- "FAV" redirects here. For the off-road vehicle, see Fast Attack Vehicle.
Foundation for American Veterans, Inc. (FAV)[1] is a non-profit organization with the general mission of providing assistance to American veterans in cases where limits of Federal, State, or local assistance have been reached. The organization aims to assist persons regardless of the branch of military service in which they served. From an examination of letters of thanks provided on-line by the Foundation for general viewing,[1] it can be surmised that the majority of the financial works of the Foundation are in the form of donations in the $US1,000 to $US2,000 range to facilities serving veterans, in particular hospitals, as opposed to donations to individual veterans. The Foundation also maintains a database of Web-links for sites of particular interest to veterans.
Events
A flyer accompanying some donation requests sent to the general public in 2005 lists a number of programs and events that the Foundation sponsors or contributes to, including:
- Interaction with homeless shelters to identify and assist homeless veterans
- Providing holiday gift baskets to veterans unable to leave a hospital setting
- Contributions to local food banks
- Providing tickets and transportation to sporting events for hospital-bound veterans
- As noted above, financial contributions to Veterans Administration hospitals
- Publication of "US Veterans Review", the Foundation's official publication
- On-line reunion services to assist veterans in finding others they have served with
- Management of a "Veterans Hiring Veterans" job assistance program
- General maintenance of a veterans communications network through electronic, print, and personal means
Criticisms
FAV, however, does not provide financial details on its Web site.[2] Charity Navigator reports that as little as 6% of donated funds are spent on veterans' services.[3] They have been accused of harassment because of their persistent calling of anyone who can be identified as a veteran.[4]