Open Letter to Legislators From SGM Jim Kelly (ret.) in Response To Uninformed and Reckless Attacks by Mass. Fallen Heroes Fund
October 28, 2015
Dear Legislators,
My name is SGM Jim Kelly and I am the President of the Military Friends Foundation 501c3, the organization that proudly administers the state’s Military Family Relief Fund. I welcomed the opportunity to sit down this week with Kerry Kavanaugh from Fox 25 News Investigates to address uninformed and reckless accusations made against my organization and House Bill 3147 by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial Fund, Inc. staff on October 21st at a State House hearing.
First and foremost, as an Iraq Veteran with over 30-years in the military, including both the Marine Corps and the Massachusetts Army National Guard, I would not volunteer fo,r more than six years or lend my name nor my reputation to any entity that is not of the highest integrity. Veterans and military families deserve the highest standards. I am passionate about the work we do and believe the Military Friends Foundation actions are in keeping with those standards.
This past weekend, I had an opportunity to meet with dozens of soldiers in the Massachusetts National Guard who will be deploying later this fall. Because of donations made through the Mass. Military Family Relief Fund, we are able to help more than 100 of these soldiers fly home for Thanksgiving to visit with the families one final time before they deploy overseas. This is just the most recent example of the difference that Military Friends Foundation makes in the lives of local military families.
That is why I was so disappointed to learn that Massachusetts Fallen Heroes staff, in their rush to get a headline, forgot one thing before testifying against House Bill 3147: To read the Bill.
Here are the facts:
*HB 3147, filed by State Representative Hank Naughton – an Iraq/Afghanistan combat veteran – is intended to increase State oversight of the Military Family Relief Fund and in the age of ISIS, protect the safety of the men and women we serve by ensuring their names and home addresses aren’t unnecessarily exposed. Anyone who knows Rep. Naughton, who currently deployed, knows he would never sign onto any legislation much a less be a sponsor of a bill that would do harm to veterans.
*Current law allows Military Friends Foundation to spend $75,000 annually to administer the Military Family Relief Fund. We spend far less. HB 3147 was simply intended to remove the false impression we were spending $75,000 and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise.
*This legislation would also open up all of the reports Military Friends Foundation files with the state to the public. As with all non-profits, we report to the IRS, Secretary of State and Attorney General’s Office. We are proud to report that unlike most nonprofits, we file additional reports with the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee as well as Administration and Finance. I encourage all veteran’s groups to join us and ask for this type accountability for their organizations by the state.
In my interview, I had the chance to respond to additional questions posed by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes and Fox 25. While I sincerely hope that Fox 25 accurately and fairly reports on the good work of Military Friends Foundation, I welcome this opportunity to share my responses with you.
*Military Friends is a low-overhead organization, with one full-time employee, the wife of an Afghanistan veteran. Her primary job is to travel statewide to meet with and assist military families and veterans in need. She works 50+ hours a week and is on call three weekends a month. Fox 25 told me they had arrived unannounced at our office and that she was not there to speak with them. Frankly, I would be disappointed if she had been. We are not an organization that sits and waits for the work to come to us. We are out there in communities supporting Servicemembers and their families.
*At the end of the interview, Fox 25 suggested that “other” organizations felt we should have more staff, while in the same breath suggesting we spend too much on administrative costs. We have an active Board and volunteer network and as President, I firmly believe the public needs to know that the money that they’re donating is going to support veterans and their families. These funds are not going for full-time salaries for part-time employees or extravagant dinner galas.
*Kerry Kavanaugh asked me why there is a significant amount of money in the Military Family Relief Fund trust and why isn’t it all being given to Servicemembers today. This question makes for a good sound bite. The answer is quite simple – forward looking policy and sound money management. Here are the facts. Since I became President, we have given out more than $1 million dollars to local Servicemembers and Gold Star Families. By design we have been extremely cautious with the Fund and take the mission of being good stewards of taxpayer donations seriously. On September 10, 2001, no one could have imagined what the next fourteen years would be like. As a retired SGM I think long-term. We have a moral obligation to serve the families 5 and 10 years from now, the same way we do today. It was prudent to assume donations would decrease when the war was no longer in the headlines. That is why we have a multi-year plan to make sure this program is sustainable. We are still a Nation at war. Military Friends Foundation has a greater obligation to be there long after the parades end and the yellow ribbons fade.
I hope this is not an attempt by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes to simply try and change the conversation away from hard questions concerning their organization that have been asked in recent weeks by two statewide veterans groups – the Massachusetts VFW, an organization I’m proud to be a part of, and the Massachusetts Veterans Service Officer’s Association, representing veterans agents across the state. These groups sent letters to Governor Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey asking for direct and immediate examination of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes fundraising practices and whether donations being raised in the names of Fallen Servicemembers are going to built their non-profit brand rather than build a memorial to the Fallen. Whatever the case, it is simply wrong to use Military Friends Foundation and the families we serve as a tool for this distraction and endanger future support for military families in need.
As a lifelong Soldier, I give direct answers to direct questions and look forward to sitting down with you on any questions you might have.
Respectfully,
SGM Jim Kelly (ret.), President
