Supporting Our Troops: Organizations That Make it Happen

Written by:

Amanda Hughes

Amanda writes for several online sites and shares her views on world news, the environment and technology and how all of these subjects affect financial news in the U.S.

What would you do if you could change the world? Who would you do it for? Very few of us have the money or the power to effect large-scale change, but that shouldn’t stop us from identifying causes near and dear to our hearts and working to further their missions. Entrepreneurs, businesses, politicians and public figures all have some measure of power, be it financial or otherwise, to lend to their most cherished causes. That’s just the case with supporting America’s military forces, their families and our veterans.

Entrepreneurs like Bob Parsons, the founder and chairman of GoDaddy.com, supports military charities because of his time serving with the Marines during Vietnam. In December of 2012, the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation presented a $2 million check to the Semper Fi Fund. Of that staggering $2 million, half of it was donated by the Bob Parsons Foundation as matching funds.

Tough Mudder, a company that runs the toughest obstacle course in the world a 10 to 12 mile gauntlet set up at locations around the world works to support the Wounded Warrior Project, an apolitical charity to support the warrior, not the war. At the end of 2012 they had raised over $4 million to help soldiers and veterans with mental and physical injuries.

If you’re first lady Michelle Obama, you really do have the power to change the world or at least bring significant attention to issues you’re passionate about. One of the platforms Mrs. Obama has been most vocal on is support for our men and women in uniform. She and second lady Dr. Jill Biden have worked though the Joining Forces initiative to improve quality of life for current soldiers, veterans and military families.

One of the simplest ways to improve quality of life for military families is to help the rest of the nation understand their unique circumstances and needs. Many of our veterans have highly-developed and marketable skills and yet are unable to find employment. Military spouses also often suffer from being underemployed or unable to work in their fields. When a soldier is deployed or reassigned to a new post and must move his or her family across state lines, things tend to get complicated. Imagine the spouse is a nurse. Nurses are in high demand and yet, if the new state of residence doesn’t reciprocate the licensure, how can one get work? For non-military Americans its a problem rarely faced, but the families of those who sacrifice everything to protect our freedom it’s a very real problem.

According to the White House, when Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden made their pitch to governors in February of this year, only 11 states had legislation on the books supporting military spouse license portability. In just six months the number of states with supportive measures in place more than doubled to 26 states, and the goal is that no military spouse will ever need to leave their profession behind when their family is transferred. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden approached governors in February of 2012 to legislate in favor of military spouse license portability. At the time, only 11 states had legislation in place. Within six months, 26 states supported license portability. Military hiring initiative, Joining Forces, aims to see that “no military spouse will ever need to leave their profession behind when their family is transferred.”

Who else out there is helping our servicemen, servicewomen, veterans and military families? We’d love for you to tell us in the comments.