McCormick Foundation, Major League Baseball Announce $2.6 Million in Additional Grants for "Welcome Back Veterans"

McCormick Foundation, Major League Baseball Announce $2.6 Million in Additional Grants for "Welcome Back Veterans"

Twelve recipient organizations will use funds to help returning vets and families stabilize lives and re-integrate into communities

CHICAGO, May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The McCormick Foundation's Board of Directors has approved $2.6 million in 2009 grants as part of Welcome Back Veterans, a national public awareness and fundraising initiative to address the mental health and employment needs of America's veterans and their families. This brings the total amount awarded through Welcome Back Veterans to more than $5.5 million. A complete record of 2009 grants awarded is provided below.

Welcome Back Veterans has raised more than $4.5 million as of April 2009. An additional $2.2 million in matching funds has been provided by the McCormick Foundation (first $4 million raised matched at 50 cents on the dollar). With all administrative costs paid by Major League Baseball and the McCormick Foundation, more than $5.5 million has been distributed over the past year to 24 nonprofit agencies targeting veterans' greatest needs.

The goal of Welcome Back Veterans is to raise public awareness of, and financial support for, the mental health and employment challenges faced by OIF/OEF veterans and their families. These 2009 grants were based upon the recommendations of a steering committee consisting of New York Mets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fred Wilpon, and representatives from Major League Baseball and the McCormick Foundation.

"It is the responsibility of all Americans to support veterans -- those among us who have risked all to protect our free, democratic society," said Brig. Gen. (Ret.) David L. Grange, president and CEO of the McCormick Foundation. "As our warriors return and seek to reconnect with families, friends and society, it is important that we support their successful reintegration into our communities. That reintegration can be difficult without help and appropriate resources. Welcome Back Veterans is an opportunity for us to ensure that these brave men and women have the best care and the best start with their new lives at home."

Statistics indicate that approximately 300,000 veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment (Lisa H. Jaycox and Terri Tanielian, Invisible Wounds of War, Rand Corporation, 2008). The Welcome Back Veterans initiative is complementary to and supportive of the ongoing government programs already in place.

Below is the complete listing of the second round of Welcome Back Veterans grants:

Welcome Back Veterans Grants - Mental Health

1. Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, Inc.
(New York) $250,000
For Home Again: Reaching Out, a family-focused outreach, community
education and mental health program offered to Operation Iraqi
Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans and
their families in the Bronx.

2. Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies $135,000
For the Soldiers Project, which offers free, accessible confidential psychological treatment to OIF / OEF military service members and
their families.

3. National Center on Family Homelessness, Inc. (Newton, MA) $250,000
For Community Circles of Support for Veterans' Families, which
provides education, outreach, mental health treatment and
social support.

4. National Veterans Business Development Corporation
(Washington, D.C.) $300,000
For the TROOPS Activator, a Web-based technology that gives
veterans access to mental health treatment via their home computers.

5. North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System Foundation
(Great Neck, NY) $250,000
For PTSD / TBI treatment programs for military families on Long
Island and throughout the New York metro region.

6. Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Inc.
(Washington, D.C.) $200,000
For suicide prevention for veterans with PTSD including long-term,
peer-based emotional support, crisis response and intervention.

7. USA Cares (Radcliff, KY) $300,000
For the Warrior Treatment Today program, which provides financial
assistance to veterans who enroll in in-patient PTSD and TBI programs.

Mental Health Total $1,685,000

Welcome Back Veterans Grants - Job Training/Placement

8. Crane Technology, Inc. (Crane, IN) $220,000
For Crane Learning and Employment Center for Veterans with Disabilities.

9. National Military Family Association, Inc.
(Alexandria, VA) $50,000
For Military Spouse Scholarship program, which provides scholarships
for individuals married to veterans with PTSD and other mental health disabilities.

10. National Organization on Disability (New York) $270,000
For Army Wounded Warrior Career Demonstration project, a multi-year
initiative, serving the most severely disabled veterans of the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

11. Project Return to Work (Boulder, CO) $250,000
For Back to Work, Back to Life program, which provides employment
training and placement services for disabled veterans.

12. Swords to Plowshares Veterans Rights Organization
(San Francisco) $125,000
For Combat to Community - On the Job program, which provides
counseling, case management, housing, legal advocacy and
employment services to homeless and disabled veterans.

Job Training / Placement Total $915,000

WELCOME BACK VETERANS GRAND TOTAL $2,600,000



The McCormick Foundation continues to accept and encourage donations to Welcome Back Veterans. Major League Baseball and the McCormick Foundation are paying all expenses associated with this initiative, so 100 percent of the funds raised, plus the matching dollars, will go to programs and services for veterans.

Those who wish to donate can do any of the following:

1. Make your contribution online at www.WelcomeBackVeterans.org

2. Call toll free 1 877 838 5030

3. Mail a check to:
WELCOME BACK VETERANS
37002 EAGLE WAY
CHICAGO, IL 60678-1370

About the McCormick Foundation


The McCormick Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its grant making programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, museums and civic outreach program the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation's largest charities, with more than $1 billion in assets. For more information, please visit www.McCormickFoundation.org.

About Major League Baseball Charities

Major League Baseball Charities is a not-for-profit corporation that provides support to local, national and international tax-exempt organizations to directly conduct or sponsor activities for the promotion of good health, physical education, public safety, medical research, literacy, educational or charitable purposes. In addition to supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the Official Charity of Major League Baseball, MLB Charities provides support to a number of other national charitable initiatives, including Little League Baseball, the National Urban League and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball pays all administrative expenses for MLB Charities.




Source: McCormick Foundation


CONTACT: Kristin Kiss of the McCormick Foundation, +1-312-222-4502, KKiss@McCormickFoundation.org

Web Site: http://www.rrmtf.org/
http://www.welcomebackveterans.org/
http://www.mccormickfoundation.org/