04/24/2026
🔥 MEET THE TEAM: Sarge Raddatz & Del Bethel — The Founders Who Started It All
Some missions are born in boardrooms.
Ours was born at a VFW.
Years ago, two Marine Veterans — Al “Sarge” Raddatz and Del Bethel — were spending time at their local VFW when a news story came across the TV. A homeless veteran had frozen to death on the streets of Cleveland. Not overseas. Not in combat.
Right here at home.
For Sarge and Del, that moment wasn’t just heartbreaking — it was unacceptable.
They knew what it meant to serve.
They knew what it meant to protect.
And they knew that no veteran, no human being, should ever be left outside to die in the cold.
So they did what Marines do:
They acted.
What started as two friends collecting sleeping bags and delivering them directly to people living outside quickly grew into something bigger — a movement, a mission, and eventually the organization we now know as The Sub Zero Mission.
Their belief was simple:
If we can help, we will. If we can save a life, we must.
Today, Sarge and Del’s vision continues to guide everything we do — from our outreach teams to our Stay Alive Five warming items to every volunteer who steps into the cold to help someone survive another night.
Their leadership reminds us that compassion is action, service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off, and that .
Semper Fi, Sarge and Del.
Thank you for starting this mission — and for inspiring all of us to carry it forward.