Legit Charities for Fallen and Surviving Heros

I did a quick search - you're not on the Combined Federal Campaign, by chance are you? I know it's a long shot....

 

Not yet. We are working on it for next year.

 

Fair enough. I like to mix my contribution up every year, and haven't picked new ones for this year yet.

 

I second this one.

http://cst.dav.org/

Very highly rated as a charity. The DAV national headquarters is about a mile from where I grew up (and live now) and I have seen first hand the massive number of Veterans disabled or otherwise that they employ in addition to their charitable stuff.

They are great neighbors, and I contribute regularly.

 

Good shit!

Every once in a while we're challenged at HOOAH by someone who questions our programs. Most recently it was an individual who publicly criticized Freedom Freefall, our Veteran skydiving program. It turned out to be a good thing, because it started an interesting discussion that got to the heart of the misinformation about PTSD and depression, and how to treat it.

Our primary mission is to lower the epidemic rate of Veteran suicides through outreach and peer resources. Sounds like a bunch of corpo bullshit, but it's the best way I can describe it. We get Veterans together for whitewater rafting trips, fishing trips, skydiving, camping, and our biggest fundraiser, a 22 mile ruck march that brought out 600 people and raised over $70k this year.

We also provide relief to Veterans in financial trouble, coupled with counseling to help them get on the right track, and no-cost furnace repair and replacement through a program called Operation Cold Snap.

It's interesting that no one ever bats an eye when we get a vet caught up on mortgage payments, or get him/her a reliable and safe furnace to heat their home, but the programs that actually make the biggest difference are the ones that get Vets out having fun, and reconnected with their peers.

Your program is cool for the same reason. I'm sure there are detractors, like the woman who publicly told our VP that we were just out having fun on someone else's dime. She doesn't understand that prepping a bike, or having a track day to look forward to, or getting a shot of adrenaline when needed might be literally the reason a struggling Veteran decides that they want to wake up the next day. If you can save even one life, it's worth it. Nice work.

 

JBraun, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

 

Reminds me of this clip I saw a little while back. Same basic principle.

 

I have a few that are still here because of it. You "get it" its about bringing back the things they miss. Giving them a safe outlet to let go.

When you are on the track NOTHING else matters. 20 minutes every hour for a day sometime is the most some of the Vets have gotten out of their own head in years. Those minutes of extreme focus, and feeling alive can mean EVERYTHING to them.

 

Naw man, thank you!

 

I'm late to the thread on this, so I apologize. For those looking to donate to ANY charity (veteran or otherwise) you should look at the org's web page. They should have posted or provide upon request the following-

Tax filings
CEO evaluations
Annual report
Privacy statement for donors
A phone number and email contact info
A tax ID (lette of determination) from the IRS

The non-profit should also be registered with their state.

Ask questions about how the money is spent. If you want to see how the money you donated is spent, you can ask. You can also state that your donation go to a specific program: this is called restrictive funding and can only be spent on that dedicated mission.

VETMotorsports does great work. A lot of charities do amazing things. Some are poor. Do your homework. It's about asking the right questions.

Pete Cline
CEO / Founder
VETMotorsports.org