For many years, the 3rd & Goal Foundation has always assisted Veterans and their families who are in need during the holiday season. This year was no different in regards to once again helping to provide a magical holiday for our heroes, but what was different was the record breaking impact that we were able to make.
In 2021, we had 39 families in the family portion of Adopt a Hero. This part of our initiative includes "Adopting" the Veteran and their immediate family for the holidays. We worked closely with social workers in Columbus, OH and Cincinnati, OH to be able to identify the Veterans and their families that needed our support. The social workers then worked with the families to gather their wish lists for us that included sizes and requests for clothing, coats, shoes, basic household essentials, toys for the kids, hygiene products, etc.
Our foundation then coordinated to make sure the families received many, if not all, items on their lists. All the children received at least 3 full outfits, a pair a shoes and 3-4 gifts. In addition, if the families requested things like coats, socks, underwear, hygiene products, winter clothing supplies, school supplies, etc we made sure to always fulfill those requests. This was done through us shopping for the families, local businesses holding toy drives, and donors in the community shopping for a family.
"Without you our families would have nothing for the holiday." Social Worker Columbus, OH
All of the 39 families in the program were either homeless Veterans or Veterans formerly homeless in the HUD-VASH program. In addition, 129 individuals (Veterans + family) were impacted.