Becker’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon affiliation is looking to the public for help to revitalize the program by participation, recognition and prayerful support.

 

It was just a few, short years ago Kari Westby and her National Guardsman husband, Dan, initiated the BTYR program in their hometown of Becker. Many cities before and after Becker’s BTYR designation  in March of 2013 have been part of BTYR, but many people still do not know much — or anything — about the program. 

 

Even some military families right here in this community.

 

So to breathe new life into the program and establish an understanding with the general public, the local BTYR is shaking things up.

 

First off, Westby is stepping down from her duties as director of Becker’s BTYR but will still be heavily involved in the events and programs. She and Dan have seven kids between them and currently have three foster kids in their home. Kari has also spent several months at the VA with her father, who went in to have routine heart surgery, then had complications arise that took Kari away from her day-to-day routine.

 

The Westbys have also opened their home in the past years as a daycare and now, with Dan getting set to be deployed again soon, Kari began searching for someone to take the reins.

 

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the program and we were even considering sort of merging things with Big Lake’s BTYR to stay afloat,” said Kari. “Then I got a call from Kent suggesting he take over. It was a Godsend.”

 

“Kent” is Kent Graning, a local farmer and a firefighter with the Becker FD. Graning had been attending the monthly meetings and knew things were faltering within the organization and decided he wanted to help.

 

“I started to see our turnout at meetings dwindling and I knew Kari already had a lot on her plate,” Kent said. “I’m not from the military or anything else like that. I just appreciate what service people do and want to give back in some way.”

 

So Kari handed over the playbook to Graning a few weeks ago and Graning is looking to create a buzz about BTYR. He found it amazing that some people he encountered had not even heard of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, nor did they know what they do.

 

“I want this organization to thrive and get its presence stronger in the community,” Kent said. “The key is to get people interested in coming to the meetings and participating in events by volunteering. “It’s a great way to show our appreciation for the military and their families.”

 

The program at one time saw up to 14-16 people attend meetings and volunteer to help out to launch the program. Since the 2013 kickoff, the meeting attendance has dwindled to around 5-7 people, which makes all the member’s jobs that much more stressful.

 

When the City of Becker received its designation from the State of Minnesota nearly four years ago, the program had to abide by seven key requirements to stay viable. Those requirements included have members of the program be someone from city leadership, the BTYR steering committee, public safety/judicial, faith-based organization, veteran organization, business/employers, social service/medical providers and someone from education or a youth provider.

 

Former Mayor Lefty Kleis was the city leader involved (He still is involved, but not associated with the city anymore), Chantell Boyer was the education representative, but she has since left Becker for another school. The representatives for faith-based, business and health have also stopped attending, so Graning is putting out a call to the community.

“We need people to give BTYR a try and get involved for our military personnel and families,” he said. “We have to get our meeting attendance built up and get more volunteers at the events.

 

Many of the events BTYR publicizes and participates in is the return of soldiers from serving overseas. When the BTYR organization gets word of a local soldier coming home, the committee gets right to work to create banners, order flags and advise the Becker police and fire departments, who would then provide an escort for the soldier to their home through the streets of their hometown.

 

While the soldier is deployed, members and volunteers step up to aid the wife and children if they needs their sidewalks shoveled, their car fixed or their youngsters driven to a sporting event.  BTYR volunteers also create a comprehensive network that connects and coordinates agencies, organizations, resources and employers for the purpose of proactively supporting servicemembers and military families.

 

Minnesota boasts around 200 networking BTYR communities in the state, each one with a passionate leaders such as Kari Westby and Kent Graning. And they have been working tirelessly to keep Becker’s BTYR program a practical game plan.

 

The BTYR committee needs people from the community to show up at their meetings which are held every third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at city hall. They are especially looking for people from the faith-based community, business community, education, health and city leadership.

 

Graning says there are a couple upcoming “welcome homes” for returning soldiers over the next few months and volunteers are needed to demonstrate the appreciation people have of our military allies.

 

The members of the Becker BTYR are also planning to drum up funds to have a military memorial built and erected somewhere along Hwy. 10 as part of their allegiance to this country’s armed forces and to identify Becker as a friendly home to displaced or supplemental military personnel.

 

Becker’s BTYR organization can be found on Facebook as well as: www.btyr.org/becker.html. Graning can be reached by phone at 320-980-2752 or by email at: k_graning@hotmail.com.