Southwest Veterans Foundation Announces 2021-1 Grants

To Seven Organizations To Support
Veteran Suicide Prevention Programs

The Southwest Veterans Foundation (SWVF) continues to expand its efforts to reduce Veteran suicides in Arizona by announcing grants of $1,000 each to seven organizations on the “front lines” of Veteran suicide prevention.

The seven grant recipients are:

• America’s Mighty Warriors – https://americasmightywarriors.org/
• Creative Drill Sergeants – www.creativedrillsergeants.org
• Deep Sea Valkyries – www.deepseavalkyries.org
• Operation New Outlook – www.operationnewoutlook.org
• Operation Shockwave – https://operationshockwave.org/
• Rancho Milagro Foundation – https://ranchomilagroaz.org/
• Team Veteran Foundation –  https://tvfaz.org/

Rick Bauer, Chair of the SWVF Philanthropy Committee, pointed out that “these grass roots organizations are on the front lines of the daily battle to fight the epidemic of Veteran suicides. They represent a variety of treatment modalities, and they all do their work without using or advocating the use of psychotropic drugs. Many of their success stories were on the brink of choosing suicide. We urge you to visit the websites of these great organizations to learn more about what they do and how they do it.”

This epidemic results in 20 Veterans a day committing suicide! While people disagree about what that real number is, we can agree that whether it is 20, 22, 30, or 2—it is too many. During the COVID pandemic, the Department of Defense indicated that “suicide among active-duty troops jumped to a six year high. Those active-duty troops become Veterans. Sadly, Arizona has the 6^th highest Veteran suicide rate among all 50 states. That is why the SWVF has made Veteran suicide its signature charitable cause again this year.

Tom Sheets, Executive Director of the SWVF added, “This brings our total suicide prevention grants to $18,100. None of these grants would have been possible without the support and generosity of our members, donors, and supporters. We will continue providing grants to deserving, effective organizations as long as our fundraising efforts provide the resources.” If you would like to donate to this most worthwhile cause, you can donate online at southwestveterans.dojiggy.io/support-veterans. You can also mail checks to SWVF 3820 W. Happy Valley Rd., #141-455 Glendale, AZ 85310 (and save us merchant services fees) or call 602.677.2961.

For more information about the SWVF, please visit swvcc.org/foundation/.

On behalf of the Veterans and their families who will ultimately
benefit from your generosity, the SWVF thanks you.