Jack Daniel’s kicks in $100k to help soldiers make it home for the holidays
Nice to be able to put out a story of some corporate good for a change:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s is donating more than $100,000 to pay for plane tickets and travel funds for soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., to spend the December holiday season with their families all over the country.
The distiller is also asking the public to make additional contributions that could help hundreds of cash-strapped soldiers who otherwise would be stuck at the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line. Donations can be made to the Operation Ride Home campaign online atwww.jdoperationridehome.com.
Shirley West, executive director of the Armed Services YMCA at Fort Campbell, said she will be working with unit leaders to identify the neediest soldiers who will be eligible for plane ticket vouchers up to $300 for each family member and debit cards up to $100 for each family member for gas and lodging.
Jack Daniel’s is starting the fund with a donation of $101,000 in honor of the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division, which has recently returned from yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. The soldiers stationed there come from all over the country, but travel expenses can be a huge burden on single soldiers or young families with children.
“Unfortunately a lot of these soldiers don’t have the money to fly to New York or fly to California,” she said. “There wouldn’t be gifts for Christmas if they did that.”
West said this is the first large-scale program she’s seen in the military to pay for soldiers’ personal travel expenses.
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