Check out Warrior Foundation Freedom Station.
I rarely trust any charity as it seems most of the money goes to pay big salaries to those at the top.
I try to give directly to the person in one way or another.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842
Merry Christmas!
I hope this helps..
Not sure of the name, but I think Gary Sinese’ s charity for veterans would be trustworthy and effective.
I got sickened whenever I opened my mailbox and found calendars, chachki's, received a blanket from them and other stuff. I really wanted them to use the money for our Veterans and not keep sending me stuff.
After they started doing that, I cut off my annual donation and I now give to Fisher House. Much better organization than WW and they don't market the hell out of me or sell my name. I don't care that my employer doesn't match funds to Fisher House, I make that up myself.
I heartfully recommend Fisher House. IMO they do God's work.
I'm not sure what the rate of return is now, but back then it was something like two cents on the dollar, as in, for every dollar donated, only two cents went to the actual vets.
Much mismanagement, bordering on criminal, although I can't prove it.
Anyway, approach with caution, request documentation of their stated projects, mission, etc.
I no longer counsel wounded vets, but back when I was more involved, my advice was to stay away from them, as their mission seemed to be more self-aggrandizement that actually helping a wounded warrior.
Unless you count a fleece blanket and a teddy bear as a "help" for a wounded warrior.
But check them out for yourself.
I have been told from more than one source that a new CEO and a few other administrators are working hard to clean it up and have in fact made giant strides in the rate of return.
If true, good on them.
I'm not going to get involved any at all with them, but please, if you find out some good positive stuff, let us know.
I have switched all my effort into Masonic outreach programs and the Gary Sinise Foundation.
The Gary Sinise Foundation is probably the most effective program going on now.
Check it out.
Highly recommended.
There used to be a web site called Charity Tracker. It tells about all the charities and how much they pocket for themselves and how much they actually give to the people they claim they do. Around here we are always getting calls about giving to the State Troopers. My nephew is a Trooper. He said they were told by his bosses that this bunch gave less than one half of one percent to the Troopers and pocket the rest for themselves. They always use Cops, First Responders, Troopers, etc., to get money. Now I get calls from some group calling themselves Veterans for Veterans or some name like that, wanting money. I told them I was a veteran and had never heard of them, nor seen a penny from them. How did I collect some of this money they were collecting for we veterans. I got a couple of utters and then he hung up. So, check with that Charity Tracker type site. I might be somewhat wrong with the name, but you can Bing, Google, whatever, it.
Let me tell you a story.
My kid went to a private religious middle school. The kids did a huge fundraiser for WWP and were excited to present it to the foundation. Right before that could happen, WWP told the school they could not accept the funds unless they took the name of the school off of the presentation. Needless to say, my kid came home crying as did many others. Parents were outraged, it hit national news and we and many others called the WWP and reamed them a new one. Yes, this was during the *shudder* obama years but before the mismanagement information came to light. The school donated to an organization that provides motorized all terrain wheelchairs to vets.
Never will I donate to them again. Ever. I hiss at their commercials and the country singer who appears in them.
Operation Once In A Lifetime
https://operationonceinalifetime.com/?p=52
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDE_wMbPCac
In the past, I’ve donated four round trip airline tickets to Operation Once In A Lifetime so active-duty soldiers could come home for Christmas. Sgt. Sowers, founder of this organization, and I have talked on the telephone at least three times. I highly recommend this organization for all that they do for our troops.
I found it. It is https://www.charitynavigator.org/. They rate the charities, not Tracker as I mentioned.
One way to judge any charity is to ask them how much of donations goes to overhead and how much to the actual cause. I’ve heard one of the largest animal protectors gives out 1$ to help pets and keeps $19 of every donation.
If these organizations want to make a real splash they should work on paying and providing for mental health visits to PTSD specialists. It seems all that makes the news cycle is the lack of access to VA shrinks and a rising suicide rate because of it. You don’t hear lack of VA care for battlefield injuries because there isn’t any, only mental health. The biggest backlog for disability claims seems to be in the mental health areas as a $$ rating for the PTSD money pie must be made by the VA. Seeing non VA shrinks will help in getting a rating also once they get past the backlog.
Give To Hillsdale College. All the rest are scams.
You can find out everything about them here.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.VhGsrmCFO1s
Other ORG’s you may want to check out:
Wounded Warrior Project (FL) 86.02
Operation Homefront (TX) 95.25
Army Emergency Relief (VA) 93.98
USO of Missouri (MO) 96.83
Coast Guard Foundation (CT) 87.42
A history of corruption. They say they have new, honest leadership. They may even be telling the truth. Over a quarter of the money you give goes to fundraising expenses or ‘overhead’ (payroll and other expenses). Overhead runs about $13 million a year.
It does get 3 out of 4 stars from Charity Navigator.
Thank you for being charitable to your fellow man. Merry Christmas. God bless! I’m sure whatever your lead to donate to will be a blessing.
I give to St Jude’s when I can. I also give to others as I feel the calling.
I’d recommend Gary Sinise Foundation
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Check out DAV (Disabled American Veterans)