Note to STLPD:

Contact me for photos of the Living Patriot Prism at don@livingpatriot.com or 314-378-8890

October 29, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Louis Entrepreneur Invents Product and Initiative to Honor Living Patriots

It was the tiny grains of sand sifting through the folds of an American flag that inspired Don Fedorko to start the Living Patriot Initiative. Now his goal is to provide a ceremonial flag to every living U.S. serviceman and woman and first responder.

“It started when my brother-in-law, a Marine Colonel, returned from active duty in Iraq,” says Fedorko, a St. Louis designer and entrepreneur. “One night, he handed me a triangle-shaped box. Inside was a perfectly folded American flag.”

But this was no ordinary flag. It had flown over Camp Fallujah on the fifth anniversary of September 11, 2001.

“I was flooded with emotion and gratitude for such a gift. But it was those little grains of sand that brought home to me the reality of patriots, thousands of miles from home, putting their lives on the line every day for Americans like me,” recalls Fedorko. “Still, as I replaced the flag in its wooden case, something just didn’t feel right to me.”

First of all, here was a flag representing freedom and liberty, yet it was confined to a dark, wooden box. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the need to liberate that flag. Being a designer, Fedorko went to his workshop one night. It was nearly dawn when he emerged with a transparent flag display case that was anything but somber and constricted. Its triangular shape reminded him of a prism.

Practically overnight, Fedorko says friends began to notice his flag. “They insisted I should make more cases and offer them for sale, but I dismissed the idea because this flag had personal meaning to me and I was not keen on exploiting my reverence for the flag. But over time, it became clear to me that others loved the flag just as much as I did, and that maybe I was denying them a unique way to express it.”

The other thing that occurred to Fedorko was that American flags drape the caskets of fallen heroes and are ceremoniously folded and presented to the grieving families. “But what about the thousands of first responders who are also risking their lives every day to protect and defend American citizens?” he says. “What about the loved ones who are ‘keeping the home fires burning’ while their loved ones serve in faraway lands on our behalf? Shouldn’t they also be honored with a flag in a special way?”

With this thought in mind, Fedorko resolved that he would indeed offer his “Prism” display case for sale as part of an effort he calls the Living Patriot Initiative, whereby for every Prism sold, an additional, smaller Prism display with flag is to be presented to a living patriot. Fedorko has arranged for the first recipients to be the wounded heroes of Iraq and Afghanistan who are currently undergoing treatment at the U.S. Military Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

“We’re also donating a third, even smaller Prism case to youth organizations, to educate children about patriotism and the flag,” says Fedorko. “And we’ll be donating a portion of our profits to other worthy causes benefiting veterans.”

Fedorko launched his Living Patriot website on October 16, 2009. “While we will continue to design and make new products, our ultimate goal is to provide jobs for former, disabled and retired military men and women at our manufacturing and assembly facility right here in St. Louis,” says Fedorko. “What could be better than products built for patriots, by patriots?”

BRIEF BIO

Donald Fedorko was born in Pennsylvania and was raised there and in Texas as the middle of five kids. He spent a year at Penn State University, received his architectural design degree from The University of Texas at Arlington and spent a semester at Columbia University in New York. He has worked as a designer at some of the largest global architectural design firms including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) In New York City and HOK in Tampa, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. As an entrepreneur, he and his wife founded and co-own ImprovEyes, Inc., which has been in business since 1995 and provides unique solutions in architectural and product design, manufacturing, 3d visualization and art. He currently lives in St. Louis with his wife, Sarah, and their four children, ages 11, 9, 7 and 5. For more details, go to www.livingpatriot.com