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Return the favor. Telephone cards for troops overseas and needed financial help for their families. Veterans Administration claims assistance and community service programs. All free.
Why do we exist?
The VFW Foundation exists solely to support non-political programs that secure, manage and distribute resources to improve the lives of veterans, military service personnel, their families and communities. Our mission has always been to assist our brave troops overseas, their families back home and America’s often forgotten veterans. Here is a brief explanation of three of our most important programs:
Unmet Needs:
Aids deserving military families with funds to help ease emergency situations relevant to rent, mortgage, utilities, vehicle repair, medical expenses and food/basic assistance. Since 2004 the program has distributed $2.3 million to 1,621 military families. Due to a corporate sponsor our administrative costs are covered so that 100% of all donations go directly to disbursements.
National Veterans Service:
The VFW employs representatives who help veterans file disability claims related to their prior military service. In 2007, the VFW helped veterans recover an astonishing $965,236,118! Projections for 2008 suggest an even higher amount.
Operation Uplink:
Facilitates a variety of communication options for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and military hospitals so they can talk on a regular basis with family members in the US. For example, we have issued over 9,000,000 free long-distance telephone cards. We also sponsor Cyber Café Days on major holidays so troops can call home and see their loved ones simultaneously via computer webcams. A typical call day averages 80,000-90,000 conversations (approximately 13,500,000 minutes of talk-time in 2008)!
What have you accomplished?
Here is a typical example of how the VFW Foundation helps our service population through Unmet Needs one of our main programs:
Robert, Chicago, Illinois
Robert was an Army Staff Sergeant in Iraq when his platoon walked straight into the path of an exploding IED. Two other soldiers were immediately killed. While Robert miraculously survived, he was hit with shrapnel that penetrated his lungs and heart. Some of the shrapnel remains in his body to this day, too dangerous to remove. Discharged from the military after a long recuperation, he was sent back to the United States to be with his wife and three children. Unfortunately, financial problems soon became overwhelming. The family’s only vehicle was about to be repossessed and the utility company was in the process of turning off their electricity. After a caseworker at Unmet Needs received his application for assistance, we immediately stepped in to provide urgent aid. Both financial problems were resolved and the family is now able to survive on Robert’s monthly VA disability check. While Robert’s medical condition is still very difficult with little improvement at least his family does not have to worry about financial burdens.
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