SOWF: Taking Care of Fallen Soldiers' Families

  by Deb Cupples |  Earlier today, I blogged about the Mile-Long Memorial, a most  impressive tribute to American soldiers that died in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

This post is about a Tampa-based foundation called the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF), which has -- for 29 years -- been helping the families of fallen soldiers in very practical ways.

SOWF has a targeted, straight-forward mission:

"1. If you are serving in the U.S. military special operations community, and you lose your life in an operational mission or training accident, the Warrior Foundation will provide a full college education to your surviving children.

"2. If you are severely wounded while deployed, the Warrior Foundation will provide immediate financial assistance and support to ensure your loved ones are at your bedside for your recovery. (SOWF)

According to its website, SOWF is now funding more than 100 college students.  Since 1980, the foundation has helped more than 700 students.

As well as having tangible success, SOWF operates efficiently -- with about 94% of its donations going directly to programs.  That's amazing, given how high many charities' overhead is.

Watchdog group Charity Navigator gave SOWF an over-all four-star rating. 

SOWF has fund-raising events nationwide, such as marathons, dinners, and golf tournaments (see calendar).  If you're interested in donating, you can read about that here (incidentally, SOWF takes PayPal).

Special thanks to Hank Pomerantz (my friend's dad and a SOWF volunteer) for bringing SOWF to my attention and for giving me literature.