Families Of The Wounded Fund Inc

Dear Families of the Wounded

Our son Sergeant First Class Devon Andrew Poole Army Medic wounded in Afghanistan July 24th 2020.

We deeply appreciate and gratefully acknowledge your expression of kindness and gratitude for Military Service. It will always be remembered by our family.

Thank you,
Kurtis and Angela Bartelt

When my husband was severely wounded in Afghanistan in 2012. He needed rehabilitation for speech and all his ADLs. He was transferred from Walter Reed to Richmond Va. The first day we were there we were visited by FOTW. They gave me a very gracious check help with any thing that my husband and I might need. I so thankful and great full for FOTW FUND for being there when we needed them most. They even followed up every months for the next year. They made it possible for my husband to come home for Christmas from Walter Reed that year. Thank you Families Of the Wounded fund.

This is an excellent organization. They are caring non judgemental people. They are always there when you need them. My family will be forever grateful.

My son was critically injured in Afghanistan November, 2009. I took a medical leave of absence from my job to be with my son as he recovered and went through rehabiliation. During my son's rehabilation stay at McGuire VA Hospital in Richmond, VA, I met Bill Haneke. He is on the Board of Directors for FOTWF. This is truely a caring and compasionate charity. Mr. Haneke truely cares for the wounded warriors and their families. The financial support was greatly appreciated; it helped with alot of our expenses and allowed me to be with my son during his long recovery.

Being affiliated with this organization is uniquely gratifying, but also instills an incredible level of responsibility to ensure our success in carrying out our mission: to help those (and their families) who have sacrificed so much in their efforts to protect us, our families and our nation. It is the distinct pleasure of each of our board members to do this. No pay. No reimbursable expenses. We don't operate that way. If you make a donation, each penny - be it part of a $5 donation or a $50,000 donation - goes into an account used only to fund checks to these families. None of us would have it any other way.

FOTWF is by far the most effective support group I have experienced. It's volunteers, many of whom served, and still serve are dedicated to the families of our brave service members who have come home injured but not broken. They and their families just need a shoulder to lean on and thank goodness these volunteers have broad ones! Thank you for all you do ---FOTWF!

Families of the Wounded Fund (FOTWF) should be an example of how other nonprofit organizations can help and support our injured military members. As a mother of a critically injured soldier in Afghanistan, I was called upon to be a caregiver for my daughter since April 2010. Without the help of FOTWF, our family would have experienced financial hardship. I took a leave of absence from my job (w/o pay) and recently found out that I was terminated from my position of 12 years. This was all due to the fact that my employer told me I had to make a choice. My daughter continues to need assistance as she recovers from her injuries. Without the kindness and generosity of this group, I hate to think what would have happened. We never anticipated a tragedy like this and mortgages, and other bills still need to be paid. Many organizations do wonderful things for our military, but FOTWF knows exactly what families need. My wish is the FOTWF could lead initiatives within the VA and DoD like this and get the message out that financial help is needed by the caregivers.

I have met several of the families receiving assistance and have been impressed with their stories on helping their loved ones who have been seriously injured in Iraq/Afghanistan. Thye sacrifice a great deal to help family members over the long road to recovery.The Fund was able to assist them in helping loved ones and relieve some of the financial burden imposed on them.There is no overhead and 100% of all funds raised go to the Families.

I have had the honor to see first hand how the Families of the Wounded Fund INC takes care of the immediate family members of our wounded service men and women. Family member's presence with their wounded loved ones undergoing treatment at McGuire VA Hospital is essential to the healing process. Many times these families need to spend weeks and months at McGuire away from their homes and jobs. They truly need the financial support that the Families of the Wounded Fund provides them. These funds enable them to pay for travel expenses such hotel rooms, meals, rental cars, etc. Items which are essential for them in remaing close to their wounded veteran while he or she goes through the healing and rehabilitation process so critical to their future.

The Families of the Wounded Fund (FOTWF) is run and administered by all volunteers; therefore, there is no overhead, there is no administrative fees. !00% of the donations are spent in direct support of the families of those wounded in combat who are being treated at the McGuire Medical Center--the Veterans Administration Hospital in Richmond, VA. The families are an essential element in the care and healing and recovery of those severely wounded. However, our Government is very restricted in the manner in which these families receive government paid financial support--it is very difficult to get and it is always insufficient. The FOTWF provides the financial resources so that these wounded troops can be cared for on-site in the hospital by their families. I've personally seen in so many instances how the FOTWF has provided the resources necessary to put these families back together to enable both physical and emotional recovery from the most severe, traumatic wounds one can possibly imagine. These troops have given so much; so should we; and supporting their families is the most rewarding, and effective means possible. May God continue to guide their recovery.

This all-volunteer oranization has helped nearly 200 families of severely wounded combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. These familes face the daunting challenges of caring for their injured family members who are being treated for brain and spinal cord injuries at the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, VA. Financial assistance from FOTWF has enabled family members to stay at the bedsides of their loved ones, a key to their successful recovery. This unique nonprofit has no overhead and commits all of its donations to these families who are sacrificing so much for our nation.

My name is Bill Haneke, US Army (Ret). I was an Army Military Advisor to the South Vietnamese in 1968, when I was severely wounded in combat and evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. During my extensive treatment & rehabilitation, my wife served as my caregiver and stayed at a civilian motel near the hospital. We went through every penny of our limited savings to keep her at my bedside which was essential for my treatment and survival. The Department of Defense paid and still pays little or nothing extra to these caregivers to help offset their extra expenses for lodging, meals, medical care, child care, etc. The casualities from the current War on Terror being treated at McGuire VA Medical Center, Richmond, VA, are some of the most severely combat wounded and are all still on active duty while undergoing treatment there. There family caregivers come from all over the U.S. and the majority have given up jobs to spend time caring for their loved ones, thereby severely reducing the family income. The presence and support of these family members is vitally important to the successful treatment of these wounded heroes. Consequently, the financial assistance given by the Families of the Wounded Fund to these caregivers is badly needed and an important factor in allowing these family members to remain with their injured loved one.