Wounded Warrior Project - disappointment

[RobertNashville]

It's being reported on several forums that Tom Gresham tweeted...
[quote]Wounded Warriors Project just reconfirmed they don't do anything with media or companies involved with firearms. Don't need our $, I guess[/quote]

In a Facebook, Thunder Ranch said...

[quote]Official: Thunder Ranch will no longer be doing any fundraising for Wounded Warrior. This due to the main reason is they will do not want support from the guns period because guns are used by our military to kill themselves. What do they save themselves with? Nerf guns? Also the fact that very little of our money is a
ctually getting to the families that need them. We will find charities in the coming months to help us all give but for now all money raised with our current DVD sale will go to our Seal team family... the Reece Petersen Trust fund. Thank you as always for your support. We will continue to do the best job we can to put as much money as we can to helping our military. Clint and Heidi[/quote]

I find this pretty disgusting...they can associate or not associate with anyone they wish but they seem to want the firearm's community's money but don't want to associate with them openly. If this is true, and I've found nothing so far to say it isn't, that seems pretty damn cowardly and two-faced to me.

I have supported the Wounded Warrior Project with donations in the past but I won't be doing so in the future; there are plenty of other organizations supporting our veterans that need our help and support and aren't afraid of being associated with the firearms community.

If anyone has any other info about this, pleas post.

Thanks!

[Spots]

Wow. I wonder if they would refuse a veteran care because he is a gun owner? They don't want money from Gun associations because military uses guns to kill themselves. Well, from what I've seen with fellow Marines, they will also try to hang themselves, drink chemicals, step into traffic, drown themselves, and all manner of other ways out of what they see as an endless situation. Maybe they should use the money from guns to help with suicide prevention and awareness training instead...

[QuietDan]

As much as I admire the Wounded Warrior Project, I find this disturbing.

Additionally, as a now retired warrior, I really dislike the mindset that we're all wounded in some fashion or other, and therefore victims. That mindset only makes it more difficult for Veterans to re-integrate in civil society, and can tend to create an attitude boundary that makes it hard for Veterans to become employed.

Overcoming the difficulties of war does not create a lesser person, it creates a greater, a larger, a more capable person. Great enough and large enough and capable enough to frighten some of the weaker men who have advantaged themselves in the Veterans' absence.

Re-read the Odyssey. The story is as fresh as today.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Look into how much is actually used for the wounded. You will be even more disgusted. We would spend money on it then we found out the amount for the "administration". They started with good intentions but now it is a greed based organization.

Executive directors at the WWP are making $200K+ annually. By contrast the DAV and the VFW directors take no money for what they do.

Dolomite

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's sick. They proverbially shot themselves in the foot.

[Daniel]

Fisher House is where I suggest people donate their money. Edited November 13, 2012 by Daniel

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Is that the one Denzel Washington donated to at Ft. Hood? I remember something like that, Daniel. Help me out here.
Just hadn't heard the name of the foundation.

[QuietDan]

[quote name='Daniel' timestamp='1352842168' post='845011']
Fisher House is where I suggest people donate their money.
[/quote]

They're building a new Fisher House in Murfreesboro on the VA Murf Campus, and they could use the donations.

They came to the Smyrna Rotary and talked to us. Good folks, good project.

It's like a Ronald McDonald House for Vets and their families.

[url="http://www.tennesseefisherhouse.org/"]http://www.tennesseefisherhouse.org/[/url] Edited November 13, 2012 by QuietDan

[Daniel]

http://www.fisherhouse.org/about/

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/denzel.asp

[RobertNashville]

Thanks for posting about Fisher House...that is a great organization to support, especially since they are now in TN.

[QuietDan]

I sent a little note and the link to the Tennessee Fisher House folks to tell 'em we were talking about 'em. I was VERY surprised to actually get a note back:

**************************************************************

Thank you for forwarding this conversation.

We are very proud of the Fisher House Foundation being able to maintain A+ ratings with the American Institute of Philanthropy, and four star ratings with Charity Navigator. Before I donate to any charity, I check them out on one of these websites first. It is surprising how many well-known organizations do not receive high ratings because they spend so much money on marketing, TV advertisements, robot calls, and bulk mail. We do not do that.

