This is my personal experience: Operation Ward 57 is immediately present and helpful as newly wounded military men and women arrive at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where my son spent nearly 2 years in 2011. Besides supporting the wounded these amazing people provide for the families of the wounded who have traveled to be with their loved one. Special holiday treats & meals, wagons to assist with transporting kids or belongings around the center, providing special events for wounded and their care-givers before & after they return home, financial assistance when required, organizing adopting a family for Christmas, etc., etc., etc. Honest, transparent and run from the director’s home. A truly “hands on” organization that responds to the needs of combat wounded families as they arise. Most highly recommended!!
Operation Ward 57 is a great nonprofit organization that helps families that need help. They have helped our family a few times . I would recommend them to anyone. They are so great with people and would help anyone they could.
I first heard about "Operation Ward 57" 5 years ago when I noticed a dear friend was wearing a shirt with their logo. She very proudly told me about the amazing organization that her daughter was involved with. It was a lot to absorb at the time, but I have become much more familiar with this non profit since. OPW57 takes it's name, I learned from the amputee's ward at Walter Reed Medical Center, and their scope of support, and assistance in recovery of wounded veterans is vast! It's scope is nationwide now.
Besides the obvious aid to amputees, OPW57 helps veterans and their families adjust to the challenges of life after a traumatic injury. From helping to arrange service animals, or help in navigating the complex system of government red tape, to offering comfort teddy bears to children. Customized with specific limb injuries and matching uniform, complete with a name. Even an adopt a family program at Christmas time! The focus on family support is a big part of the service OPW57 provides. Moral is helped by special visits to the ward, including gifts, catered meals, or even live music for patients, and family. Continued support includes group excursions to concerts, and sporting events to help veterans enjoy a better quality of life and create mutual bonds with other veteran families. With all of this, 22 suicides a day is still a reality, and OPW57 provides a helpline to any veteran in need of moral support. The number of services for injured veterans, and connections to other kinds of help is way too extensive to describe here.
At my age, I just missed the Vietnam conflict, thankfully, but I knew many personally who were drafted, and some who volunteered. I say "thankfully" for a very important reason. One that is mostly forgotten I feel. The Vietnam "war" was extremely unpopular! Returning vets were generally not considered to be heros, as today's vets are. They were badly damaged, and were let down by the system, spit upon by their fellow citizens, and generally abandoned to struggle with minimal medical aid and even less emotional assistance. The result was a huge number of Americans with little or no acceptance in society, or ability to be functional in their community or adjust to family life after a traumatic experience. I WISH there was such an organization as "Operation Ward 57" around in the '70s.
They are saving lives AND families!
It all felt hopeless! The home we where renting flooded to the point we had to leave. A family of 5 homeless. I was able to get support for a hotel but we had ran out of options for food. That’s why I applied for help through operation Ward 57. They gave us Funding for food that lasted weeks. They have continued to provide fun safe events for my family attend. I love operation Ward 57. The pics are from the home that flooded and the day Brittany Who’s runs operation Ward 57. Came to drop off the support. Yea she came to us can you believe that! Exceptional.
Operation Ward 57 provides a great service to our military family. As. Military Brat I appreciate everything they do!
I'm not excited about how this organization is operated. After reading their 990, I don't think that they do much. I see a lot of events but no real programs that help veterans. Sure there are donations going to the hospital for wounded, but so do hundreds of charities. Not really impressed and can't imagine if corporations actually gave them millions to spend.
Operation Ward 57 04/28/2015
We are very sorry that you feel this way. Based on the other 38- 5 star reviews on here we would think you would have a sense of the avenues in which we help including the listing of all of our programs on our website at http://www.operationward57.org/programs/. You are always welcome to contact our team to discuss any of your concerns about the 990 or how the financials are handled at info@operationward57.org. In 2013 approx 90% went to support the programs of OPW57.
I am a huge supporter of Operation Ward 57. I've seen what they do for our wounded warriors personally. A friend of mine was wounded in Afghanistan leaving him with constant pain in one of his legs. He tried everything possible but the pain just wouldn't go away. His mom and I talked as did he and I about amputation as I am an amputee (not war related) who made the choice to become so after 3 years of infection and pain. In the end my friend decided it was the best choice for him as well and OPW57 helped me make sure that he got a care package which lifted his spirits quite a bit. I've been to events with warriors helped my OPW57 and find this to be a top nonprofit in my books!
Previous Stories
Operation Ward 57 is an outstanding organization which continues to go above and beyond to help our Wounded Warriors and their families. I am very proud to support them in everything they do day in and day out. I wear my OPW57 bracelet with pride every single day. I also wear my T-shirt and hoodie with pride and gladly talk about the amazing work being done by OPW57 with everyone who stops to ask me about it. I've had the opportunity to meet several of the wounded warriors that this organization helps and have seen firsthand how they've been helped. The members of the staff are all incredible people with the biggest hearts you'll ever meet. They truly care and believe that our Wounded Warriors deserve all of the help and support they can possibly get. Although I, myself, am not a veteran I am an amputee and the people connected to OPW57 have even gone out of their way to support me which i try to repay by showing as much support for them and what they do as possible. You won't come across a greater group of people anywhere. Their compassion, respect and love for what they do is unparalleled. It is a very special organization which will always have my full support!