Shop At Winn-Dixie on Independence Day and Help Wounded Warriors

[The Professor]

“TALLAHASSEE – Winn-Dixie today announced that on Saturday, July 4, all profits generated at its grocery stores will be donated in support of Wounded Warrior Project’s Independence Program.

“The Independence Program is designed to help warriors who need to rely on their families and friends for support due to injuries they have suffered, such as brain injury, spinal-cord injury, or other neurological conditions. Individualized plans are created with goals to provide a future with purpose at no cost to the warriors or their support teams.....

“We believe we all have a responsibility to care and contribute to the lives of those who have served and sacrificed for the nation, which is why we are committing every cent of every dollar of profit generated this Independence Day across all of our Winn-Dixie stores to help support the Wounded Warrior Project’s Independence Program,” continued McLeod. “We felt it is the right thing to do, and our associates do, too.”

Winn-Dixie to Donate All Profits on 4th of July to Wounded Warrior Project

 

[waltky]

A lot of so-called charities are just covers for paid telemarketers...

Top Charities Give Larger Portions to Services than WWP
Jan 30, 2016 | What is an extra $75 million to help wounded troops and veterans?

That is how much more money the Wounded Warrior Project could have spent on direct aid in 2014, if it managed its donations like other top-rated military charities. But as others strove to spend most of every dollar on people in need, the nonprofit group instead pumped one-third of its donations into more fundraising. It had grown into a charity colossus that collected $312 million in donations and modeled itself on Starbucks, CEO Steven Nardizzi told the New York Times this week.

The approach turned Wounded Warrior Project into the largest charity of its type - eclipsing others and drawing allegations this week of lavish spending on conferences and meetings. It has meant bucking the frugal grassroots ethic of more traditional charities, which tend to be more low-key and reliant on community generosity. "The donors' money, they want it to go to the mission of Homes for Our Troops. So, if they give us $10, they want to know most of it is going to build that home," said retired Army Gen. Richard Cody, chairman of the board for the charity, which builds specially equipped homes for veterans across the United States.

Participants in a 5K run at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan received Wounded Warrior Project teeshirts after making donations to the group​

Homes for Our Troops spends 89 percent of its money directly on aid and about 5 percent on fundraising. It is among the top-rated charities on Charity Navigator, a website that aggregates tax reporting statistics and rates performance. Cody said his nonprofit group feels a huge obligation to cut costs. Board members travel with their own money and most team-building exercises are done at the charity's headquarters in Massachusetts - with pizza and pasta. When they enter a town to build a home, other military support groups such as the VFW and Blue Star Mothers of American rally around the cause and can help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra support.

The group has 125 veterans on a waiting list for homes. Cody said the group has no spare money to ramp up its fundraising efforts. "If we were to cut into our budget one year and say we are going to spend this much money in hopes are getting more traction ... it equals to 2-3 homes," he said. The Wounded Warrior Project spent 34 percent of its donations on raising more money in 2014 - and only about 60 cents of every dollar on direct aid. If it had instead put 90 cents of every dollar into direct aid such as Homes for Our Troops and other top-rated charities, the group would have spent an additional $75 million on wounded troops on top of the $149 million it did spend.

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Veterans Group Won't Take Trump Fundraiser Donations
Jan 28, 2016 - The head of an Iraq and Afghanistan veterans group says they will decline donations from the fundraising event Donald Trump plans to hold Thursday night as he sits out the Republican primary debate.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America founder Paul Rieckhoff said on Twitter Wednesday that his group had not heard from the Trump campaign and did not know which organizations would be involved in the veterans event. He then tweeted

If offered, @IAVA will decline donations from Trump's event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.
— Paul (PJ) Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) January 27, 2016

Rieckhoff's criticism wasn't reserved only for Trump. He had a similar message for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after a super PAC supporting the presidential candidate offered to donate $1.5 million to veterans if Trump accepts a one-on-one debate challenge.

Now it's Cruz yanking vets into the nastiness of the presidential fights before Iowa. This is not what vets need. POLITICO on Twitter
— Paul (PJ) Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) January 28, 2016

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina also said her campaign would donate $1.5 million to veterans' causes -- if she can join the proposed Cruz-Trump face-off. It's unclear which groups will be involved in the Trump veterans event Thursday night in Des Moines. Trump's campaign quickly put the event together after the Republican presidential front-runner announced he would not participate in Thursday's Fox News/Google debate held at the same time, claiming he had been treated unfairly by the network. The campaign said Wednesday night that the "special event to benefit veterans organizations" would be held at Drake University in Des Moines. "We're going to raise a lot of money for the veterans. A lot of money is going to be raised," Trump told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, while repeatedly refusing to reconsider his decision to boycott the debate. "A lot of people are going to be there, and I can do some good."

Rieckhoff has been critical before of politicians' comments about veterans issues on the campaign trail. After Sarah Palin, during her Trump endorsement, seemed to point the finger at President Obama over mental issues her son may be dealing with following his Iraq war service, Rieckhoff pushed back. He called PTSD a "very serious problem" and reportedly urged Palin not to "politicize" it. IAVA says it has over 180,000 post-9/11 veteran members. The group spent about $3 million on awareness, community and advocacy programs, according to the most recently filed financial forms analyzed by Charity Navigator.

Veterans Group Won't Take Trump Fundraiser Donations | Military.com