Ford Motor Company, which helps more than 700,000 disabled American military veterans access health care each year, is donating eight Ford Flex utility vehicles to the DAV, providing even more mobility support for disabled military veterans.
The new vehicles will become part of the DAV Transportation Network that enlists volunteer drivers to take ill and disabled veterans to VA medical centers across the country. They will be deployed to DAV locations in Baltimore, Maryland; Bay Pines, Florida; Danville, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Manchester, New Hampshire; Syracuse, New York; Chattanooga, Tennessee and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Last year, Ford vehicles assisted 716,000 military veterans to reach their medical appointments. Over the past 20 years, Ford has donated 207 vehicles to the DAV fleet, which was formed in 1987 and has helped more than 17.3 million veterans reach VA health care facilities for appointments and treatment.
“These heroic men and women are a powerful inspiration for Americans of all ages,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We salute their courage and perseverance, and we’re proud to help them overcome mobility challenges with vehicles and rides that could improve the quality of their lives.”
“We are extremely proud and grateful of our long partnership with Ford Motor Company,” said Moses A. McIntosh Jr, national commander, DAV. “These vehicles will be used by volunteers nationwide to ensure our wounded heroes get to and from medical appointments. Without this donation and program, many of these veterans would go without the medical care they earned.”
Ford Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, is also continuing its support of the DAV’s Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship. The program 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.
Ford’s support for veterans has evolved over the decades since 1919 when Henry Ford began hiring disabled veterans returning from World War I. In 1922, Ford organized a cross-country caravan of 50 Model Ts to take disabled veterans to the DAV national convention.
Ford sponsors the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic – often called “Miracles on a Mountainside” – a rehabilitation program held annually in the mountains of Colorado that helps improve the physical and mental well-being of severely injured veterans, as they meet challenges such as skiing, skating and rock wall climbing. Ford also supports military families with programs such as Nurse Assistant Training through the American Red Cross, providing Ford Blue Oval Scholarships to military members and their spouses to prepare them for careers in healthcare.
Since 1974, Ford and Ford Fund have provided nearly $9.8 million to veterans’ organizations.
Ford today employs more than 6,000 veterans plus hundreds of active military personnel, reservists and guardsmen.
