fbpx

Joe Counts on You!

I’m going to be blunt. My son counts on you. Joe needs you now, today, and every day of the year. Later I am going to ask you to become a monthly donor. But first, I want to introduce you to my son who, like everyone served by Hammer & NER needs our consistent and dependable financial support....

Read More

Service & Legacy

In honor of Hammer’s 100th anniversary and NER’s 50th anniversary, we have published Legacies, a special anniversary magazine, celebrating our history, the people we have supported, and those who have made our mission possible all these years. Here is one of the featured stories: Barb Tuckner (on...

Read More

And the Band Played On

Vern Steffel has always loved to make people smile. As the band leader of the Whoopie John Band Orchestra, he played venues across the upper Midwest and as far away as Bavaria. With a focus on old-time music, primarily polka, the band played to standing-room only audiences until 2004 when it came...

Read More

What Makes Your Life Worth Living?

54 years ago, my baby Murray was born. He was a big boy, my bundle of joy. Murray looked like a typical kid but for some reason he was slow in meeting milestones. Why wasn’t he talking? Why wasn’t he doing the things that all the other boys could do? The doctors didn’t know why – though one...

Read More