Ensuring Our Heroes Access the Care They’ve Earned
Ford donates additional vehicles to help disabled veterans get to their doctor’s appointments.
Ford donates additional vehicles to help disabled veterans get to their doctor’s appointments.
Eight newly donated Ford SUVs are about to change the lives of thousands of disabled military veterans who need rides to their doctor and hospital visits. The new Ford Flex utility vehicles were just added to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Transportation Network
“Ford vehicles are crisscrossing the country for veterans, traveling almost 23 million miles every year to make certain our heroes can access the care they earned.”
The Flex crossover utility vehicles are being deployed in Augusta, Georgia; Des Moines, Iowa; Topeka, Kansas; Asheville, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; and Waco, Texas. New Orleans, Louisiana, will also receive two new Flex vehicles.
Since its founding in 1987, the DAV Transportation Network has helped more than 18 million veterans, and Ford has been involved every step of the way. Over the past 21years, we’ve contributed more than 200 vehicles to promote mobility for veterans all over the country.
“Without Ford’s generosity and the hard work of our volunteers, we would not have been able to provide nearly 700,000 rides for veterans last year alone,” says Dave Riley, DAV national commander. “Ford vehicles are crisscrossing the country for veterans, traveling almost 23 million miles every year to make certain our heroes can access the care they earned.”
Ford’s history of helping men and women who have served dates back to 1919, when Henry Ford began hiring disabled veterans returning from World War I. In 1922, he organized a cross-country caravan of 50 Model Ts to take disabled veterans to their national convention. Today, Ford currently employs nearly 6,000 veterans, plus hundreds of active military personnel, reservists and guardsmen.
In addition to our work with DAV, we’ve grown our commitment to veterans through a multitude of initiatives focused on their interests. Ford and the Ford Motor Company Fund have provided nearly $11 million to veterans’ organizations since 1974. Our support for military families includes programs such as nurse assistant training through the American Red Cross, and the Ford Blue Oval Scholarship program, which provides military members and their spouses with preparation for careers in health care.
We also sponsor the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, a rehabilitation program held annually in the mountains of Colorado that helps improve the physical and mental well-being of severely injured veterans, and Ford Focus on Freedom, which honors current and former military veterans with a special VIP event at the annual Ford Fireworks in Detroit.
Ford Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, is also continuing its support of the DAV Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship program, which provides grants to young men and women who have generously volunteered their time and provided distinguished service to help disabled veterans in their communities. With Ford Fund’s help, DAV has awarded nearly $1.2 million in scholarships to these exceptional young leaders.
By providing employment resources to veterans and their families, and helping educate the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life, we hope to empower our veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. At Ford, we’re honored to be a part of DAV and their ongoing mission to fulfill our promises to the men and women who have served.
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