News | SEAL-NSW Family Foundation

Historic Agreement Outlines Funding and Collaboration Effort to Provide Academic Support for Children of Active Duty NSW Families

PR Newswire

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Feb. 18, 2019

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Feb. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Four of the country’s most effective non-profit organizations that support the Naval Special Warfare community have announced a historic funding and collaboration partnership designed to help the children of NSW families.

SEALKIDS, the SEAL Family Foundation (SFF), the Navy SEAL Foundation (NSF), and the SEAL Legacy Foundation (SLF) each serve the Navy Special Warfare community but have distinct missions and areas of expertise. One common area where all four agencies overlap involves fostering the academic success and well-being of children of NSW operators. On January 1 of this year, the four groups began a collaboration agreement to better achieve that common goal.

Under the new partnership, Mooresville, N.C.-based SEALKIDS will continue its primary mission to provide testing and evaluation, advocacy, academic, and specialized needs support to children of NSW families. As of January 1, SEALKIDS will act as the conduit through which all NSW children’s academic support flows for the SFF, the NSF, and the SLF.

Those three organizations will provide financial support for SEALKIDS program services in the form of a grant that will provide operational stability and increase the reach of SEALKIDS in their efforts through an encompassing approach of academic testing, tutoring, therapy, advocacy, and enrichment to assist NSW children.

“By working together, our four organizations will grow the impact and reach of the SEALKIDS programs over the next 12 months and potentially longer,” according to Dr. Gretchen McIntosh, Executive Director of SEALKIDS. “Ultimately, the goal is to keep today’s Navy SEAL in the fight,” she said.

“We’ve joined forces in a way that focuses additional resources on this one aspect of NSW family life,” said retired Navy Captain William R. Fenick, the Executive Director of the SEAL Family Foundation. “As the Founding Partner with SEALKIDS, we hope this combined effort achieves much more than what we have done in the past and could do separately.”

Robin King, CEO of the Virginia Beach-based Navy SEAL Foundation echoed those sentiments. “We feel that leveraging our individual resources to tackle this common mission makes a lot of sense. It also demonstrates our collective responsibility to be good stewards of the donations we receive.”

“Each partner in this effort is excited to combine their impact in fundamentally transforming the SEALKIDS experience for the NSW Community,” said Mark McGinnis, managing director of SEAL Legacy Foundation which is located in Austin, Texas. “None of this is possible without the unique partnership that we hope continues to grow and strengthen over the years to come.”

About the Partners:

SEALKIDS, through its programs, supports the children of Naval Special Warfare—everyday kids living in extraordinary circumstances. This encompassing approach of academic testing, tutoring, therapy, advocacy, and enrichment fosters the success and well-being of the child, critically reducing family stresses and ultimately keeping today’s Navy SEAL in the fight. SEALKIDS is dedicated to supporting the academic success of children in the Naval Special Warfare community. We work as a partner with schools, parents, and the NSW community to provide services not readily available. We fill the gap.

SEAL Family Foundation — SFF supports individual and family readiness through an array of programs specifically targeted to assist the Naval Special Warfare community in maintaining a resilient, sustainable, and healthy force in this era of persistent conflict and frequent deployments. SFF collaborates with the leaders in Family Support to better understand the effects of deployment; by frequent analysis to ensure they are meeting current needs; by the delivery of exceptional programs; and by educating and involving the civilian population in support of these elite warriors.

Navy SEAL Foundation — NSF provides immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare community and its families. NSF is a resolute cornerstone for the Naval Special Warfare community and their families in times of adversity and triumph. Each of its specialized programs maps directly back to the U.S. Special Operations Command directive and the Naval Special Warfare’s Preservation of the Force and Family Program, a program designed to address the “fraying” of the force caused by the stress of more than 17 years of sustained combat. NSF’s programs are designed to improve health and welfare, build and enhance resiliency, empower and educate their families, and provide critical support during times of illness, injury, and loss.

SEAL Legacy Foundation — SLF is dedicated to providing support to families of wounded and fallen United States Navy SEALs, educational assistance for SEALs and their families, and other charitable causes benefiting the SEAL community. SLF was established to preserve the Navy SEAL legacy of no one left behind.

SOURCE Navy SEAL Foundation

Proceeds from Sweeney Classic golf tournament will support SEAL Family Foundation

COUNTRYSIDE, IL – Today, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 President-Business Manager James M. Sweeney presented a check for $500,000 to the Navy SEAL Family Foundation at Local 150’s charity golf fundraiser, the James M. Sweeney Classic.

The event hosted more than 500 golfers across four golf courses in Lemont, and the check was presented to SEAL Family Foundation Executive Director Capt. William Fenick and retired SEAL Captain Mike Argo, who serves on the SEAL Family Foundation’s Board of Directors. The event brought together a cross-section of workers, business leaders, elected officials and military families.

“The union construction industry is proud to support military families,” said IUOE Local 150 President-Business Manager James M. Sweeney. “Veterans are a big part of the union construction industry, and we are proud to welcome returning veterans to our industry with open arms. It is an honor to be come together and give back to those who have sacrificed so much for us.”

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and active Navy SEAL Ed Byers, Jr. was present to thank supporters and share the importance of the charity’s work for military families.

Photo Caption: IUOE Local 150 President-Business Manager James M. Sweeney (third from left) presents a check for $500,000 for the SEAL Family Foundation to SEAL Family Foundation Executive Director Captain William Fenick, Gold Star Spouse Cindy Axelson, and retired SEAL Captain Mike Argo at the James M. Sweeney Classic Golf Tournament on August 13th at Gleneagles Country Club in Lemont, Illinois.

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About IUOE Local 150: The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 is a labor union representing 23,000 working men and women in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Local 150 represents workers in various industries, including construction, construction material production, public works, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag production and others.

About the SEAL Family Foundation: The SEAL Family Foundation focuses on creating individual and family readiness through an array of programs specifically targeted to assist the Naval Special Warfare community in maintaining a resilient, sustainable, and healthy force. U.S. Navy SEALs ability to stay ready determines the success of every mission; part of our job is to facilitate that state of readiness at home by ensuring every Naval Special Warfare service member knows their family is, and will be, taken care of.

Our motto is “Taking Care of THEIR Families While They Protect OURS.” The SEAL Family Foundation programs include hosting family introduction dinners upon graduation, spouse and family retreats, children’s educational support programs, family readiness group grants, emergency assistance, wounded warrior and fallen hero family care, and bereavement support.