Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a very important conversation lined up for you. May was Military Appreciation Month, but there's never a wrong time to show our appreciation to those who have served and are currently
serving our country. Freedom Alliance is an organization doing incredible work for our service members and veterans. And joining me now to talk more about what they do and how you can support their efforts is the president of Freedom Alliance, Tom Kilgannon. You can check them out online at Freedom Alliance dot org. Tom, thanks so much for coming on the show, and let's start with how and why this organization was first created. Sure, Ryan, I'm happy to
because I love Freedom Alliance and the work that we do. But first let me just say thanks to you for the work that you do, and I know that this highlights the work of a lot of tremendous organizations who are making a big difference in their community, making difference in the lives of great people, and so we appreciate you highlighting them and we're honored to be a part
of such a great list, so thanks for that. And Freedom Alliance is a military support organization and we were founded at the time of the First Golf War, so we're coming up on thirty five years that we've been around.
That was in nineteen ninety and the organization was founded by two Vietnam veterans and of course, as you know, when Vietnam veterans came home from the war, they were not necessarily greeted with the love and support that veterans have today, and so they wanted to put together an organization that would show appreciation for our troops. And during that First Golf Wars, the troops built up and
we're waiting in Kuwait for months and months. Allignes put together a big care package drive is their first project, hundreds of thousands of care packages and sent them over to the troops. And thankfully that war did not last very long. And my association with Freedom Alligance began in nineteen ninety eight, just a few years before the attacks of September eleventh, and then we've just been working for the last twenty plus years now caring for military families and wounded troops in
a variety of ways. How much has the work you've done grown, especially following the return home of so many of our service members from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It's just grown and grown and grown because the needs have grown, and they have they've changed. So, for example, you know, our work has evolved in the twenty two years that we've been doing this
since the nine to eleven attacks. One of the first things that we did after nine to eleven was we just put out the word that we needed phone cards so that the troops who were over in Kuwait and Iraq and places could call home and keep in touch with their families, connect with their loved ones. But then as the contractors got over their bases were built, the Internet became more prevalent and iPhones became more prevalent among the troops. That need went
away. But what we did was just continue to evolve our programming and update it. But then, as you suggest, Ryan troops were over there, they're fighting, and now they're coming home wounded, and so they're in the hospitals, and then we began a number of outreach services through the hospitals,
getting to know the troops and what we could do to help them. And then they migrated, you know, after dozens of surgeries and everything, the immediate medical care from hospitals to rehab centers, and I think that's really where where we kicked in and really found a niche and some of the programs we began at that time getting them out of the hospitals for short periods. At
first it's just a few hours, then it becomes a few days. We put together a lot of fishing trips and hunting trips and outdoor trips where they could enjoy the fresh air and get out of that stale hospital environment. And we're still doing those kinds of programs today. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by the President of Freedom Alliance, Tom Kilgannon. You can learn more about the
tremendous work they do at Freedomalliance dot org. I want to dive into some of the different support programs that you have, and let's start with one that you had mentioned before part of how this whole organization got started, the care packages. Because while we're just talking about so many service members who will returned home from serving overseas, we still have many who are currently serving. Tell us about the care package program and how people can help support that work in
particular. Yeah, the uh, you know, I guess the care package is it's it's fairly standard and long lasting way of showing support for our troops
overseas. And we what we do is we put together these packages. Oftentimes we work with community groups who want to do their own care package drive and you put put in there the items that they're not going to find in their local convenience store in downtown Kabul. So it's the things that are going to keep them safe and warm and dry, socks and sunscreen and sunglasses and aspirin magazines, reading material, things that are past the time or helped them with
the needs that they have in these very difficult environments. So Freedom Alliance has shipped hundreds of thousands of care packages. Last month, we sent several hundred more over to troops overseas and we just got some word back that they were very happy to get them, and the contact that we have said they didn't last long as he handed them out because there was just a great need.
