Donations to the Evan Ashcraft Foundation are distributed on behalf of Evan Ashcraft and his desire to help people. Our grant recipients are all non-government organizations that provide help or support to veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq War) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). Our current focus is on organizations that offer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling for returning vets and on those that also include help for a veteran's family members. In the past we have also supported organizations that provide educational scholarships to veterans. Our hope is to not only increase our support to these organizations every year, but to add new organizations as well. The Evan Ashcraft Foundation is a 501(c) (3) tax exempt charity.

"Your donations enable us to be there with the help when times get tough. We respond quickly rather than require a wait for weeks or months."

"We saved the life of a military wife and child who were on the way to a suicide attempt."

"A child of a Marine KIA will have a college education from your help."

The Soldiers Project

The Soldiers Project is a group of licensed mental health professionals who offer free psychological treatment to military service members (active duty, National Guard, Reserves and veterans) who have served, or who expect to serve, in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and to members of their families. Treatment is conducted in their private offices with therapists that are all volunteers. Their services are entirely confidential and they do not report to any governmental agency.

www.thesoldiersproject.org

Why were they chosen? More than half of the estimated 300,000 military service members who are suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, and traumatic brain injury are going without treatment because of the gaps in mental health care and stigma issues, according to RAND Corporation's 500-page independent study on the prevalence of psychological injuries. This condition extends to the families of these veterans.

"The gap widens every day when you consider the barriers to access, including the red tape, long waiting lists, proximity of VA facilities to client's homes, and the escalating need due to continued high intensity combat, longer term and multiple deployments, and the lack of therapists trained in treating combat trauma," says Dr. Judith Broder, Director of The Soldiers Project, "We narrow the gap by breaking down the hurdles to care. Appointments are made within 24 to 48 hours of a call and with a therapist who lives close to the client's home. There is no paperwork or reporting (within the law) and services are confidential, so clients feel fewer stigmas about seeking and receiving therapy. Our counselors are trained in combat trauma and have a peer support network. Services are offered for free and for as long as our clients need therapy."

The Armed Services YMCA (San Diego)

The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a national member association of the YMCA of the USA. Though a non-government agency, they work with the Department of Defense to provide support services to military service members and their families. ASYMCA is over 140 years old and is focused on junior-enlisted men and women - the individuals on the front lines defending our nation and their families. ASYMCA operates at 16 dedicated branch locations and nine affiliated community YMCAs, as well as with six Homeland Security affiliates worldwide. ASYMCA offers essential programs such as childcare, hospital assistance, spouse support services, food services, computer training classes, health and wellness services, and holiday meals, among many others. In 2006 alone, more than 9,133 individuals nationwide volunteered their time to the ASYMCA logging 214,622 volunteer hours.

www.militaryymca.com

www.asymca.org

Why were they chosen? ASYMCA runs more than 150 programs around the world to ease the burden of the families of junior-enlisted military personnel. Some are carried out at single ASYMCA branch locations. Others operate at multiple branch locations and are customized to meet the specific needs of that community.

"We were contacted by the wife of a recently returned Marine from Iraq. She advised that the wait for counseling at the VA was over 120 days but conditions had reached intolerable levels with her PTSD-stricken husband. She was ready to take her life and the life of their infant child. The volunteer "talked" her into the center that night and provided immediate comfort and counseling. This continued onward with the family to provide much needed help saving their lives." - ASYMCA Volunteer

The Mehadi Foundation

The Mehadi Foundation was founded by Marine Lance Corporal Jeff Key, a veteran of the Iraqi War. It is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity established solely to aid veterans and Iraqi citizens - those most impacted by war. The Foundation is named for a young Iraqi boy from the town of Badrah who showed exceptional kindness to the organization's founder, Jeff Key as he served as a Marine during the war. It is young Mehadi's attitude of hope under extreme adversity and his unbounded generosity even in great poverty that exemplifies the purpose of The Mehadi Foundation.

www.mehadifoundation.org

Why were they chosen? The Mehadi Foundation is a non-profit organization with two important missions. The first is provide assistance through a support network to Iraq War veterans with PTSD who seek help with drug and alcohol concerns, and other issues. The second is to provide aid and assistance to Iraqi civilians as they attempt to rebuild their lives in the wake of the conflict. Specific emphasis is placed on the alleviation of hunger, and the rebuilding homes and schools destroyed in the Iraq War.

Army Emergency Relief Fund

The Army Emergency Relief (AER) is a private, non-profit organization with the primary mission of providing financial assistance to soldiers and their dependents in time of valid emergency need. The MG James Ursano Scholarship Program was established in 1976 as a secondary mission to help Army families with undergraduate college expenses for their dependent children. Funds are limited, therefore scholarship awards are limited. The MG James Ursano Scholarship Program offers scholarships based on financial need, academics and leadership/achievement for each academic year.

www.aerhg.org

www.aerhq.org/education_dependentchildren_mgjames.asp

Why were they chosen? The Evan Ashcraft Foundation recognized upon its founding that a means of providing assistance, especially to dependants of deceased veterans of the Iraq War, would be served by providing educational scholarships to them. This would assist in perpetuating Evan's name through these worthy scholars.

The California Community Foundation (Calfund)

Calfund has been a supporting partner to the Evan Ashcraft Foundation since its inception. Based in Los Angeles, Calfund grants more than $3 million to 33 nonprofit organizations in the arts, social services, education, health care and affordable housing serving low-income communities in Los Angeles County. The Foundation had recently committed to maintain its competitive grant levels from the 2008 fiscal year to $22.7 million to ensure it can respond to the needs of the community at its most dire. Calfund works with the Evan Ashcraft Foundation to assist in identifying, qualifying and distributing grants to worthy organizations who support the mission and purpose of the Ashcraft Foundation.

www.calfund.org