BRYAN, Texas (May 24, 2017)
Gratitude Initiative (GI), a non-profit that provides essential education programs and college scholarships to the children of our active duty military, veterans, disabled vets, and those killed in defense of our country, has received a $25,000 donation from Sport Clips Haircuts to provide college preparatory and tutoring programs to children whose parents paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
Gratitude Initiative was started in 2013 by Lee Sechrist, a former Army officer and disabled veteran, and is the only non-profit of its type providing comprehensive college preparatory and tutoring programs. GI supports students from 8th grade through college graduation with the tools and programs proven to put young people on the path to educational and career success and are completely FREE to the families they serve.
Gratitude Initiative's main strategies are to:
- Provide essential college planning and academic support services, free of charge, to help military and veteran children achieve their educational and career goals.
- Award college scholarships to qualifying students participating in our program to attend college or technical school.
- Raise awareness of the challenges brought on by having a mother or father deployed overseas for military service or dealing with the disability or death of a parent due to military service.
"Since 9/11, 51,000 children have parents who have been wounded or killed and that number continues to grow," says Sechrist. "Over 16 years of fighting has taken an incredible toll on our military families, the children in particular. The statistics are staggering when you look at what these children go through and the struggles they have academically. We want to help put them on a path to succeed and triumph through what is already a challenging time in their lives."
GI serves families around the globe and partners with numerous organizations that provide services to Gold Star Children in support of families who have had a service member killed in defense of our country. GI quickly comes alongside the surviving spouse and child to walk every step of the way through high school to college transition process, immediately helping reduce stress on the family.
Sport Clips is no stranger to supporting military organizations and their families. Prior to founding Sport Clips, CEO Gordon Logan served as an aircraft commander in the U.S. Air Force, so this donation to Gratitude Initiative holds special meaning for him. "Sport Clips is focused on providing 'haircuts with heart,' and one of the key ways we meet that objective is through on-going support of our nation's military," he says. "More than one million children in the United States have had parents deploy one or more times since 9/11. Supporting Gratitude Initiative to help these young people with their education will benefit them in reaching their academic goals, and we're proud to be a part of this good work."
"Mr. Logan, a veteran himself, knows intimately what these families endure," says Sechrist. "This donation from Sport Clips is invaluable to families who have given so much of themselves to protect our country and our freedom. There is no greater way to honor their sacrifice than to help prepare their kids for college."