How We Help

August 2008, Discovery Bay, CA
Thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and participants of the 1st Annual Joey Graves Memorial Golf Tournament, five teens from the local area were able to attend this year’s Freedom Alliance Military Leadership Academy held in Virginia at USMC Base Quantico and US Army Fort Eustis.

The teens selected were Randall Gragg from Antioch, Lucas Masellli and Samuel Silva from Freedom H.S, and Michelle Ambrose and Tyler Perry both from Ripon’s Jr ROTC program. The Freedom Alliance Military Leadership Academy provides leadership training for life, emphasized through core values of selfless service, courage, dependability, integrity, responsibility, respect and teamwork.

Some Gave All – The Joey Graves Foundation and the America First Foundation continue to strive to provide opportunities for our area youth to develop their leadership skills and to better prepare them to be America’s leaders of tomorrow.

Discovery Bay, CA
Starting on September 1, 2011 the Town of Discovery Bay is proud to be displaying twenty-six (26) banners of ‘fallen heroes’ from the Bay Area and California. This project is sponsored by “Some Gave All” – the Joey Graves Foundation. The nine foot tall banners will be on display through Veterans Day.

“We feel it is important to make sure that the memories of those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms should never be forgotten. Gold Star Families (families who have loved ones that have been killed in action) are the hidden casualties of these ongoing conflicts” explains Leianne Graves, whose idea it was to sponsor this display of honor.

The Graves‟ have financed this through their foundation and are working with the cooperation of Supervisor Mary Piepho‟s office, PG&E, and the Town of Discovery Bay. The labor for the project is being generously donated by Mike Tennyson and the employees at Tennyson Electric of Livermore.

Kevin Graves founded “Some Gave All” to honor his son, U.S. Army Specialist Joseph A. Graves, who was KIA in Baghdad, Iraq on July 25, 2006. “Our primary mission is to support Gold Star Families. We do this by working with other Bay Area organizations to provide venues for healing and by providing opportunities for our fallen heroes to be honored” Graves says. “We also provide support for active duty and veterans’ programs.”

The California Department of Veterans Affairs today received a $10,000 donation from the Joey Graves Memorial Foundation for Project: Gold Star. These funds were raised during a golf tournament held on September 21, 2009 in Discovery Bay, California in honor of Joey Graves. “This wonderful donation from Kevin Graves, father of Joey Graves, brings our total to date to $28,455,” said Roger Brautigan, Acting Secretary for the California Department of Veterans Affairs. “But lots more still need to be done to reach the $300,000 needed to allow the state to produce these much desired license plates. I hope Californians continue to open their hearts and wallets to give the families who have lost loved ones to military conflict the ability to honor their memory by proudly displaying these plates.”

Joey Graves was a son, grandson, husband, friend, and hero who paid the ultimate price in defense of our freedoms. This year’s 3rd Annual Joey Graves Memorial Golf Tournament benefitted Project: Gold Star, which was set up by the California Department of Veterans Affairs to help raise the necessary funds needed to produce Gold Star Family License plates. These Gold Star Family License plates will be made available to families whose loved ones are killed while serving on active duty in the military.