Student Veterans Get A Glimpse Of RV Life
"I just think the RV lifestyle is perfect for veterans; it's clean, simple & cost-effective,” Gigi Stetler, owner of Planet RV in Florida, says.
"Everyone needs something to look forward to and I thought this might be one of them," explains Gigi Stetler, owner and CEO of RV Broward, or Planet RV, in Florida. Stetler is referring to her RV dealership's work with a Nova Southeastern University veteran's trip to the Student Veterans of America's National Conference (NACTCON 2018) in San Antonio, Texas. It's the largest annual gathering of student veterans, advocates, thought-leaders, stakeholders, and supporters in higher education, and its purpose to aid the students and alumni with as much knowledge as possible from their peers. Stetler's dealership sponsored the veterans and let them use an RV to travel to Texas from Florida and plans to do more for the veterans, such as have weekend trip raffles and things like that.
"At first I didn't really understand the program," Stetler says, "When I thought of veterans, I would have visions of WW2 Vets and older folks - I never thought of veterans as students in our colleges." Indeed, more than a million college students attend college by way of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which pays in-state tuition and gives stipends for books, supplies, and housing. The Bill was passed in 2008 by George W. Bush and gave a sharp increase in veterans enrollment in University that continues today. Kelsey De Santis is the NSU Veteran Resource Center Coordinator. “Gigi is amazing,” De Santis says. “She didn’t just sponsor us going to San Antonio, she is invested in the idea of helping veterans.”
The roots of the Student Veterans of America goes much further back than 2008, though - to the time of World War 2. Franklin Roosevelt signed a law that helped with veterans returning back to civilian life known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. When soldiers returned from the war, many went to colleges and basically overwhelmed the school system. As a result, relying on a skill learned in the military, veterans banded together to overcome both basic school life challenges, as well as transitional challenges to earn college degrees. “When I first came to NSU after leaving the Marine Corps, they didn’t have a veterans resource center, so we formed one,” De Santis says.
"It must be shocking being so young and not knowing anything then going over there and seeing so much," Stetler reflects, "And coming back here and trying to come back into society would be really hard." She explains that this is some of her motivation for introducing the RV lifestyle to the Veterans. "My staff was in talks with the NSU Vets and, honestly, I thought they were just trying to sell us something. I ended up reading the material from the presentation and immediately contacted my Executive Assistant and told them to do something for these people." De Santis says that Stetler was very encouraging and helped the veterans resource center at NSU tremendously. “She sponsored us and, now, we have other businesses in the area that want to help because of what Gigi did.”
Her motivation for reaching out to others (Planet RV has a long history of charitable activity with displaced victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters) also comes from her own work to rise above all obstacles. From nearly losing her life by being stabbed 21 times 30 years ago and being left for dead, she rose to be a prominent RV dealer in Davie, Florida. "My friend bought a piece of land and asked me to get rid of the RVs on the property," Stetler recalls. So that's really how it all started for Gigi.
The road was not easy, mainly due to her being a woman in what is and was primarily a male-dominated industry. "It is funny because most of the time the person actually buying an RV is a woman," she laughs. Her efforts along the way were met with laughter, bullying, even conscious, systematic efforts to ensure her failure, but she refused to give up and continued to strive. “Though at one point we were a really big operation with 4 stores and 16 satellites, now I go under the radar,” Stetler points out. She has seen how monopolized the industry has become and would rather stay out of all that.
Her business smarts, along with a strong spirit, has contributed to her success, something she passes on to others through the charitable actions such as work with the student veterans. “I just think the RV lifestyle is perfect for veterans,” she says, “It is clean, simple, and cost-effective.” Speaking further with Kelsey, she reflects on the group road trip to the conference. “We had so much fun. It was a 27 hour trip and we were able to spend the time getting into deep conversations and really connecting,” she recalls. “We felt like we were part of a family, just like it was in the military. Plus, some of the connections we made at the conference, like Google and Amazon, are priceless.”
A lot of people perhaps underestimate the transition to civilian life from the military, especially veterans coming from a war. Coming from a world where everything was controlled and had meaning, to a place where options are endless, and, instead of purpose, a general public apathy prevails, is difficult. It can be too much for some folks. Statistically speaking, about 20 veterans commit suicide a day. These trends need to stop and that starts with organization, hard work, and wholeheartedness. Thanks to people like Gigi Stetler, who knows from experience what it means to work hard for good, purposeful living, it will.
Andrew Malo
A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Education, Andrew has taught for the past decade in Chicago, New Mexico, and Japan. He enjoys tinkering with trucks and motorcycles, woodworking, reading and computer programming.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Kozy Kampers RV Park, which is 20 minutes from "downtown" Fort Lauderdale, the beaches, casino boats, jai-alai, greyhound and harness tracks, sport fishing and more! The park is easy walking distance to restaurants and shopping!