Bios

Laura Brown
The Founder of Laptops for the Wounded

Laura Brown of Cody, Wyoming had the “brain child” of Laptops for the Wounded. Her son was army airborne in Mosul, Iraq for the first year of this war and with the Grace of God he came home healthy and with no APPARENT deficits, and a grown man. AFTER he was out of active duty, although he is still a US Army active reservist in West Virginia, Laura realized that there is significant need to support our wounded troops to give back to those troops and their families who were NOT so blessed. Almost a survivor’s guilt response. So with a personal goal of putting 4 laptops in military medical facilities she started finding ways to make $5 or $20 and sometimes significantly more through begging, raffles, 50-50’s, word of mouth, and networking on message boards, managed to get 6 laptops out, surpassing the goal of 4, so may as well continue!!! Still had money, so couldn’t quit…then a US Army soldier, Brandon Peterson, sent a short little letter to the editor in the Soldier of Fortune magazine and it netted Laptops for the Wounded (LFTW) the Drouins, who are now our President/Chief Executive Officer and Vice-President/ Chief Financial Officer (we are the 3 officers of the Board of Directors), and my former webmaster Jody, who is the greatest guy who works steadily on finding ways to improve our exposure and improve our website. He finds ways even when I think it is perfect. This organization would not be anywhere without these 3 people who came on board as our core team. That same little letter to the editor also resulted in people raising money for LFTW – one such effort was a 50-50 drawing resulting in the winning ticket winner and LFTW splitting a total purse of $20,000!!!!! It is people like that that keeps this going and has definitely changed my feelings of who Americans REALLY are, and how many share the same insight that it is our RESPONSIBILITY AS AMERICAN CITIZENS to look after our vets, our troops, and all of their families.

Laura’s background is in medicine, all her adult life, until she became unable to work any longer about 20 months ago because of a fall down the basement stairway resulting in a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and badly injured back. She has learned that a laptop is her best friend (besides her golden retriever, Chester), and has kept the world open to her to feel a part of it and give her a way to continue to give back. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “when you quit producing, you begin to die”. That is exactly what she has been trying to say all along, but just saw it in writing lately.

In her own words:
"I thank the support and inspiration of my son and his friends, the rest of our troops – many of whom I “adopted” while they were overseas, our veterans, the core team for LFTW, and the general American public, and very strongly because I can relate completely with them as well, the military families. There are so many sacrifices and it is MY responsibility to do all I can for as long as I can. May God Bless our troops and their families, and God Bless America."

Philip E. Drouin, is the President and Chief Executive Officer and theformer Primary IT Refurbrisher of Laptops for the Wounded. Mr. Drouin joined the Laptops for the Wounded charity in August 2006 after learning of the organization’s mission in the Soldier of Fortune magazine.

Since joining the charity as a volunteer, Mr. Drouin raised funds and donated laptops to be used by our combat wounded American soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors to remain in contact with loved ones while recuperating from combat wounds in various military hospitals. In May 2007 the founder of Laptops for the Wounded, Mrs. Laura Brown, asked Mr. Drouin to accept the position of Vice President, Member of the Board of Laptops for the Wounded.

Mr. Drouin is a disabled prior service member of the United States Air Force, and was a C-130 Crew Chief stationed at Elmendorf AFB., Alaska. Mr. Drouin also aided the Desert Storm War effort by working for the Royal Saudi Air Force in Saudi Arabia as a C-130 Crew Chief through Lockheed-Arabia from October 1990 until April 1992. Mr. Drouin’s service, patriotism and love of America, was the motivation for his involvement with Laptops for the Wounded. His passion is helping his former brothers in arms who were wounded keeping America and her citizens free.

Mr. Drouin is currently an Information Technologies Project Manager for UnitedHealth Group in Connecticut. Prior to his current position, he was a Senior Applications Mainframe Developer with UnitedHealth Group; and a Senior Applications Developer Consultant with Computer Horizons.

Mr. Drouin has been listed in Cambridge Who’s Who for executives, is a Lifetime Member of the North American Hunting Club, and enjoys golf and big game hunting. Mr. Drouin is a graduate of Terryville High School in Terryville, CT. Mr. Drouin’s extended education includes the Community College of the Air Force (Aircraft Maintenance) and Tunxis Community College in Farmington, CT. (Computer Programming). Mr. Drouin currently resides in East Hartford, CT. with his wife Kathleen; who is also the Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board of Directors for Laptops for the Wounded.

Kathy Drouin's Bio:

Kathleen M. Drouin, is the Vice-President/Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board Board of Directors of Laptops for the Wounded. Mrs. Drouin joined the Laptops for the Wounded charity in August 2006 after her husband learned of the organization’s mission in the Soldier of Fortune magazine.

Since joining the charity as a volunteer, Mrs. Drouin helped raise funds and donated laptops to be used by our combat wounded American soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors to remain in contact with loved ones while recuperating from combat wounds in various military hospitals. In May 2007 the founder of Laptops for the Wounded, Mrs. Laura Brown, asked Mrs. Drouin to accept the position of Treasurer/Secretary, and Member of the Board of Laptops for the Wounded.

Mrs. Drouin is very supportive of Laptops for the Wounded mission as family is very important to her; and because of her husband’s strong passion to support our troops, though he no longer can physically be in the military.

Mrs. Drouin is currently the Manager of Global IT Service Support for Open Solutions in Glastonbury, CT. Prior to her current position, Mrs. Drouin was a Network Administrator and Office Manager with Computer Horizons in Glastonbury, CT.

Mrs. Drouin is a graduate of Manchester Community Technical College in Manchester, CT with a degree in Political Science. She also has technical training for an MCSE certification at New Horizons in Windsor Locks, CT. Mrs. Drouin currently resides in East Hartford, CT. with her husband Philip; who is also the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Board of Directors for Laptops for the Wounded.

Michael E. Frigault

Michael Frigault is the Mid-Atlantic District Representative for Laptops for the Wounded, Inc.  In 1966 Michael Frigault was born and raised in Bristol, CT; joined the enlisted ranks of U.S. Navy in 1985 and for 20-years, served honorably, around the world, with his wife, Vickie and three children, Danielle, Corinne, and Alexander.  Jan 2005, retired as a Navy Chief, dedicated his entire naval career to the Navy's elite Cryptologic Community.  Michael is currently employed with Northrop Grumman working on Department of Defense contracts supporting today's war-fighter and defining the future success of the war-on-terror.