The United Veterans Beacon House hosted their Veterans Salute Gala and one of the veterans honored in the Red Carpet Salute was Valley Stream resident Cpt. Lissette Lugo, US Air National Guard and a National Grid Compliance Manager. National Grid received the Community Partnership award.

Lugo joined the United States Air Force and served in active duty for 6 years in the Health Services Management field. While active, she was stationed in Oklahoma, Ohio and the Republic of Panama. When Lugo decided to pursue her engineering career full-time, she transferred to New York and joined the New York State Air National Guard in Newburg, NY. In 2011, she transferred to the 106^th Rescue Wing at Gabreski Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach, NY. She is currently a Medical Service Corp. officer with the rank of Captain.

During COVID, Lugo was selected to Command the Joint Task Force, Long Island Operations with over 500 military members under her command with over 12 different missions. She was responsible for the oversight of over half a million Covid-19 testing swabs and 1 million vaccines administered to communities. She received the Air Force Meritorious Award for her service during this critical time.

“The United Veterans Beacon House is a great organization, and Red Carpet Veteran Salute where 20 veterans were recognized was really something special that I will never forget,” said Lissette Lugo, Compliance Manager, National Grid and Veteran. “Having National Grid being honored is acknowledgement that our company supports veterans. I had to leave National Grid for over a year to serve during COVID and I was welcomed back with open arms, that says something about a company.”

National Grid received the Community Partnership Award, which was accepted by Keith Rooney, Director of Stakeholder Management and former US Marine. National Grid supports Beacon House through the companies Project C initiative which stands for commitment to community. By supporting several programs National Grid has supported 1,200 veterans in crisis. 

During National Grid’s volunteer Week of Service, Rooney led a team of volunteers that transformed veteran group homes. National Grid employees descended on group homes throughout Long Island, where they spent the day beautifying these properties to the delight of both the resident veterans and the surrounding neighbors. The grounds are now inviting and the new American Flags in the yards are a source of inspiration to the men who live there.

“I am proud of the great partnership that National Grid has with Beacon House because we are helping our brothers and sisters that have served this great nation,” said Rooney. “I had 50 volunteers sign up to work on a veteran home and I had to turn another 50 volunteers down, that is how much our employees care about our vets and want to help.”

This year was also the introduction of the Linen Closet, a program also supported by National Grid, that covers the cost of new household items for our veterans. Available to any veteran, the Linen Closet provides new bed linens, small kitchen appliances, and other necessities of life.

The United Veterans Beacon House improves the lives of veterans with honor and dignity.

Lugo is also a published author of “Una Oportunidad al Amor,” romance novel in Spanish published in 2012, she is currently working on her next book. She lives in Valley Stream with her husband and two children.

Related news article: Beacon House honors hometown veteran (LI Herald)

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.