If you, your family (or someone you know) has been assisted by an organized charity during your military service/deployment, I'd like to hear about it.

I'm familiar with U.S.O., Fisher House, Armed Forces Emergency Services (American Red Cross) and the Navy-Marine Relief Society, but feel free to mention any that you feel provides for our armed forces and their families.

If you know (by experience, seeing it, etc.) they are actively helping is most important to me...

This info will be used to select a charity for donations and I appreciate your input. Feel free to IM me if you don't want to publicize it.

Thanks...

[edited the last sentence so readers would know the reason for the question is for a deposit not a withdrawal]

[url=www.aerhq.org/]Army Emergency Relief[/url]

Thanks cam_pin... Seen them in action?

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society [url]www.nmcrs.org[/url] is great.  They have helped a lot of my sailors in the past.  They provide either grants or no-interest loans to folks for things like plane tickets home for family funerals, emergency auto repair, etc.  Like I said - it's not always a grant.  They evaluate depending on the members need and ability to repay, but I have never seen them turn away someone who really needs the $$.

Thanks H46Driver... They sound like a good one.

WORCESTER
Central Mass. Shelter for Homeless Veterans
69 Grove Street
Worcester, MA 01605
Tara O'Connor, Executive Director
(508) 791-1213 (voice) (508) 791-5296 (fax) [email protected]

USO

Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  Basically it helps out the kids of fallen soldiers in the community.  It gets them through college and there are some other good things they do. [url]http://www.specialops.org/[/url]

I have to add that H46 Driver is right on target.  They took care of many of my Sailors when they were in a bind.

I also have some personal experience with the DAV.  I was expecting another government-type bureaucracy, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.  They do all the legwork and processing of paperwork and act as the veteran's personal liaison with the Veteran's Administration.

Cost to the vet:  $0.00

Any money donated to either organization is money well utilized.

Salvation Army was a help to some of my troops.  USO, Relief Societies (Army, Navy-Marine Corps, AF and CG, etc)are all good.  DAV.

Briefly for a while before somebody got too sensitive about it we got away with having a few drills at the VA Hospital in La Jolla in the Neuro-Psych Ward helping, just helping and were  new faces.

I might suggest that some of the VA Hospitals in your area might have some needs that some specific directed donations that can help some of the troops.  I think we all try to forget that some of our brothers have been warehoused, doing something for them would be a good thing.

Yeah, they helped out some of my soilders in times of need and soilder's wives during deployments. A true asset to the Army communty. Great organisation!!

Thanks for all the info. men... We usually donate to our local community, but with all the deployments we thought we should reach out a little further this year and knowing a few charities that are getting the assistance to the ones in need is very helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!