Old friend and fellow former Army officer/Iraq vet Chris Hellie recently sent me a link to an organization he's involved with, named Spirit of America. A nonprofit group, Spirit of America's objective is to provide charitable goods directly to the people in war torn regions, in order to augment the efforts of American military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa. Frankly, I can't think of a better tool in a counterinsurgency fight - the red tape of securing funds and goods in the military is exhausting and usually takes months, and an organization like Spirit of America can fill that crucial time gap, both in pragmatic terms of distribution, and in the more abstract sense of relationship-building.
But don't my word for it! I'm sitting in a New York apartment in my boxers, after all. (Admit it, Internetz, you love that mental image. Chicken legs are all the rage.) Take it from someone who just finished Embracing the Suck in Afghanistan, like Marine commander Lt. Colonel Ben Watson, who wrote the following in an email to Jim Hake, Spirit of America's Founder and CEO:
Our success was enabled by a remarkable group of men, and you are one of them. The support that SOA provided throughout the deployment was (and I am not patronizing you) truly significant in enabling us to accomplish our mission here. There were 5 functioning schools when we arrived; now there are 20 with approximately 3,000 students (increasing every day), and the "adopt a school" program ramping up. We could not have gotten there without your support. The Afghan Security Forces are increasing their size and operational capability; the radios you provided have helped to make that happen. The swords and K-bars helped to cement key relationships that will benefit the next battalion and help to keep positive forward momentum in the Garmsir team of ISAF, ANSF and local government officials. Those are but a few key examples of how SOA has helped us to succeed here.
The full email can be found here, at Spirit of America's blog. Check out their full site if you feel so inclined, I think we'll be hearing a lot more from them in the months and years to come.
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Thanks for sharing this Matt, sounds like a wonderful group!!!
ReplyDeleteMatt, I agree with you. Spirit of America is a great place to contribute directly to projects that our troops consider important to their efforts and their success with the locals. SoA spells out exactly what your money is being used for and, as busy as the troops are, they post updates on the projects. As a non-profit, they should qualify for matching funds from employers who have such a program. Kevin/Houston
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