Nominated by the Summerset Volunteer Program, Summerset III resident Len Bregman was honored on Oct. 16 at the Culture to Culture Foundation gala event in Walnut Creek.

Bregman was one of 12 to win a top award of $250, along with other prizes. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he received the award for his unprecedented volunteer work with the Veterans Club in Brentwood. He has also served in volunteer leadership positions with several other veterans groups.

After founding the Summerset Veterans Club in 2001, and following the invasion of Iraq, Bregman became aware of our troops’ need for personal items they couldn’t obtain in the field. He motivated members of the Veterans Club and other community leaders to begin collecting personal items and soliciting donations to purchase items.

Bregman began shipping boxes of supplies – food, clothing and candy, plus thousands of golf balls and hundreds of golf clubs to troops in Iraq in 2007. To date, he has shipped more than 1,135 boxes, including shipments to Afghanistan. Bregman and his wife, Elly, keep a large binder of thank-you notes and photos from recipients. Troops in Afghanistan sent Len an American flag that flew at Camp Falluja.

“I intend to keep shipping boxes of supplies until the troops come home,” said Bregman.