Posted on Oct 5, 2015
Have Veteran charities caused collateral damage: Effects of the Current Narrative on Veterans?
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Have Veteran charities caused collateral damage: Effects of the Current Narrative on Veterans?
Interesting article RP Members - what are you thoughts and what are your suggestions for fixing it?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-aiello/collateral-damage-effects_b_8226542.html?utm_hp_ref=department-of-veterans-affairs
During a recent Veteran's charity fundraising gala, much like the hundreds of galas that occur year round - something significant happened...
At a point in the show the emcee asked all attendees from a certain group of Veterans in the audience to stand and be recognized.... Not a single person stood in spite of their presence.
Now you may think of this as an isolated occurrence but I see it as a culmination of events that have been building for some time now.
It represents a manifesto on behalf of Veterans' that they may no longer want to be used as "props." Very few Veterans consider themselves a charity case and increasingly Veterans have come to realize that the narrative around "helping" Veterans may actually be hurting Veterans by pervading a negative perception.
Interesting article RP Members - what are you thoughts and what are your suggestions for fixing it?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-aiello/collateral-damage-effects_b_8226542.html?utm_hp_ref=department-of-veterans-affairs
During a recent Veteran's charity fundraising gala, much like the hundreds of galas that occur year round - something significant happened...
At a point in the show the emcee asked all attendees from a certain group of Veterans in the audience to stand and be recognized.... Not a single person stood in spite of their presence.
Now you may think of this as an isolated occurrence but I see it as a culmination of events that have been building for some time now.
It represents a manifesto on behalf of Veterans' that they may no longer want to be used as "props." Very few Veterans consider themselves a charity case and increasingly Veterans have come to realize that the narrative around "helping" Veterans may actually be hurting Veterans by pervading a negative perception.
Charity
Generation
What Would You Do
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 15
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Changing the look towards Veterans being a "charity" to being a useful resource has been on myself and several others here in Pittsburgh have been fighting for awhile now. When I travel to Nashville at the end of the month, my remarks center around this very issue. For 10+ years, certain organizations have paraded Veterans across TV and such as a way to show them as being needy. I don't think any of us would classify ourselves as "needy". In my remarks I've written for this trip to Nashville, I make the statement that Veterans are not looking for a hand out, rather we are just looking for people to ALONG side us rather than try to pull us along. For me, there is a huge difference between working along side a Veteran and offering a handout. Sure, we need some help in some areas but when given the chance to showcase their talents, Veterans can outperform some people expectations.
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Great post COL Mikel J. Burroughs. Spot on. I was expecting much more pandering during the clown show (presidential bids). We are very important the year before an election but quickly forgotten. Too many of these 'charities' are making money hand over fist in the name of veterans but primarily lining the pockets of the CEO's. Some of them are making mid 6 figures+ Not sure that is in the best interest for helping OTHERS.
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SGM Steve Wettstein
SFC Mark Merino WWP falls into this category. Yes they do some good for some but it seems they are more interested in their brand.
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SFC Mark Merino
Come on SGM Steve Wettstein, what's wrong with taking homeless veterans skydiving, then a 7 day all inclusive deep sea fishing trip to Mexico, to be followed by dumping them right back off onto the streets? Now THAT is money well spent.
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