And it's so it's not only feels a practical need, but it's a it's a morale booster as well for them to get these items and know that they're loved and appreciated. And we've had some unusual request for care packages that one time we there was an EOD unit, a Explosive Ordinance Division unit that said, Hey, we've got a request that we need and that is can you send us silly string? You know that the child's toy silly string, And we were kind of confused by that, and we thought, you know,
you guys are over there fighting a war. What you don't want in silly string? But apparently this was a great way for them to be able to see the trip wire on explosives that were invisible to the naked eye, and the silly string just helped them to do it in a safe way. Another time, we got a call for power tools because this unit was in an area where they needed to build their own dorms and build you know, an outhouse and things like that. They had a generator, but they didn't really
have any tools. And another time a care package request came in for sporting equipment nerve footballs and soccer balls, and the units that requested those really wanted them to be able to interact with the local Afghan children. And you know, win sort of win their hearts and minds if you will. So it's
there's there's a lot that goes into it. What the thing that you have to do, and why it's important to do it for an organization like Freedom Alizes is you can't just send them over You have to have the name and contact information where speci saif a person on the ground over there who will accept it, and all of that is for security reasons. But we're just been blessed to be able to send these things sometimes on short notice that the troops
need and keep them happy and keep them safe. And I'm sure our troops serving overseas they're thrilled whenever they get a package, whether it's from family members or friends, but it must mean an awful lot when they get them from just your average American who they don't know, expressing their supports and their admiration for the work that they're doing serving their country. Yeah, there's no question about that. They really do in some of the notes and emails that we've
gotten over the years, really express that that. You know, sometimes they just get down or get feeling like they're forgotten, and when those care packages come in, it lists their spirits, especially around the holidays, you know,
Christmas, h Easter. Some troops, you know, they happen to coincidentally arrive around their birthday or anniversary or things like that, and it just really lists their their spirits to know and when they do get them, it is you know, it's it's not just one soldier who gets it and keeps it for themselves. Usually what they do is you have somebody who accepts them, and they go out and they're they're displayed in a community area where any
of the troops can take what they need. So for somebody, hey, I need a bar of soap, or I'm really craving a candy bar, and and they share them and you know, that's that's really neat to see too. I'm Ryan Goorman, joined by the President of Freedom Alliance, Tom
Killgannon. You can check them out online at Freedomalliance dot org. You mentioned the holidays, so I want to talk about your Presence for Patriots program, because the holidays can be a stressful, difficult time for both service members and
their families. Yeah, it's an effort to make sure that that military kids whose you know, kids whose parents are in the military, but they're facing hard times, we're in the hospital or wounded, uh that they have something under the tree on Christmas Morning. And what we do is we work with families through the hospitals or the rehab centers and we request, you know, if there's somebody in need to apply for this program, tell us about their
kids, what they need, what kind of presence they would wish to have, and uh, and then we go out and get them and make sure that they're there for Christmas morning. The reason this is important, Ryan, is because if you're if you're a service member and you're wounded, and you're in the hospital and your spouse is giving really all her attention to you, and you're giving all your attention to try to recover or or be prepared for
your next surgery or whatever it is. Unfortunately, the practicalities of that situation sort of pushes Christmas to the side. And unfortunately, sometimes the kids the parents just aren't able to go out and do that shopping, or they don't have the money for it or the transportation to get out and do it, and just having that a little bit of assistance really means a lot to them.
And we've seen some wonderful photographs coming back, you know, from that holiday and kids enjoying it and the parents just being very relieved to be able to have something for their kids. Definitely a program for everyone listening to keep in mind as we get closer and closer to the holidays, which will be
here sooner than you think. We were talking a little while ago about so many of our service members who returned from a rock in Afghanistan and really you know a number of other places around the world wounded, and you have a rehabilitation and recovery fund that you focus on to help those service members and veterans. What can you tell us about that. Yeah, this is an effort
where we were really helping to welcome back units. So we've done a lot of dinners at great steak restaurants where you welcome back groups of service members. Sometimes we did it for those who were just deploying and going overseas, so
there'd be welcome home ceremonies. Sometimes it was just a little bit of financial assistance on their their you know, return home when they didn't have something, or they needed a cab or a taxi or an airplane ticket or something like that, where we would help them out and then other times there were a lot of groups that were formed in the rehab centers, things like wheelchair basketball or maybe it was a surfing group if they're out at San Diego, where
we were able to provide a little bit of financial help just to sponsor the group and get them some equipment and make sure that they were able to come together and do these things that helped them both emotionally and in their physical rehabilitation. Of course, some veterans return from serving overseas and they're severely wounded, they're amputees, they're paralyzed. And another program that you have that I think
is just fantastic. You provide all terrain wheelchairs for some of our wounded troops. I had never seen anything quite like this before. Talk to us about this specific program and the impact that it's had on those those who have received these all terrain wheelchairs. Well, you know, as I was saying a little bit earlier, Ryan, when we were getting troops out of the hospital, we took them out into the great outdoors and to get sunshine and fresh
air and go fishing and things of that nature. And then we as we were doing that, you know, at that time, there were really a lot of amputees, or at least a number of them that were coming on our trips that had trouble navigating the rocky terrains, the wooded terrains. If you obviously if you went to a beach, can you imagine trying to walk on a beach with a prosthetic or two prosthetics. You know, it can't be done. So we found these customized wheelchairs, these all terrain wheelchairs.
