An encounter at the Lowe’s checkout on Niagara Falls Boulevard led to a local effort to help a widowed veteran in need.
Military veteran Emily Bren was purchasing items at the store when the store manager asked how she was doing. Filled with emotion, Bren recalled recent flooding and the loss of loved ones in her family to the manager.
“The tears just started and I’m just like, ‘my husband died, my mother died, I want to go see my daughter but I can’t bring her home because my basement is full of water,” Bren said.
Bren lost her husband to suicide. The couple was married for 13 years.
“I never thought that he wouldn’t be with us forever,” she said. Bren’s husband also served in the military. He was an Air Force veteran.
Weeks later, her mother died from stage IV cancer. Then, a rainstorm caused major flood damage in Bren’s basement. The storm threatened to wash away the mementos her military family collected during their travels.
Bren went to Lowe’s for supplies and walked away with volunteers to help her, free of charge.
Without the assistant, she said it would have taken her days to clean the mess, potentially forcing her to miss work to finish the task.
Five volunteers, including the store manager, arrived at Bren’s home to help dry out her soaked carpet and move the memorabilia out of harm’s way.
“My husband had many military items. He loved to collect many different things that were important to him and with his passing, I’m still not at a point where I could separate myself from his belongings,” Bren said.
She documented her experience at Lowe’s with a Facebook video that went viral, accumulating more than 2,000 shares and 5,000 likes.
Bren was surprised by the impact the video had on others. She was contacted by multiple veteran agencies willing to help. The post also saved another life from suicide.
"This particular person was also a mother and had been contemplating suicide, and I was blown away,” Bren said. “After reading the post, she said that she would not commit suicide because she was not realizing the impact it would have on her children and her family.”
Bren is planning to participate in the Suicide Prevention Walk next Saturday to bring awareness to veteran's suicide.
Resources for Veterans & Suicide Prevention:
Veterans One-Stop Center of Western New York
Buffalo
1280 Main Street
Suite 204
Buffalo, NY 14209
Lockport
140 Genesee Street
Lockport, NY 14094
Phone Number: (716) 898-0110
Women Veterans Network W.O.V.E.N
Buffalo
1280 Main Street
Suite 204
Buffalo, NY 14209
Phone Number: (716) 898-0110
Veterans Crisis Services and Hotline *
Call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1
Text 838255
