Five charities were honored for their work to help veterans
Marine veteran James Ferguson reunited many of his combat comrades from India Battery 3/12 over Memorial Day weekend, 2015. (Courtesy of Warrior Reunion Foundation)
A new charity that pays for and helps organize reunions for combat veterans has received a $50,000 grant, the highest honor in this year’s Newman’s Own Awards competition.
“The prevailing narrative about my veteran generation is wrong. We are not broken, we don’t need to be fixed, we don’t need over-engineered solutions. We just need each other,” said Marine Corps veteran James Ferguson, founder of the Warrior Reunion Foundation of Cockeysville, Maryland, in accepting the award at the Pentagon Friday.
Five organizations were awarded a combined total of $200,000 in a ceremony Friday at the Pentagon.
The organizations’ work “transcends the 50 people, 1,000 people, 100 people” they touch in their work, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford. “It’s sending a message that you value our veterans,” he said.
The other charities supported were:
- Code Platoon, Chicago, Illinois. Provides software coding training to help local veterans and military spouses pursue careers as professional software developers. Students can use their GI Bill benefits or apply for scholarships. Classes of eight to 12 students spend 60 to 80 hours a week for 14 weeks. The course is a mix of lectures, advanced coding training in Python and Ruby on Rails and team projects.
- West Virginia Health Right, Inc., Charleston, West Virginia. Provides free dental care to low income West Virginia veterans without dental coverage, through their Veteran’s Dental Program. The care includes cleanings, exams, fillings, extractions and dentures. This grant will be used to help fund a program that will use a mobile dental clinic traveling to six rural counties and the onsite dental clinic at their main office, treating 500 veterans in need.
- Healing Warriors Program, Boulder, Colorado. A nonprofit clinic that provides non-narcotic Integrative Care therapies to treat pain and symptoms of post-traumatic stress in veterans, active duty members and their families throughout the Colorado Front Range and southern Wyoming. Their mission is to advance the well-being through these evidence-based Integrative Care services and education.
- Vets on Track Foundation, Inc., Garrisonville, Virginia.Furnishes homes for veterans who have been placed into permanent housing after living on the streets or in a shelter. This “Fresh Start” program volunteers turn these houses into warm, loving homes with everything from sofas, beds, dining room tables and chairs, dishes and silverware, to pictures, pillows and blankets.
The entire article is HERE
Category: Military issues, Reunions, Veterans in the news
Nicely done. And no, no vets need to be “fixed”. Jobs, yes, but “fixed” – no.
Amen
“This summer, Newman’s Own passed the $500 million mark in its charitable giving since actor and Navy veteran Paul Newman founded the company in 1982, with the intent to donate all profits to charity”
I use his pasta sauce as a base for my own sauce. It’s kinda thick but I thin it with “no salt added” petite diced tomatos.
Newman’s Own Italian salad dressings are great for, besides a salad, marinating chicken or pork. A couple hours in a zip-loc bag and it’s off to the grill for some really good pig or yard bird.
No mention of The Daniel Bernath Foundation? This charity has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to worthy veterans in Indiana and West Virginia. The Daniel Bernath Foundation; Helping Others Because He Just Can’t Help Himself.
“No mention of The Daniel Bernath Foundation?”
I read somewhere that they went underground after a nasty court battle.
Too soon?
I start with Newman’s Own roasted garlic Alfredo and add a cup of good shredded parmesan to that. After the cheese has melted into the sauce I add a half a pound of cooked shrimp. Then pour this over quality fettuccine noodles.