CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Commandant Todd Jacobus, left, is pictured accepting a donation of over 400 books from Nichole McDowell, right, of Graham Construction, a 3G Company, last Tuesday.

Last Tuesday, Commandant Todd Jacobus accepted a generous donation from VALOR, a veterans employee resource group at Graham Construction of Des Moines. Nichole McDowell created a book drive for the Iowa Veterans Home Library and delivered over 400 books.

Graham Construction was founded in 1981 by John Graham. John, a veteran himself, struggled to find a construction company that aligned with his ‘think from the client’s point of view’ mentality, so he built the company he wanted.

John and his wife, Barbara, were incredibly philanthropic and that philanthropic commitment to the communities we serve is something that Steve Hauschilt, CEO/Owner, continues to encourage within the company to this day.

“3G Companies and Graham Construction, a 3G Company, remain committed to supporting the veteran community as well as supporting its veteran employees and employees still serving in the Guard/Reserve. This led to our company being honored with multiple awards from the ESGR (Employee Support of the Guard & Reserves) including the Secretary of Defense National Freedom Award in 2025. The Secretary of Defense National Freedom Award is the highest official government honor a civilian employer can receive for their support of Guard and Reserve employees. We are one of eight total Iowa companies to have received this honor,” he said. “With support of our Leadership Team, VALOR (Veterans Advancing Leadership, Opportunities, and Resilience) our veteran employee resource group was founded in 2024. In addition to supporting employees who have served or are still serving, VALOR is committed to supporting veterans within our communities.”

Graham Construction’s veteran employee resource group, VALOR, was formed in the winter of 2024. Since then, they’ve hosted quarterly lunch and learns to educate veteran employees and veteran allies of VA benefits like the VA-backed home loan, veteran mental health resources, burn pit registries and presumptive positives, helped veterans navigate the VA and establish care through them, supported an Iowa VFW Post’s food drive that resulted in 265 pounds of food items and toiletries being donated, rebuilt horseshoe pits on the DSM VA Main Campus, sanded and stained raised flower beds at the DSM VA Main Campus, performed general landscaping at the outdoor PT garden at the DSM VA Main Campus and hosted a book drive in May 2026 to celebrate National Military Appreciation Month.

3G Companies has supported non-profit organizations like Blue Star Mothers of Iowa and Project Healing Waters through grants and donations of items for care packages. Employees have volunteered their time during work hours to help pack care packages with Blue Star Mothers of Iowa and to assist Iowa Service Dogs in their mission of providing trained support animals to veterans and first responders. Employees have volunteered their time outside of work hours to assist a local American Legion Post make repairs to help prevent an 80-year veteran from using a homemade scaffolding system made from plywood, buckets, and ladders.

Nichole explained how this project came about.

“A veteran I know from my high school days struggled after combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. When their PTSD coping mechanisms quit working, the veteran sought help at an VA inpatient clinic. Through the veteran, I learned that the VA and many other veteran based organizations rely on donated items for veteran recreation programs,” she said. “The Auxiliary at my Legion Post picks a project or organization monthly to support and through their donation to the Iowa Veterans Home recreation fund, I realized that there were likely many places that could use donated books for the benefit of veterans without it impacting their budget.”

She also has a soft spot for Marshalltown. Her husband lived here until he was 12 and his grandparents, Bob and Joyce, lived in Marshalltown until Bob’s death in 2013.

“Grampa Bob was in the Army during the Korean War and the first time I met him, he and Gramma Joyce took me to Taylor’s Maid-Rite. I ate two Maid-Rites (wet with everything, except cheese!) and Grampa Bob was beside himself with how much I ate,” Nichole said. “He talked about it for years! So, if I could tie my veteran book drive into a trip to Marshalltown and honor Grampa Bob with a stop at Taylor’s Maid-Rite on the way home, well it just seemed right.”

Nichole also went into how she managed the large book drive.

“Prior to hosting our book drive, I had experience in organizing a Toys for Tots drive as well as VALOR’s Food Drive. I took a lot of what I learned from those endeavors and applied it to the book drive. With four different regional offices and multiple project sites throughout the four regions, I’ve found that making an Amazon List helps drive participation from employees outside of my office/region,” she said. “The VALOR Book Drive list had a variety of books on it – different genres and price points – and I set the shipping address to our Des Moines office. After emailing the link out company wide, I received a package from Amazon within 4 hours. Same day shipping is WILD and amazing. Such a quick response nearly made me cry and I am NOT prone to tears.”