes USA, an organization that supports military veterans finding and landing jobs. The numbers – beyond Meyer’s golf score – remain impressive.

In short, this year’s one-man charitable golf tournament raised more than $165,000, which will help another 160 to 175 veterans gain employment, according to Meyer. Since Hire Heroes USA debuted 14 years ago, the “100 Holes for Our Heroes” event that Meyer started has raised more than $1.1 million cumulatively and directly has placed more than 750 veterans, he added.

What was Meyer’s scorecard for that busy July 4? “I teed off at 4:50 a.m., played 114 holes in 10 hours and 40 minutes, finishing with 553 strokes (par for 114 is 450) at 3:30 p.m.,” he itemized.

Meyer looked back at how it all began for him and exclusively shared the anecdote with Leaders & Luminaries.

“I am a golf nut, so it was the logical format for me,” he said. “Fifteen years ago, my wife was in New York visiting her mom and both of my children were away at camp on the 4th of July. I played in the flag event that morning.”

Meyer describes that event this way: “You tee off with a four-by-six-inch American flag with your name and strokes (par plus your handicap) on a piece of tape, and you place the flag in the ground where your ball finishes with your last stroke. The winner usually plays the first or second hole again if you are having a great round.

“After golf, I had lunch and went home,” he continued. “Grass was cut, ‘honey-do’ list was complete, it was a gorgeous day, so I called and asked how busy was the course. As it wasn’t I grabbed a cart and played 18 more, then another and another, only stopping as I had to get to dinner and [watch] the fireworks. While watching the fireworks on my friend’s pontoon boat, his wife asked what I was doing the following year and I said, playing 100 holes for a veterans charity.

Later that year, John Bardis [CEO of MedAssets] was at Walter Reed and happened to start a conversation with then Army Sergeant Justin Callahan, who was sitting on a park bench recuperating from surgery to address his lost leg below the knee from an [improvised explosive device],” he continued. “John asked Justin, ‘What do you need?’ to which he replied, ‘I need a job, sir.’ John asked Justin what he had done in the service and pulled out his business card, wrote his assistant’s name and her extension on the card and told Justin that he had a job in the meeting planning group for MedAssets and to call [his assistant] two weeks before discharge and she would coordinate getting him to Atlanta.”

Bardis wasn’t finished though, Meyer recalled.

“John being John, [he] hosted Justin for a few nights as they lined up an apartment and integrated [him] into his new job. At the end of the first week late in the day on Friday, Justin appeared at John’s door and asked for a moment [of time]. He thanked John for the opportunity and hospitality and said he had a question. ‘What about the rest of the guys and gals? They need jobs, too.’”

Hire Heroes USA emerged from that brief conversation. When Bardis acquired Health Services Corporation of America (HSCA), the purchase also included the Health Career Foundation, which provided nursing scholarships. Bardis repurposed the charity to concentrate on veterans, according to Meyer. “Justin’s ask was the spark plug that lit the fuse that has now led to more than 55,000 veterans gaining jobs with the support of Hire Heroes USA,” he added.

While attending MedAssets’ annual event in Las Vegas, Meyer heard Bardis introduce Hire Heroes USA. He promptly sent Bardis an email that detailed his idea of raising awareness of and funds for Hire Heroes USA by playing 100 holes of golf annually on July 4 – something that was more of a novelty back then. Intrigued, Bardis greenlit the idea, according to Meyer.

That first year, Meyer says he played 108 holes and raised more than $13,000. Unfortunately, the average cost per veteran placement amounted to more than $7,000. “Year 1 did not even cover the cost of two veterans gaining jobs,” he lamented. But neither Meyer nor Bardis gave up. They continued to support the program. That first year Hire Heroes USA maintained a single office and staff of four with a budget of $280,000, he remembers. They placed 37 men and women that year, he adds.

Today, Hire Heroes USA maintains five offices, roughly 100 employees, 1,300 volunteers and an annual budget of $10 million to $12 million, according to Meyer. “Last year, during the pandemic they placed over 11,580 veterans at a cost of just under $1,000 per placement,” he added.

Meyer appreciates how far Hire Heroes USA has progressed and his role in helping make a difference.

“[I’m] fortunate to live in a country where less than 1% of us volunteer to protect our freedoms, and fortunate to be flexible enough to play these holes to generate awareness of the outstanding work the Hire Heroes USA delivers at no cost to our veterans, while also raising funds to support their mission,” he said.

Meyer shared online links to three television media outlets that covered his activities:  

His local Fox affiliate aired this: https://www.fox6now.com/news/man-golfs-114-holes-to-raise-money-for-veterans

And Fox News’ America’s Newsroom featured him in this segment: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6262743920001

 

For more information about Hire Heroes USA, click here: www.hireheroesusa.org.

If you are interested in supporting the “100 Holes for Our Heroes” event, click here: https://giving.hireheroesusa.org/100holes2021