Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund

“During the first half of the fiscal year, the SFF utilized the services of a CPA firm to perform quarterly compilations of their financial statements and assist them with other financial reporting and accounting issues. All work done by the CPA firm was directed and reviewed by management on an ongoing basis. Delegation of these duties to a management company ended in December 2013 and these duties are now performed by SFF employees. A separate, unrelated independent accounting firm was engaged to audit SFFs financial statements at fiscal year end.”

“The Form 990 is initially reviewed by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and senior management. After changes, if any, are made, the Form 990 is then provided to the Board of Directors for review prior to being filed. The Form 990 is filed once it is approved by the entire Board.”

“The SFF requires an annual statement from each Board Member disclosing all conflicts of interest. Periodic reviews of these annual statements are made by various members of the Board.”

“The Executive Director's compensation, as well as all employee compensation, is reviewed and approved by the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee is made up of independent members of the Board. The Committee discusses comparable compensation in other organizations and keeps confidential records of the Committees deliberations.”

“The SFF's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are available upon request. The audited financial statements, Form 990 and privacy policy are also available on the SFF's website.”

“In fiscal year 2014, the SFF provided family support grants to approximately 2,800 recipients.The SFF helps hospitalized service members by making sure their family members can be by the bedside to help facilitate recovery. This means covering expenses such as the loss of income for family members, childcare expenses, travel costs and any other needs that are identified. Many families use these loss-of-income grants to help pay mortgages, meet car payments and pay utilities and grocery bills. By reducing the burden of financial worry for our service members and their families, we allow them to place their energy and focus where its most needed: on the recovery process.Family support grants also cover times when a service member is back home but suffers a recovery setback that means a return to the hospital. This often occurs due to severe and multiple injuries and can cause short-term financial difficulties due to travel costs, lost income if a spouse or family member needs to be bedside with the service member, childcare costs while the spouse is away, boarding costs for the service members service dog and many other costs that can quickly become significant. By assisting with such costs, the SFF allows the service member to stay on track with the transition out of the military and back into civilian life and the community.The SFF also provides family support when a service member or his or her spouse or child is struggling with a critical, life-threatening illness. The members of our military support all of us every day and the SFF believes we need to be there for them and their familiesnot just during times of war, but also in their times of need once their military service is complete.”

“The SFF has an Audit Committee, made up of independent Directors, that selects the independent auditor and assumes responsibility for the oversight of the audit.”

“The mission of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (SFF): We serve those who preserve our freedom.What we do: We provide immediate and long-term financial, emotional and spiritual support for post-9/11 injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. Since our inception in 2004, the SFF has provided more than 75,000 grants totaling more than $93 million to 12,000 of our wounded and critically ill service members. We work to ensure that our service members and their families are never forgotten or left alone in their recovery, and we provide resources to help them transition back to civilian life in their homes and communities.Why we do it: To remain faithful to those who were injured while serving our nation and to those active-duty service members (including their spouses or children) who are facing a critical illness.How we do it: Grants and programs are awarded on a case-by-case basis and are based on need.We fulfill our mission with three main programs: (1) Transitional and long-term support, (2) Family Support, and (3) Sports and competition.”

“In fiscal year 2014, the SFF provided sports and competition grants to approximately 400 recipients.Through Team Semper Fi and Team Americas Fund, the SFF provides encouragement, motivation and the establishing and achievement of individual goals through a wide range of recreational sports and competitive events. These programs provide an exciting outlet and powerful peer support for our wounded service members and their families.We provide coaches, specialized sporting equipment, team uniforms, entry fees and travel expenses for the injured team members to compete in events across the country and around the world. Team members are also given the opportunity to receive high-level training from former and current Olympic and Paralympic athletes through a partnership with U.S. Paralympics.Sports and competition programs also give service members a ready-made peer group with a similar background (military service), similar life circumstances (injury or critical illness) and similar interests (athletics). As service members recover from both physical and mental traumas, peer support and relationships are critical to making healthy progress.”

“In fiscal year 2014, the SFF provided transitional and long-term assistance grants to approximately 2,600 recipients.Transitional support covers many areas that support service members and their spouses, children and caregivers. We provide funds for education and career transition, mentoring (through the Veterans 2 Veterans program), mentoring for children (Semper Fi Fund Kids Camp that pairs high school juniors and seniors with the children of injured service members) and other similar programs. We also provide financial assistance during the transition from military to civilian life to cover unexpected costs such as home and car repairs.Long-term support includes a variety of programs and services to address the long-term and sometimes lifelong effects of the service members injuries. For service members with severe injuries such as lost limbs and paralysis, there are a wide range of needs that are required to be able to live with such disabilities. The SFF provides support for specially modified vehicles, specially adapted homes (with features such as roll-in showers, ADA-compliant appliances and voice-activated controls for lights and doors) and specialized and adaptive equipment (such as visual enhancement devices for the visually impaired, software programs for those who cannot type, specialized wheelchairs for those who are unable to ambulate and therapeutic mattresses for those with multiple injuries and burns).The SFF also provides service and therapy dogs, paying for the initial acquisition and training and also paying for ongoing and often significant costs such as veterinarian bills and travel costs to allow the dog to travel with the service member.Many returning service members suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), a consequence of exposure to blasts and explosions during deployment. TBI is now so common that it has been labeled a hallmark of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We recognized the need for specialized assistance for these service members and implemented PTSD and TBI support such as medical equipment (to alleviate some of the symptoms of their injuries), computer tablets (to allow them to more easily keep track of family and medical appointments) and counseling (to aid them in dealing with these invisible injuries).”