In September, a $50,000 check from the Eaton Charitable Fund was presented to the Patriot Foundation at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Patriot Foundation supports five charities that fund scholarships for children of soldiers killed or wounded in action. The Foundation also provides funding for child care for families of disabled soldiers so their spouses can obtain additional job training and development.

 

“The Eaton Charitable Fund helps support critical needs in communities where our employees live and work,” said Jon Fischer, manager of Eaton’s manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, N.C. “Our employees are proud to support the families of soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by donating to the Patriot Foundation.”

 

The All American Strategic Response Force is one of the charities that receives funding from the Patriot Foundation. The AASRF provides scholarships for children of 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers killed in action. Retired combat veteran Lt. Col. Terry Truett, Eaton’s military accounts manager for the U.S. Army, volunteers as treasurer for the AASRF.

 

“Seeing what these families have to go through really makes you want to do something to help,” Truett said. “It’s an honor to give my personal time to this organization in their effort to support soldiers and their family members. I would want the same for my family — to know that someone out there is looking after them if anything ever happened to me.”

 

Since its founding in 2003, the Patriot Foundation has raised and distributed more than $1 million to military families whose loved ones were wounded, injured or killed in action. One of those soldiers was CWO Aaron Weaver, who died in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. His widow, Nancy, and their two children received financial support to help pay for college.

 

“The generosity of foundations like yours has provided families like mine with hope and faith,” Nancy wrote in a thank-you letter. “It eases my pain knowing that Aaron would be so proud of his children the day they were able to graduate with a college degree.”

 

More information about the Patriot Foundation and scholarships for military families is available at http://patriotscholarships.com.