The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
(DMVA) is encouraging Pennsylvanians to support the Commonwealth’s 800,000
veterans and their families through several statewide programs this year.
"By supporting one of these programs, you are letting those
who served know that Pennsylvania appreciates their service and sacrifices in
protecting our nation and commonwealth,” Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler,
Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA, said in a
statement.
Pennsylvanians can make tax-deductible
donations to the following veteran-support programs this holiday
season:
- Veterans’ Trust Fund (VTF): The VTF issues
grants to statewide charitable organizations that assist veterans,
veterans service organizations and county directors of veterans affairs to
help veterans in need of shelter and necessities of living. The VTF also
issues temporary assistance grants to individual veterans who have
qualifying financial needs.
- How
to help: Pennsylvanians can donate to VTF when applying for or
renewing their driver’s license or photo identification card and renewing
a motor vehicle registration, from purchasing the "Honoring Our Veterans
and Honoring Our Women Veterans” license plates, and by donating online
or by mail.
- Military Family Relief Assistance Program (MFRAP): The
MFRAP provides financial assistance, in the form of grants, to eligible
Pennsylvania service members and their eligible family members who have an
immediate financial need based on circumstances beyond their
control.
- How
to help: Pennsylvanians can support this program in three ways:
by designating all or part of their Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax
refund to the MFRAP, and by donating online or by mail.
- Six Resident Welfare Funds: Resident
Welfare Funds at each of the DMVA’s six veterans homes help to keep the
residents active and healthy by providing activities and entertainment.
The six Pennsylvania veterans homes and their locations are: Delaware
Valley Veterans’ Home in Philadelphia; Gino J. Merli Veterans’ Center in
Scranton; Hollidaysburg Veterans’ Home in Hollidaysburg; Pennsylvania
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Erie; Southeastern Veterans’ Center in
Spring City; and Southwestern Veterans’ Center in Pittsburgh.
- How
to help: Donations can be made online or through private
donations by mail.
- Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial Trust Fund: Located
at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County, and maintained by
the DMVA, the recently refurbished Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial is the
first in the commonwealth to honor veterans of all eras from the
Revolutionary War forward and it is the largest veterans memorial located
in any of the national cemeteries.
- How
to help: Donations are accepted online or by mail to help
maintain and repair the memorial.