It's a big, heavy chair, but very comfortable, and instead of the traditional wheels, it has tracks that look like a tank, and the tracks allow the rider, the service member to really go over anything up mud, ice, snow, gravel, you know, you name it. And if they're going out hunting or if they're going fishing, they're able to maybe get through sagi a sagi pasture right up to the lakeside. And it really helps them with their mobility and their independence. As you know, Ryan, we're
guys, right, so we don't want to ask for help. And we've seen a lot of veterans heard from a lot of them who before they were able to get this chair would say no, I don't Yeah, my buddies go out hunting, but I don't want to do that because I just can't get around and I don't want to ask them on their you know, special event to carry me through the woods or to you know, so they just
they don't want to ask for that kind of help. But having this chair really help, and their spouses love it too because it allows them to take out the garbage, you know, over any terrain. It's a win win all around. And I think everybody listening right now would agree that our service members, those who served and sacrificed so much, they deserve the very best, and you're able to provide that for them. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined
by Tom Kilgannon, President of Freedom Alliance. You can learn more and support the work they do at Freedomalliance dot org. While we're on the topic of outdoors and things like that, you have these adventures and experiences that you provide for our wounded troops and others. Can you elaborate a little bit on that
part of the work that you do. Yeah, I'd love to, Ryan, Thanks for asking about that, because that's really I think the biggest and most important part of our work at this point of where we are in the veterans rehabilitation and so we're still doing these I've mentioned a few times of fishing and the hunting trips and going to the great outdoors, and so that's still taking place. But what we're doing on top of it now that we did not do it first, is there's a there's an element to it of what
we call structured conversation. You might call it peer to peer counseling, but it's a it's a deliberate time in the schedule after they come back from you know, their fun activity where you sit down and you talk things through. And these are troops who are now suffering from what we refer to as emotional injury or moral injury. And those are the injuries of the heart. They're
the injuries of the soul. That it is survivor's guilt. It is a feeling of sin or guilt that the veteran carries because they saw certain things or they heard certain things combat that they were not able to do anything about.
So I'm not suggesting that they committed sin. I'm saying that they didn't, but they feel like they did, and it weighs them down and prevents them from being able to hold a job, not being able to get a good night's sleep, all kinds of manifestations, but the ability to get out and talk with other veterans who have been there, done that, who know what they're talking about, who won't just slough it off and say, well, you know, you just need to buck up, little camper or something like
that. It means so much to them just to be able to get it off their chest, because typically these veterans will not discuss these kinds of things with anybody other than vets who've been through very similar things. And once they get it off their chests for the first time, then they are more likely
to open up to their spouse or a family member or somebody else. But you have to create that trusted environment and a greatst sense of certain amount of fun and relaxation in order for that deeper, more meaningful conversation to be able to take place. Two other programs that I want to make sure we spend a moment on because I think they are fantastic heroes to homeowners and driven to serve. Explain what you do there, and please share some stories of veterans
who have benefited from these programs. I love these programs because they really make a profound life changing difference in for our service members and what we're doing. We work with a great partner on this US Bank and we give mortgage free homes to wounded combat veterans and really change their lives. So they get the home, they go into it, and now they don't have a mortgage to pay, but they'll have to pay if they're taxes or community fees or things
like that, but they otherwise would not be able to afford it. And it changes their lives and it helps them to be able to focus on their rehabilitation, focus on making up lost time with their families. And it's very similar with our Driven to Serve program, which is providing new vehicles to wounded veterans, and we do that as well with US Bank. I'll tell you
a little story about one of the recent vehicles that we gave away. This one went to This was the end of last year and we gave it to a marine on the Marine Corps birthday November tenth, So that in itself was special. But he's injured. He's wounded, and like many who have served, and the number of deployments and the nature of the injuries and all the stress and anxiety, unfortunately, took its toll on his marriage, and husband and wife split up. His son is with his ex wife, and this
service member that we gave this vehicle to loves his son dearly. But in order to be able to stay a part of his life, he has to make this six or seven hour commute every other weekend. And the vehicle that he had had already had two hundred thousand miles on it. It was breaking down left and right, and he wasn't going to be able to make that commute unless he had something that he could rely on. And if he didn't make the commute, it would impact his ability to stay a part of his
son's life. So we were able to give him this and he kept on schedule with his visitations. He's a part of his son's life. I got a text message from him a few weeks ago which just said it's been a life changing experience for him because without this new vehicle he would not be able
to make those commutes to be able to see his son. And those are the kinds of things that just really touch your heart when you know just it's more than transportation, it's making a difference in somebody's life that's going to be able to help them do the things that are most important to them exactly. That goes so far beyond just providing a new vehicle for someone who served this country. I want to make sure we spend some time on the scholarship fund
that you have available, because this is so important. The children of our military heroes killed or permanently disabled in combat missions or training accidents, the assistance
you provide to them, that's something that can also be life changing. It certainly, Ken, Ryan, and thank you for mentioning that the Freedom Alliance has now given away more than twenty five million dollars in college tuition assistance, and that those scholarships go to kids whose parents were killed or disabled in military service. So obviously the scholarship helps with the practical cost of a college education,
and those keep going up every year, as you know. But more importantly, each time we give a scholarship to one of these students, it's a reminder to them. It's a statement that says, your family sacrificed and we know you did too, and we're not going to forget it. A grateful nation stands behind you, and we're going to help you get that thing that every parent wants for their kid, whether you're in the military or not, and that is a better life, and many see the path to a
better life as a college education. So this year, right now, we have six hundred and eighty six students who are receiving those scholarships. We're at a point where we're giving out about two and a half million dollars each year, and it really makes a difference cause the scholarship is an honor of their parent. These kids work harder, and they're focused, and they really want to do well in their studies because it honors their parent. I'm writing Gorman
joined by Tom Kilgannon, President of Freedom Alliance. You can learn more about all the work they do at Freedomalliance dot org. Tom, I want to talk about what we can do to help support our service members, our veterans and all these tremendous programs that we've talked about so far, and I want to start with with maybe the simplest thing that can make such a big impact. I think this is just fantastic that you have this available through your organization.
