Freedom Has A Face

Programs: The organization developed a program called "gifts of gratitude" and was able to reach 10 families of military's fallen heros to meet various financial needs. We were able to continue to build our memorial website by adding thousands of more names and features to help families of the fallen connect with fellow service members and grateful americas. These numerous names and new features were incorporated into a completely new website that was launched in december 2017. Some of these features include:1. Expanded virtual memorial wall where individuals can find and post public and private messages to military killed in action. 2. Enhanced chat room where gold star moms can privately chat with one another. 3. Made it easier for individuals to add a hero in our system. 4. Added the freedom spotlight, which posts non-partisan patriotic stories in the news meant to encourage americans. Gifts of gratitude fundoverview:though the lives of family members having a loved one killed in action are forever changed, the purpose of the gifts of gratitude fund (gofg) is intended to be a humble thank you from a grateful nation for the sacrifice these families have endured. The objective of the gog fund is to provide a tangible means for patriotic americans to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice paid on their behalf. This might include repairing a vehicle, fixing a roof, or catching up on overdue bills. Summary:following is a summary of the gifts of gratitude fund over the last 12 months. The detail for each summary project follows and selected notes of gratitude from after that 1. Wreaths across america- $2,000a. Spokane wa, wa state veterans cemetery- b. Wa. D. C. , arlington national cemetery- 2. Facing eviction, denver co- $3,5003. Nursing studies on a smartphone, arlington tx- $3,0004. Memorial for a living wwii army ranger, ft benning ga- $2,7005. -51 degrees outside, north pole ak- $1,800 6. Frankies patriot bbq, clearwater fl- $5,0007. The scholarship that didnt come, pittsburg pa- $3,0008. A new nurse needs help, san antonio tx- $3,0009. A critically sick child and overdue mortgage, albuquerque nm- $3,60010. Ranger scholarship fund- ft benning ga- $2,700total gifts of gratitude given in last 12 months: $30, 300. Gifts of gratitude recipients- detail (last 12 months)1- wreaths across americain 2014, wreaths across america and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the united states and beyond, including ceremonies at the pearl harbor memorial, as well as bunker hill, valley forge and the sites of the september 11th tragedies. The organization's goal of covering arlington national cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths. The wreath laying is held annually, on the second or third saturday of december. Waa's annual pilgrimage from harrington, maine to arlington national cemetery has become known as the worlds largest veterans parade, stopping at schools, monuments, veterans homes and communities all along the way. Waa participates in veterans events throughout the year and has a veteran liaison on staff to work with local veterans organizations. The core of waa and fhaf is the same, a person dies twice: once when they take their final breath, and later, the last time their name is spoken. Therefore, fhaf is an enthusiastic supporter of waa. In 2016 we gave $1,000 to support the arlington cemetery project and in 2017 $1,000 to the local washington state veterans cemetery in medical lake, wa. 2- facing evictionby the time fhaf was notified about *dorothys situation by her fallen sons, (brett kia 1/7/2006 fallujah) marine brothers, she was less than 12 hours away from receiving an eviction notice and was in jeopardy of having her sons belongings auctioned off because of a delinquent storage bill. Additionally, other utility bills, etc. Were piling up because of dorothys recent break in employment. By that evening, 4 other marine brothers that were with her son when he was kia stated that the gifts of gratitude fund was their only hope to help their newly adopted mom from a desperate situation. They had taken up a collection between them but came up significantly short. They could hardly bare the thought of the mother of a fallen brother would soon receive an eviction notice and that the storage space keeping her sons belongings would soon be auctioned off. Within 24 hours, fhaf had contacted dorothys landlord and the storage facility in another state; we caught up her rent, storage and utility bills. Additionally, we paid these bills for the coming month. Fhaf also helped dorothy put together a new resume. Within a few weeks dorothy had found a better job and was once again receiving a steady income. *not her real name3- nursing studies on a smartphonesince she was seven, *marie was mom to here two younger brothers, jose and andrew. Her duties included teaching them english and how to ride a bike while her father worked during the day and went to night school to earn a degree in law enforcement. Marie took on a job early in life to make to make sure her brothers could play sports and go to prom. They were an incredibly close family. Both boys joined the army after high school. Then in 2004 jose was killed in iraq and in 2006 andrew lost his life in afghanistan. A few years later marie lost her father as well. To honor her family, marie decided to earn a nursing degree. Eventually the mac computer her bother, jose gave her 17 years earlier died and she was forced to do her nursing school homework on her smartphone. Fhaf purchased marie a new 15 mac book pro, with ms office suite to replace the one her endeared brother had bought as a gift. As a note marie has just finished (11/17) her 8th military memorial marathon to honor the fallen. Go marie! *not her real name4- memorial for a living wwii army rangeronce in a while the descendants of wwii army rangers meet for a reunion. This past summer was the 75th anniversary of rangers being re-established in june 1942. Thus, it was particularly important to have as many living wwii rangers present for this celebration and memorial service activities. The event was held at ft benning ga and included activities that were rich in history and remembrance of self-sacrifice. There is only a handful of wwii era surviving army rangers, and most of those are either in poor health, financially challenged or both. Thus, fhaf was asked and agreed to sponsor all the travel accommodations and event expenses for one of these wwii rangers and traveling companion to attend this event. Because of this, the founder of fhaf, 1sg joseph lachnit, stationed at ft benning, himself an army ranger, was able to attend the final banquet and dine with the wwii rangers. These wwii veterans shared some amazing stories. They had 2 and 3 purple hearts each, two had spent time in a pow camp and one escaped twice and was recaptured. These were true patriots that fhaf had the pleasure to assist. 5- -51 degrees out side the first time we spoke with *sherry in north pole ak she said that without the wind chill it was -51 degrees outside. A native of mexico, sherry and her three children are committed to stay close to her husband, stephens final resting place. Stephen was kia in northern iraq in november 2005. Through the miracle of in-vitro fertilization, sherry actually had their third child a full two-years after stephen was kia. Sherry continued to have a difficult time coping with her husbands death; even sleeping in the same bedroom they shared was hard. Thus, she decided to put a modest addition onto their house. Maria struggled for years with the shoddy work of local contractors. Once completed, one of the first things maria noticed was they could not keep the addition warm. When they checked in the attic they discovered that it was black from moisture and had no insulation. Remember, this is in north pole, alaska. She soon found out that her contractor had taken some major shortcuts. She was stuck with a mess. According to her insurance person, a major issue maria was facing was because the contractor failed to install the gutters he had promised, water was coming off the roof and seeping under the concrete walk next to the foundation. This situation was leading to heaving and potentially more major damage. Fhaf began immediately to work with a seamless gutter contractor to install gutters and partner with home depot to demo the poor work and rebuild the addition to code. We will pick up where we left off in the spring. *not her real name6- frankies patriot bbqwhere some become paralyzed when a child is killed in action (frankie gross, kia 7/2011), craig and toni gross, stepped into action. Craig retired from his job and they opened a restaurant, frankies patriot bbq, in clearwater fl in honor of their son. If you go to their website home page http://frankiespatriotbbq. Com, other than serving fresh cooked bbq daily, they proudly post, this establishment was built in loving memory of cpl fr