After Action Review: OpKudu

Fellow Americans,

First and foremost, you are all amazing! What we were all able to accomplish together in such a short time was no less than miraculous. Because of your dedication and continued service to the Veterans of our great nation we were able to secure a vehicle for our Veteran in need!

Let me start by giving you some background. This operation kicked off when we heard this Veterans vehicle had broken down and was considered "totaled".

"I have a wife and one child, my vehicle broke down, and I was just recently laid off. My wife is currently the sole provider for our family as a cook at a nearby restaurant. They've labeled our vehicle as 'totaled' and I can't afford to fix it. I've been borrowing a vehicle from my grandparents, but it's becoming difficult to manage between us. My sister has a vehicle she can give me but she lives 1300 miles away and I can't even afford a plane ticket or the gas to get back."

With the need growing to be more immediate Service to Nation activated on OpKudu to focus on securing a reliable vehicle. Our Veteran had enough to purchase a cheap vehicle, but by no means would it be suitable to transport a 6 year old.

A reliable vehicle was determined by Service to Nation to be fall in the $5,000 price range. Raising that kind of funding in 1 week for a Non-Profit startup with no street cred would prove to be a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), to say the least! As funds started rolling in at a surprising rate we began to approach $1000 rapidly. At that point, we shifted our target funding to match our Veterans funds, $1200, but our objective did not change.

"We will get this Veteran a $5,000 vehicle, but we will have to secure it for $2,400."

Needless to say, we started hitting the phones and online vehicle listings. Some of the phone calls went like this:

S2N: "Hi, I am calling about [insert vehicle]. Is it still available?"
Salesman: "Yes"
S2N: "Great! I am with Service to Nation, a Non-Profit focused on catching our fellow Veterans before they fall and helping to shoulder their burden, walking with them in their time of need. And, right now we have a Veteran in need. We are looking to see what kind of deal we can strike with you on this vehicle."
Salesman: "Ohh yeah? We're taking donations here too."

As you can imagine, that can get a bit disheartening. That is, until you get ahold of someone that says,

"For that vehicle? I think we have $2,400 in it. I'll give it to you for that."

WHAT?!? That was quickly followed with, "I actually have another one (list price and quality equivalent) that I can sell at $2,300."

The only thought going through my head was, God is Great!

We set out to get a $5,000 vehicle for $2,400 and that is just what we did! Because of your generosity, because of your dedication to our Veterans, because of your unwillingness to allow a Veteran to fall. On behalf of all Veterans I want to thank you for your support in this operation, but I'm here to also say it's not over yet. This is just the beginning! We need to continue building a network of people that have skills, abilities, and connections. Next time, it might be a Veteran needing a job, a Veteran needing handy work after a natural disaster, or a Veteran just needing a place to rest their head for a night. We need to get in front of more Veterans in need and to secure more funding to support these Veterans and our operations. The members of Service to Nation are volunteers and the cost of doing business is real.

We need your continued financial support. Please consider donating or making a recurring donation. Please also contact us if you know a Veteran in need or have skills you are able to volunteer for when the next opportunity to serve comes our way.

MISSION COMPLETE

Operation Kudu

"I have a wife and one child, my vehicle broke down, and I was just recently laid off. My wife is currently the sole provider for our family as a cook at a nearby restaurant. They've labeled our vehicle as 'totaled' and I can't afford to fix it. I've been borrowing a vehicle from my grandparents, but it's becoming difficult to manage between us. My sister has a vehicle she can give me but she lives 1300 miles away and I can't even afford a plane ticket or the gas to get back."

This is just one story of an active struggle one of our United States Veterans is facing right now... and we can help him!! We will leave no soldier left behind. We will not allow our Veterans to face these trials alone.

This is just what Service to Nation was created for!

Service to Nation is just getting started and this is a perfect example of what we're all about. Veterans helping Veterans. We will help this soldier and with your continued support we will help more soldiers just like him.

Join us now in helping this soldier through your donation.

Mission Accomplished: With the collective support of our donors we were able to acquire a 2007 Subaru Forester. Update and lessons learned to follow in subsequent Blog post.