Families Have The Dead Veterans Stuck in Airports and Funeral Homes Because They Can’t Pay the Bills. Will You?

Making a donation to Once a Soldier on Giving Tuesday is a great choice because we give directly to the surviving families of veteran suicide. They deserve our help in this dark time. Your gift of $20, $50 or $100 enables our monthly Silver Linings Project. The Silver Lining Project pays off the funeral bills that overrun veteran families with after the suicide. Wildly expensive air travel to transport the body, ruthless funeral home practices, unfair life insurance clauses and insignificant VA support take their toll. It’s our turn to pay it.

There are many organizations with missions to stop soldier suicide, offer PTSD therapies and help for the soldier, but when it all fails, the family is forgotten. We are the only charity focused on these veteran families. Read our family’s stories and see the hearts you’re healing and the people you’re saving.

Giving Tuesdays is America at it’s Finest – Be a Part of It

With record giving amounts for the past 5 years, Giving Tuesday is more than just a day to give to others. It’s now a day when all of America, and the world, give to the heroic non-profit charities. With their missions as their driving force, non-profits fill in the holes that government and society miss. A national treasure that keeps on paying out, America’s nonprofits are more than just caregivers; they’re heroes.

About Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. One of the best ways to get involved is in your own community. We’ve created a directory to help you find organizations, charities, events and more in your own community.

In the dark times that a family finds themselves in after a veteran suicide, your gift, whether on Giving Tuesday or not, help add a silver lining that that dark cloud.

More about Once a Soldier and Why the Need is So Great

People may think that soldier suicide or veteran suicide is about younger soldiers coming home from Afganistan or Iraq and suffering from PTSD. While there are many vets who fit that description, the majority of veteran or soldier suicides are aged 50+ and have no ties to the Veterans Administration. That means that they don’t have access to the mental health services that can help them start to recover from PTSD or find support groups that can help, or get the medical treatment that may also aid in their return to civilian life.

Further, when they are disconnected to that source, any death benefits also are lost. Sadly, that’s not too much support. An active soldier who commits suicide typically has opted into a life insurance policy with a payout of $150,00 to $400,000. In the best of circumstance, most vets can expect a range of $400-$2,000 in death benefits. Most get something on the lower end of that scale.

So the need to help these vets on #givingtuesday or #givingasilverliningtuesday is intense. Not only are they depressed, unable to get medical or mental health benefits from the government they served to protect, but they are usually living at or above the poverty level. That means that when they commit suicide, financial distress is one of the reasons. And who’s left to deal with that? The families.

Once a Soldier accepts requests for help as well as seeking out those families that may need our support. Support that comes from your kind generations. So whether you give on November 28th, or right now. our cause is one of the best one if you care about how we treat not only soldier suicides but the families of the vets who have passed.

Our Three Pillars: Advocacy, Therapy and Sympathy

Advocacy is another way we fight to make our families’ lives better. With our finger on the pulse of what they need, where they’re getting pinched, and how to help heal the wounds, Once a Soldier gains greater awareness with each family.

Your gift is going to the only nonprofit who knows their needs. In addition to your financial support for them, we have found that the emotional giving we do is greatly appreciated. That’s why we offer drug-free therapies, Ketamine IV therapy insights and updates on all the PTSD therapies veteran families need to know about.