Joliet Marine veteran uses woodworking to help other veterans

A Joliet U.S. Marine veteran and his wife started attending craft shows two years ago with their products as MVB WoodWorking. Before they realized it, they discovered how to help veterans with their wares, too.Michael V. Ballard, a retired captain from the Joliet Fire Department, and his wife Jillisa Ballard attended The Promenade in Bolingbrook and saw the K9s for Veterans Outlet Store. Michael said he and Jillisa went inside, talked to the volunteers working at the retail store and learned about the organization.U.S. Army veteran Michael Tellerino of Plainfield founded the nonprofit K9s for Veterans in 2018.K9s for Veterans aims to use trained service dogs to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and transition back to civilian life once their military service has ended.“Everything in the store that they’re selling was donated or bought from veteran-owned companies at cost,” Michael Ballard said. “And then they sell it and make the profit to help support their organizatio