Notes of appreciation. Yes, the greatest way to help us. Ryan. You know, we really rely on the generosity of the American public, and so visiting Freedom Alliance dot org and make it a contribution is an enormous help to us. Filling out one of those notes of appreciation. These are your opportunity to write out a note to a service member, a soldier, sailor, airman, marine, or a family member and just write a prayer on there, write a note of thanks, you know, whatever you're thinking.
So many Americans want to express their appreciation to our troops and you can do it on these, do it through our website at Freedom Alignes dot org. What we do is we print those out and we include those in so many of the things that we've talked about. So in those care packages we talked about, we're going to put in many of those notes so that they can be passed around and everybody can see them and feel that appreciation. That
was part of our conversation. When we give a new vehicle, a lot of those notes of appreciation go in the glove box and the service member might not see them that day, but when the trooper pulls them over for speeding in the glove box, they know the public is behind them. And you know, so many other ways that we distribute those just as a reminder to let the service members know, and they tell us that they really appreciate that.
And I'll tell you, you know, Ryan, We've talked here a lot about these specific programs and and but in every case there's there's always something more that comes from it. And I'll give you an example. We talked about our scholarship students. So we in addition to giving them scholarships, we also have retreats for them so that they can get to know one another. And when we do, we make up these T shirts and their fathers who
were killed in action are listed on the back of the T shirt. As usually, we have twelve or fifteen students at a time on these retreats, and so we had those at one of our events and one of our staff members was at a was wearing that shirt at a different event a few weeks
late, and this was out in the West. It was one of our retreats for our veterans, and the veterans asked him, Hey, what's with the names on the back of these shirts, and he explained that these are the names of the fathers of our scholarship students, and they get those scholarships because their dads were killed, and these two veterans explained to him that they recognized one of the names on the back of the shirt and that they had
served with that individual. Wow. So we were able to arrange a few months later for those veterans and that student to come together, and Ryan, I'll tell you it was one of the most wonderful things that I've ever seen in the work we do at Freedom Alliance because it was so meaningful and holding back tears as I'm telling you this story because it gets me every time, but those veterans were able to tell this gold star student about her dad and
do it in a way that it was very different from everything else. It wasn't the formal your dad was you know, he was promoted on this date or that date. It was your dad was a goofball man, and he
made us laugh every time, and he was a great leader. And the one time he kicked me in the backside because I wasn't polishing my rifle the right way or things like that, And it meant so much to her to learn that because so many of these students lost their dads at two, three, four or five years old, and they don't have that many memories and they rely on those of us who knew their fathers to be able to convey
those memories. There are just so many things when you go to Freedom Alliance dot org that you will find this organization does for our service members their families. You can look through all the different programs that we've talked about, you can look at the adventures and experiences, and then of course you can get involved. And none of this stuff just happens. It takes your support,
including your donations. So please go to Freedomalliance dot org to check all of this out and then get involved, even if it's just showing your appreciation by sending a note of appreciation, which you can again find on the website too. That's Freedomalliance dot org. Tom Kilgannon, President of Freedom Alliance, Tom, I want to thank you so much for all this tremendous work that you
and your organization are doing and for coming on the show. Thank you my pleasure, all right, and that's going to do it for this edition of Ihearidio Communities. As we wrap things up, I want to offer a big thanks to our guests and of course to all of you for listening. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman We'll talk to you again real soon.