Lakewood Ranch teen using carpentry to help homeless veterans
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - One Lakewood Ranch teen hopes to end veteran homelessness, one flag at a time.
18-year-old Lorenzo Liberti began making American flags out of wood as a 16-year-old hobbyist.
"So going into the summer of 8th grade, my father wanted me to be productive, a little DIY project," he recalled. "I made something like what I call a Heroic flag."
As he perfected his carpentry skills, friends and family members encouraged him to sell the flags, so he did.
In another avenue of Liberti's life, he had compassion for the homeless.
"Growing up, my mother used to be homeless. It really changed her life," he admitted, "So every year, she'd bring us to go and feed the homeless at a food pantry. That's where I met that homeless Vietnam veteran."
Liberti realized that the flags, as a symbol of patriotism, held a deeper meaning than just wall art.
Liberti realized, "I could do something bigger than myself."
Through his artwork and sales, he's doing just that. Liberti started using the proceeds from his Heroic Flags company to contribute to organizations supporting homeless veterans.
In 2021, he started his own charity to help homeless veterans.
"I started an organization called Give-A-Buck," he shared, "The main idea is if every individual, every adult, gave one dollar a week for one year, 52 dollars, we'd have over 10 billion dollars. Which is more than enough to build something that I call Veterans Campus."
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He dreams that the venue would have all essential services for veterans, housing, education, health care and more.
The charity depends on giving, so he still gives the proceeds from his flags to that program.
"I make different flag sizes and that's how I sell them," he said. "Each one is priced at a rate where I can pay for the materials (and labor) after that, all of the profits go straight to Give-A-Buck."
He credits his parents and the lessons instilled by his father.
Liberti said of his dad's advice, "If you aim low and hit, it's worse than aiming high and missing."
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To learn more about the flag artwork, click here.
To learn more about the Veteran's Foundation Give-a-Buck, click here.