The president of the Fisher House Foundation makes a pretty high salary, but, when you take into account that he has to maintain a home in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, it takes a lot of money to do that. Otherwise, the National Foundation has a small staff, and those of us on the local Fisher House Boards are all volunteers. There will be two paid employees at our new Fisher House in Murfreesboro who will be paid by the VA. The local foundation depends upon pro bono legal assistance, accounting service, reduced and/or free printing of brochures, and word of mouth to spread the good word about the TN Fisher House, as well as newspapers, radio and TV public service announcements. Our expenses are extremely low with 98.3 Cents of every dollar donated going to the construction and furnishing of the house.

We appreciate the good comments about Fisher House, and can hardly wait until our house is finished so that we can get our veterans' families into warm (or cool as the need may be), comfortable, safe and clean lodging with food to eat as well as other assistance. Our veterans and/or their families should not be sleeping in their cars in the hospital parking lots because they cannot afford a hotel room; and they should not be trying to live on peanut butter and crackers. This is a travesty which, with the help of fellow Tennesseans, will stop once this house is completed and operating.

Again, we appreciate any donations to help us with this project.

Andrea D. Lawrence, President
Tennessee Fisher House Foundation, Inc.
P. O. Box 774
Brentwood TN 37024-0774

[thundersnow]

+1 for Fisher House!

[hipower]

Well...I guess Wounded Warrior Project is off my charity list and The Fisher House is taking it's place.

I guess you all get may requests for donations; just as I do. I get 5 or 6 a week sometimes. And it's difficult sometimes to make a yes/no decision on them. But with the percentage going to operational salaries at WWP vs the amount going to helpful projects.. .this is an easy one.

[Hershmeister]

What?!???

[R1100R]

When I was at Eisenhower Medical Center, Ft Gordon having my surgery. My Wife was offered space and assistance from the Fisher House there. We are better off financially than most and she stayed in the Post Guest Housing instead to free up space. They do a remarkable job. I have been a Medical NCO my entire career and have heard and seen nothing but great things about this organization.

BTW Wounded Warrior just opened a Nashville office. It is over in the Metro Center area. i have not had much luck with referrals to WWF. They only with assist this wars Vets. I have had better luck elsewhere. Not saying they don't do good work just no personnel experience yet.



St Jude's and the Fisher House get my money. Edited November 14, 2012 by R1100R

[TGO David]

Interesting. I donate to WWP through my company's charitable giving program. I'm going to do some research into this and, if confirmed, I'm switching my money elsewhere.

[kellyII]

This is not good news at all. Guess like the majority of business and charities, once they get big time they start getting greedy. Hello Fischer house.

[QuietDan]

Out of fairness to the Wounded Warrior Project, they had this posted to FaceBook today:

********************************************************************************

[size=6]Wounded Warrior Project[/size]

[b] [font=times new roman,times,serif][size=5][b]We've had a lot of questions recently that started when we declined an opportunity to appear on Gun Talk Radio. We want to clarify and help answer some questions. We have seen through this process that the language on our website and our response to the invitation to appear on the show weren’t clear, and we are working on clarifying our approach. There is now much inaccurate information about WWP being anti-gun rights, an issue as an apolitical organization we do not take a stance on. We understand and appreciate that many of our Alumni are gun owners, and we facilitate multiple hunting and outdoor opportunities for our Wounded Warriors throughout the year.[/b]

In the past, we made our logo available to appear on wide variety of products, including guns. As an organization, we owe it to our donors and constituents to maximize the return on investment of our dollars and brand. We are always looking at our business practices and whether we should continue with them in the future. In the case of cobranding, we've decided that we're not going to offer our logo to appear on weapons anymore - whether they're guns, knives, bows, swords, or any other type of weapon. There are still a few of the guns around for sale that had licensed our logo years ago, but there aren't any new ones being made. This is purely a business decision based on a review of a return on investment, especially when compared with other types of cobranding ventures.[/size][/font][/b]

[size=4][font=times new roman,times,serif][size=5]Regarding the question of donations and events, we do permit fundraisers that are shooting- and gun-related, such as gun raffles, shooting competitions, etc., and we're incredibly appreciative of those who are willing to give their time to host or participate in an event. Likewise, we gratefully accept donations from companies and individuals connected with the gun industry.

