A delivery truck carrying $16,000 in new Bassett Furniture dressers, bedding, dishes, artwork and more made a surprise visit to two formerly homeless Westchester veterans who recently found housing as part of County Executive Robert P. Astorino's "100 Day Challenge" to house and employ veterans.

Bassett Furniture will open its first Westchester location in Hartsdale next week, and the company teamed up with Astorino's Patriots Housing Initiative to make sure its first local deliveries helped veterans in need.

"This type of partnership with Bassett and other local business and community leaders plays an important role in helping us to deliver on our mission of serving veterans in Westchester," Astorino said. "We welcome Bassett to Westchester and thank them for this generous partnership." 

The first delivery was made in Peekskill, where Doug Ferguson, a U.S. Air Force veteran, is renting an apartment. After 14 years of service and a brief bout of homelessness, Ferguson is now studying culinary arts at Westchester Community College and is employed full-time at the Veterans Administration in Montrose.

Just an hour later, another delivery was made.

Less than 10 miles from the site of the first delivery, Dennis O'Toole, a Vietnam veteran living in Croton, received a knock on his door. The retired U.S. Marine Corps vet, who has also struggled with homelessness, moved into an empty apartment earlier this month.

Both veterans were surprised to receive $8,000 in new furniture, dishes and bedding from Bassett. The company also donated custom artwork made by Hartsdale Bassett employees and housewarming baskets to help officially welcome the vets home. 

On Wednesday, David Baker, Vice President of Corporate Retail at Bassett Furniture Industries, presented Patriots Housing of Westchester with a check for $16,000 to represent the value of the furniture.

"We're honored to have our first deliveries in Westchester go to such deserving individuals," Baker said. "This donation is our sixth such donation in as many months, and with every new store we open, we try to make a point of giving back to the community before we open our doors for business. We have three more store openings planned this spring and look forward to giving back to deserving organizations and individuals in those communities as well."

Astorino's "100 Day Challenge" builds on Westchester's success in housing 75 homeless veterans in 100 days as part of the national "100,000 Homes" challenge. Westchester exceeded its goal, housing 85 veterans between August and November thanks to the efforts of the Patriots Housing coalition.

In January, Astorino announced the second phase of his "100 Day Challenge" – this time the goal is to house another 75 homeless veterans while also finding employment for 45 veterans.  

"It's an ambitious goal, but certainly a worthy one," Astorino said.

Bassett's newest store is located at 120 S. Central Ave. in Hartsdale and will employ a team of seven local designers. The store will host a ribbon cutting and reception on Thursday, April 3 at 4:45 p.m. From 5 to 7 p.m., local community leaders, media and Westchester designers are invited to get a first look at the new store, the centerpiece of which is the exclusive HGTV®HOME Design Studio. The store opens to the public on Friday, April 4. To find out more, visit Bassett Furniture online at www.bassettfurniture.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BassettFurnitureUS, or on Twitter at @Bassett US.