July 7, 2015
Lee Greenwood is a busy man these days, between the release of his new children’s book, Proud to Be an American, and his nonstop touring schedule. But the 72-year-old is still finding time to serve as an ambassador for a cause close to his heart, Helping a Hero, which provides homes to severely wounded veterans.
“They build homes near where soldiers can get medical treatment,” Lee tells Nash Country Weekly. “There’s a lot in Texas, a lot in Virginia and D.C. because they’re near Bethesda, Maryland. Other guys want to be near their families, and they’re self-sufficient. Also, it’s important to note that we usually give them a small mortgage, and the mortgage is payable in 15 years. And we vet them to make sure they’re self-sustaining.”
Lee adds that part of the strength of the organization is the ability for the men and women to take ownership in the home that is built.
“We think it’s better to have a little pride in what they do, see them accept that responsibility and walk across the threshold, or wheeled across the threshold,” he notes.
Lee is also celebrating the release of his latest album, Snapshot: Lee Greenwood, a collection of pop standards.
“I sang a lot of the songs in the Sony catalog, some from Whitney Houston,” he says. “We did ‘Games People Play,’ from Joe South. Just some really cool stuff. There’s a Babyface song on there. Just whatever I liked from the Sony catalog. So they took four or five songs and put them with four or five hits, and that album has just been released.”