As indicated above, we know that hunting and shooting sporting events can be very therapeutic for many of the Wounded Warriors we serve, and we're happy to work with the community to make these types of events available to our Alumni. Hunting and shooting sport enthusiasts are an incredibly supportive and generous community, and we've been honored by how often folks have opened their land and homes, and volunteered their time to make these types of events possible for our Alumni. We're so sorry if it seemed that we didn't appreciate that support with our confusing communication of a business decision. It certainly wasn't our intention!

I hope this post provides some clarity and helps answer some questions. We welcome the opportunity to have a warrior on Gun Talk Radio to discuss how hunting or events of the like have supported their recovery. We responded too quickly to his request and should have delved a bit deeper.[/size][/font][/size]


http://www.facebook.com/wwpinc.fans

[peejman]

[quote name='TGO David' timestamp='1352860671' post='845184']
Interesting. I donate to WWP through my company's charitable giving program. I'm going to do some research into this and, if confirmed, I'm switching my money elsewhere.
[/quote]

Please share your findings.

[daddyo]

[color=#333333][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Reflecting the power of a bit of publicity accompanied with spontaneous grassroots activism, a spokesperson for the [/font][/color][url="http://www.examiner.com/topic/wounded-warrior-project"]Wounded Warrior Project[/url][color=#333333][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] expressed regret for “the appearance of a lack of appreciation for the support the [firearms] community has given us based on a confusingly communicated business decision,” [/font][/color][url="http://professionaloutdoormedia.org/node/7384"]the Professional Outdoor Media Association reported[/url][color=#333333][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] this afternoon.[/font][/color]

[url="http://www.examiner.com/node/55389381?cid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gunblogsorg+%28GunBlogs.org%29"]http://www.examiner.... (GunBlogs.org)[/url] Edited November 15, 2012 by DaddyO

[RobertNashville]

Thanks for posting the story. It sounds like they've really stepped in it, realize it, and I don't know what to do about it.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how they respond now; but the fact they appear to have to think about it is bothersome.

[TGO David]

[quote name='QuietDan' timestamp='1352930378' post='845712']
Out of fairness to the Wounded Warrior Project, they had this posted to FaceBook today:

********************************************************************************

[size=6]Wounded Warrior Project[/size]

[b] [font=times new roman,times,serif][size=5][b]We've had a lot of questions recently that started when we declined an opportunity to appear on Gun Talk Radio. We want to clarify and help answer some questions. We have seen through this process that the language on our website and our response to the invitation to appear on the show weren’t clear, and we are working on clarifying our approach. There is now much inaccurate information about WWP being anti-gun rights, an issue as an apolitical organization we do not take a stance on. We understand and appreciate that many of our Alumni are gun owners, and we facilitate multiple hunting and outdoor opportunities for our Wounded Warriors throughout the year.[/b]
[/size][/font]
...[/b]
[/quote]


However they still have not addressed the matter of firearms ownership. Their open letter to the community advocates hunting numerous times, but does not speak to blanket firearms ownership, etc.

[RobertNashville]

It sounds a lot like "I'm personally opposed to abortion but support a woman's right to choose"

I really hate it when people or organizations won't just say what the hell they mean and won't take a stand which is what this sounds like to me. Edited November 15, 2012 by RobertNashville

[Dolomite_supafly]

They want to remain as neutral as possible. I guess for donations.

I have contacted them in the past and never got a response. Then my wife pointed out their financials and that was it for me. There are much better organizations out there to help veteran's and their families.

They started out with great intentions of helping injured veterans. They are now in the business of making money and using injured veterans as a means to provide a source of income to support that business.

Dolomite

[RobertNashville]

Well, nothing they've said so far has impressed me so I'm done with them unless something really changes.

I don't care as much about their stand on guns as much as I care about what appears to be duplicity on the issue.

There are plenty of good organizations out there helping veterans that deserve support.