As Santa Rosa County just celebrated Veterans Day, the Press Gazette looks at a military nonprofit organization aimed at taking care of the children of the fallen, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. SOWF members said the organization benefits any service member from those killed in combat, those who die in training accidents, and even those who die from unrelated causes.
Frank Dailey with the SOWF said the organization creates a draw for families to relocate to the GulfCoast area.
“In this community, the greater GulfCoast region, we help over 30 children.” He said some families who receive benefits from the SOWF after their family’s service member passed away move to the area due to the support they receive.
Dailey told the story of a service member, a woman who had a desk job with the military. He said she had cancer and after she passed, the SOWF stepped in and provided for her family the way they do for those who have fallen in combat.
The SOWF website notes the organization also benefits severely wounded soldiers. One of its stated goals “is to ensure the families of severely wounded special operations service members receive immediate financial assistance while their loved one is recovering in a hospital… The families’ lives temporarily stop while they focus on recovery of their loved one. One of the stresses we relieve is the immediate financial burden they face.” The site also notes once the SOWF is notified of a soldier’s hospitalization, they send $3,000 overnight to the hospital or home and have delivered so far over $2 million.
One of the founding members, George Ferkes, said the SOWF began as a battlefield pledge in 1980 after the attempt to rescue 53 American hostages in Iran. Eight lives were lost when a helicopter and C-130 aircraft collided. “Five Air Force guys and three Marines were killed and left 17 children. We wanted to help. (It started as) the Bull Simons Scholarship Fund (covering) accidents in training and all departments.”
Ferkes explained the support has no stipulations on where the children want to go to school. “It pays for the costs for college no matter where they want to go, whether it’s MIT or ABCTruckDrivingSchool.” He said the SOWF will see a child through college making sure they have the materials and any tutoring and counseling they need.
The SOWF seeks to give as much of the donations it receives as it can to those it serves. Ferkes said the organization uses over 90 percent of what it receives to benefit those children and the wounded with only a “five to eight percent overhead.”
Coming up on Thursday, the SOWF will hold its 11th Annual Emerald Coast Salute to Special Ops Forces, a dinner with speakers at the EmeraldCoastConvention Center in Fort Walton Beach. For more details on this event and the organization at large, visit www.specialops.org.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Military NPO serves the children of the fallen