A bakery-centered work-study program for disabled veterans, an organization that helps veterans start farming businesses and a foundation that provides guide dogs to blinded veterans are among the 23 nonprofits that will receive a chunk of $1.5 million from the Newman's Own Foundation.
"Without funding from Newman's Own, we couldn't do this," said Meghan Ogilvie, CEO of Dog Tag Inc., which will receive $25,000. Dog Tag Inc. provides a five-month work-study program in Washington, D.C., for veterans with service-connected disabilities, their spouses and caregivers. Graduates of the program earn a Certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies.
The Newman's Own donation will help pay for the Georgetown professors' participation in the program, books, supplies, and a small stipend to the student veterans to help with living expenses.
The students also work in Dog Tag Bakery, a full functioning bakery that sells items for breakfast, lunch and early dinner. The bakery also sells products made by veteran entrepreneurs. The student veterans rotate through various areas within the bakery and the nonprofit, learning everything from product development to accounting, operations, staff management, customer service and marketing.
Newman's Own Foundation announced the grants would focus on veteran education, career training and entrepreneurship.
"The men and women of our military have earned and deserve the respect and support of a grateful nation," said Robert Forrester, president and CEO of Newman's Own Foundation and a veteran who served in Vietnam, in a statement announcing the grants.
The organizations receiving these grants help veterans use the skills they developed while serving in the military to succeed in school, start their own businesses or pursue other life goals. The grants this year range from $25,000 to $100,000.
Since 2010, the foundation has given more than $13.5 million to more than 50 organizations that provide assistance to veterans in areas such as education, entrepreneurship and career development, rehabilitation and support services, housing, and family support.
According to foundation officials, only 26 percent of veterans age 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree, and median weekly earnings are nearly double for people with a bachelor's degree compared with those who have a high school diploma. Nearly half of post-9/11 veterans reported that they are not working in their preferred field, and more than half leave their first post-service jobs within 12 months.
Newman's Own Foundation officials noted that there are opportunities for veterans outside the traditional veteran workforce employment initiatives, and veterans want supportive services that help them use their skills and plot their own courses.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition is one such organization – providing support for veterans, many of whom are first-generation farmers. The coalition helps veterans set up their farming business and, when funds are available, gives money to veterans to make a purchase that could help jump-start their business. For example, the organization helped a Navy SEAL veteran in California purchase materials to build a cooler to store vegetables and meat. The veteran has a small farm growing fruits and vegetables and raising animals.
Among the many other examples are the purchase of beehives for Marine veteran Denise Beyers, in upstate New York. The coalition also connected her and her husband with another donor to help them get started in producing maple syrup, to go along with her honey.
Newman's Own Foundation donated $100,000 to the coalition to help fund these ventures.
"Our mission is mobilizing veterans to feed America," said Michael O'Gorman, founder and executive director of the organization.
When O'Gorman founded the coalition in 2009, there were no groups helping veterans find careers in agriculture, he said. Veterans returning to rural communities may find less services available than in more populated areas, and sometimes they experience more personal isolation, he said.
"It may be difficult to transition to another career when your home is on a rural route miles from a city," O'Gorman said. "We've built a community of veterans around the country who feel agriculture is a new mission for them."
The coalition now includes a network of more than 8,000 veterans offering support and information to one another.
The list of organizations receiving grants from Newman's Own:
- Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
- Bunker Incubator NFP (Chicago)
- Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (Hartford, Connecticut)
- Dog Tag Bakery (Washington, D.C.)
- Farmer Veteran Coalition (Davis, California)
- Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation (Wilton, Connecticut)
- Fisher House Foundation (Rockville, Maryland)
- Help Our Military Heroes (Easton, Connecticut)
- Independence Corps (Frisco, Texas)
- Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)
- Jonas Project (Laguna Woods, California)
- Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- Rodale Institute (Kutztown, Pennsylvania)
- Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation (San Ramon, California)
- Service to School (San Francisco)
- Student Veterans of America (Washington, D.C.)
- The Posse Foundation (New York City)
- UCLA Foundation (Los Angeles, California)
- University of Connecticut Foundation (Storrs, Connecticut)
- University of Minnesota Foundation (Minneapolis)
- Warrior-Scholar Project (Washington, D.C.)
- Women's Business Development Center (Chicago)
- Work Vessels for Veterans (Noank, Connecticut)
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
