KSLA SALUTES: Every Warrior serves those who serve

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) - The mission of Every Warrior is to support, connect, equip and mobilize.

Formerly known as the Warrior Network, the nonprofit is dedicated to taking care of the military community. Founder Trey McGuire says the organization started with a meal.

In 2014, McGuire and a group of friends hosted the first Warrior Thanksgiving Feast to help new Barksdale airmen and their families feel at home. In 2015, he incorporated the Warrior Network to create a space for military to feel welcome and have their needs met.

“No matter what they’re dealing with, to step in and come alongside them and help them and just be that local family for them as they face whatever it is that they’re facing.”

In 2016, word about the Warrior Network had spread and the growth was explosive. Eric Hoffman, retired Air Force, said he knew from just one interaction with McGuire that the network was where he needed to be. He now serves as vice president of the organization.

“We are pulling, sometimes dragging, our young service members off base and into the community to do things and experience things. We’re giving our community something more than a bumper sticker that says ‘Support Our Troops,’” said Hoffman.

The organization worked hard to build bridges and establish connections between the airmen and our community. Events like the annual Christmas Toy Giveaway, Warrior Fest, Kid Fest, along with providing hurricane disaster relief and other outreach, the network was cemented in the Shreveport-Bossier area. Then 2020 happened.

“We realized in that moment how important it was for us to be flexible, to adapt,” said McGuire.

The team pivoted during the pandemic, creating an app that put them at the fingertips of anyone who needed it. They also rebranded from the Warrior Network to Every Warrior.

“Because people trust us and talk to us, I think when we run into good things and bad things we have ability to kind of voice that senior leadership. I see that in five years growing even more to where we’re allowed to talk a little bit more about some of the problems we see, some of the solutions we see, and have just a different perspective,” said Hoffman

No matter how big Every Warrior grows, the message and the mission stay the same.

“We’re here for every single service member, doesn’t matter what they bring to the table. It doesn’t matter if they feel like they’re the biggest mess up on the planet. We’re here and we want to be the people that believe in you, we want to be the ones that you run to when you feel like you have blown it, when you feel like you don’t know what way to go. We want to be that,” said McGuire.

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