Veteran wants to help other vets with Hogzilla food truck

Share Farlin knows what it is like to be without a job. To go to interview after interview, leaving with nothing more than a handshake and a "thanks for your service to our country."

After being discharged from the Army, he went on those job interviews for four years. He says at one point the discouragement was so great, and he was so close to taking his own life he had called the military suicide hotline, asking for help. So when Farlin says getting hired by Sonny Singh to work at his barbecue restaurant, Hogzilla, saved his life it's no exaggeration.

That's why he wants to build a business of his own, to help other veterans who find no one wants to give them a chance when they return to the workforce. About 722,000 out of 21.4 million U.S. veterans were unemployed in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Michigan had the second-highest veteran unemployment rate in the U.S. with a 10.6 percent, second only to New Jersey.

Unemployment was particularly difficult for Farlin, someone who describes himself as a person who needs a mission in life. He's a man who has only wanted to be in the military. He had gone to military school at 14, was leading 89 other students there by age 15, enlisted in the Army at age 17, and was subsequently deployed to Iraq.

His military careers was upended in 2004, when coming back from a supply mission in Fallujah on Memorial Day weekend he saw scorch marks in a gutter. He leaned over the gutter to see what had made them and a bomb went off in his face. His team was immediately ambushed.

They made it out of the kill zone and Farlin, who was near death, was taken by helicopter to get treatment. He ended up losing an eye. His major concern was whether he would be allowed to stay in the military since till then that was all he had wanted to do.

Military officials assured him that his eyesight would not end his military career and that he was the kind of "go-getter" the military wanted. But when Farlin was diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that often occurs when a person has gone through an extreme emotional trauma that involves the threat of injury or death), the Army let him know his career over.

The long search for civilian employment began and his new battle was to fight the stigma that comes with being a veteran who has been in battlefield.

Now that he has worked for Hogzilla and learned the business, Farlin has found a project that he says has given him a new purpose and drive. He wants to be the first full-service food truck in Calhoun County and he has Singh's blessing to use the name Hogzilla Squeals On Wheels. The truck will have a military theme and has been built in a style reminiscent of military vehicles.

Farlin originally explored the idea with the Veteran's Administration and he purchased the box truck with a small business loan after taking out a lien on his car and his wife's. He initially believed that funding available through the VA to help vets get back to work could be used to fit a truck with the kitchen and food prep area. Cuts to the federal budget dashed those hopes and now Farlin has turned to crowdfunding through Kickstarter to get the money needed for the truck.

He's determined he needs $50,000 to prepare the truck as needed. By June 4, 52 people had pledged $4,105 dollars of that amount. The campaign runs till June 28.

Farlin says he wants people to know that pledges made through Kickstarter are not simply a donation. Instead, backers get something in return, depending upon the level at which they contribute. Meals and catered events are among the items that will be received by those who donate specific amounts to the cause. For example, one of the unique reward for donors of $750 is that Farlin will make 100 sandwiches to be donated to a charity of the backer's choice.

As the Kickstarter campaign proceeds, Farlin will continue to work from a vending trailer owned by Hogzilla. The vending trailer allows him mobility, but because of the type of license under which it operates, food cannot be prepared in it. All food must be made in advance, which limits the amount of time it can be in use on any given day. And food can't be made to order in the vending trailer. "I can't even cut up vegetables," Farlin says.

Even so, with help in negotiations coming from Sprout Urban Farms Farlin is finding places to operate by negotiating to use private property, including First United Methodist Church. Negotiations are ongoing with Davenport University. He also has obtained a contract with Portage Parks and Recreation.

As Farlin moves ahead with his plans, the City of Battle Creek has not yet fully warmed up to the idea that food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants can complement one another. The status of food trucks has been a matter of ongoing debate in the city and action that would have allowed them in a certain area was tabled at a recent city commision meeting when the vote appeared to be tied.

Meanwhile, plans for the interior of the truck have been drawn up. Farlin has a menu ready to go and once funding is secured through the Kickstarter campaign he says that the truck can be on the road and serving meals by late July or early August. That includes time to fit the truck with the required equipment and for it to be inspected and licensed.

The menu will feature the barbecue that Hogzilla has become known for as well as its legendary macaroni and cheese (deep fried mac and cheese is also planned). What you won't find is the gourmet food that some food trucks specialize in, as Farlin sees that niche as filled in the area.

Though he wants to employ others, initially all his help is coming from his 69-year-old grandmother, Edna Peavyhouse.

For Farlin, the plans for Hogzilla: Squeals On Wheels is just the beginning. What he hopes is that this truck will prove successful enough that he will be able to purchase and fit out other trucks to provide jobs for veterans. The other trucks would not serve barbecue, but instead have a unique menu so they would not be in direct competition with one another. The trucks could rotate through various locations.

He has no doubts about who will staff them.

"I know vets make good employees," Farlin says.

Kathy Jennings in the managing editor of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor.