The four nonprofit military relief societies have joined forces on Giving Tuesday to encourage donations to help service members and their families with emergency relief, financial assistance and educational support.
The Air Force Aid Society, Army Emergency Relief, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance and Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society help more than 2.5 million service members, families and qualified retirees in financial need. All are four-star Charity Navigator-rated nonprofits.
Last year, their Giving Tuesday campaign raised more than $270,000 in donations, and Lockheed Martin donated $1 million. This year, Lockheed Martin will match every donation made Tuesday up to $1 million. To donate to one or more of the military relief societies, visit missionGIVE.us.
Giving Tuesday, which is held on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, began in 2012 as a way to encourage people to donate to their favorite causes worldwide. This is the third consecutive year the relief societies have joined together to raise funds through their “Mission Give” campaign.
“In addition to life events, rising inflation, the threat of global conflict, frequent deployments, and most recently, natural disasters, military life presents some unique challenges that many people are unaware of,” said Robert R. Ruark, a retired Marine Corps general and president and CEO of Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, in the announcement about the fundraising campaign. “It is the generous and sustained support from the general public that allows us to mitigate many of these challenges and hardships.”
The nonprofits’ offices are usually located on military installations. They provide grants and interest-free loans to help service members and their families in need. Their programs and services include emergency relief, disaster assistance, financial assistance, scholarships and other support.
The military relief societies have long stepped in to help service members and families with a variety of emergency financial assistance, such as car repairs, travel for unexpected events such as funerals and basic living expenses such as rent and utilities.
Recently, relief society programs have also targeted the cost of shipping infant formula, the costs to secure housing in an increasingly competitive market and the high cost of shipping pets to and from overseas on permanent change of station orders. They helped military families in Hawaii with costs associated with fuel contamination in the Navy housing’s water supply.
The oldest of the military aid societies is Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, which was established in 1904.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
