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REQUEST A CARE PACKAGE
If you are a veteran in need of a new pair of shoes, regardless of your financial or housing situation, please contact us or fill out our online form to request your shoes for yourself or your family.
OPERATION:
FINAL TOUR
ABOUT
Operation: Final Tour was inspired by our founding director Brady Melear. After serving and experiencing the challenges our heroes face firsthand, he committed his life to giving back to our veteran community with every waking moment. Brady has made tremendous contributions to Mission 22, SAVE 22, and Freedom Hunters, and has leveraged his experience and perspective to get In a Soldier’s Shoes Foundation off the ground. In the course of his selfless commitment to community service, Brady once took an elderly veteran on a fishing trip to fulfill his last request. Shortly after, the gentleman passed on, but did so a little more fulfilled having gone on one last tour with Brady enjoying something he loved to do but was otherwise prevented from due to the increased costs and challenges of aging. Far from their deserved celebrity status, many veterans approach their last days feeling forgotten. In Operation: Final Tour, we coordinate our efforts and resources to fulfill requests of disabled, aging, and terminally ill veterans and help them complete a final mission of their choosing to recognize them for sacrificing their youth to make our country great and celebrate their heroic contributions to our society. Once a soldier, always a soldier, and we are honored to walk alongside our heroes every step of the way.
THE PROGRAM
Concept: Make-a-Wish Style Requests for Qualified Veterans
Qualifications: Must be a Veteran of the United States Armed Forces and meet one or more of the following criteria for selection:
- Disabled from Military Service
- Terminally Ill
- Hospice Patient
- Over the age of 80 Years
Nomination: Candidates are nominated by veterans organizations including 501(c)3 nonprofits and charities, AMVETS, VFW, or American Legion Posts, Veteran Service Organizations, Veteran Housing Organizations, etc. Each post or chapter may nominate one veteran per year for their community. Candidates are nominated by writing the nominee's name on provided dog tags and submitting them to us for a drawing. Nomination expires if candidate is not selected within a year and must be renominated in the next cycle to qualify. If an organization's veteran is selected in a year, they are ineligible to submit a nomination in the following year but may resume nominations after a year has passed.
Selection: Candidates are selected randomly from submissions received. Only names are received. Once a veteran is selected, we hear their request and determine whether it is within our ability to execute. If it is possible, we get to work on carrying out their mission! If not, we work with the veteran to work on a mission that we can complete with them.
Selection Period: TBD
Quantity: We strive to complete as many missions within a year as possible. Due to the variance and unpredictable nature of requests, we allocate a budget upon selection and determine whether we can reasonably complete the next one before drawing and repeat until our budget is depleted.
Limitations: While we approach Operation: Final Tour with a limitless attitude and the mindset that anything is possible, we will not fulfill any requests that are illegal, overly risky, or potentially embarrassing to our donors. We cannot use available funds for purchases or investments. If anything is well outside our financial means or unfeasible to achieve financially and we cannot find a sponsor for the specific request, we may not be able to commit to the request and will ask for one we can complete or move on to the next candidate.
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