Car Donations to the National Veterans Foundation

Whether you know a veteran or simply turn on the news, it’s clear that returning men and women of the military need our aid – physically and emotionally. Americans have grieved a number of deadly shootings, reports of domestic violence and a suicide rate of 22 veterans per day.

Donating your car to a veterans’ organization is a healthy response to a growing problem.

National Veterans Foundation helps veterans and their families who are going through a crisis.

A few years ago, government statistics claimed that more than 22 million Americans have served in the military, which is over 7% of the country. If you consider just male service members, it’s 13% of the population.

Chances are good you have a veteran in your life – may be your father went to Korea or your sister served in Afghanistan. Whichever branch of the military and whatever part of the globe they’re sent to, they may be suffering in more ways than one.

A car donation for veterans through the National Veterans Foundation is an easy way to care for individuals who are suffering from PTSD, or those who just need some assistance getting a job or obtaining medical treatment.

Veterans of any and every era are encouraged to reach out to the lifeline offered by NVF – those who served on an open battlefield, in a tank, overseas or others who served in a clerical role. They offer vet-to-vet assistance, where there’s someone who understands their sleeplessness, nightmares, fears or suicidal thoughts.

Female veterans sometimes come home to children and find the transition impossible to bear. They’re just a phone call away from help. NVF counselors can help them find solutions and make sure families of vets get enough food to eat and connect them to employment opportunities. 

The decision to make a car donation for veterans funds these services, which is a step toward lowering the numbers of casualties that occur among civilians.

Car Donations- Making a Difference

According to the Southern California nonprofit New Directions for Veterans, the most common problems for returning men and women in uniform are: 

• A veteran’s relationship with him/herself, feelings of self-worth, a sense of identity, purpose.
• Need to reassess their life goals and help with setting and achieving personal and professional goals.
• Trouble coping with a new life in contemporary society. They no longer receive the respect and authority they’re used to from performing at a certain rank; instead, they are addressed simply by name, without a military title.
• The psychological effects of trauma, which can suppress personal and professional growth. They can be plagued by issues that include PTSD, survivor’s guilt, depression and/or substance abuse/addiction.
• A physical handicap a combat veteran incurs as a result of injuries, which may have included disfigurement, amputation or scarification.

Finding the best car donation for veterans enables your gift to go to the men and women who need it.

When you’ve got an easy – and rewarding – opportunity to get involved in providing real solutions, you want to be sure it has the maximum effect. In other words, you want your car donation for veterans to sincerely meet needs, plus you have a vested interest in garnering an appropriate benefit to your bottom line. 

To be sure the car donation company you choose will fulfill your goals – to support our troops – you need to find out about the car donation process they use.

Find out what types of vehicles they accept and whether they make it easy for you with a tow-away service. If you’ve been thinking of replacing your boat or making an RV donation to veterans, here’s your chance. 

And the vehicle donation program you choose should take responsibility for seeing that the car gets sold and complete the paperwork for you; it should be simple on your end. 

Check the car donation company’s level of experience and reviews.

 It’s also a good idea to inquire about how the company maximizes the value of its donation vehicles, thus raising tax deductions for clients, which is based on their car’s selling price.

National Veterans Foundation has a four-star rating with Charity Navigator, the most relied-upon source of ratings for non-profit giving. The site enables you to input the name of any 501(c)(3) to see its rating and details about the organization. 

When you type in National Veterans Foundation, you see its overall score of four stars out of four and a rating in the 90s. You can also look into the organization’s financial performance metrics and the level of accountability and transparency the NVF provides.

Like NVF’s clients in their job placement program know, it’s imperative that you have reliable transportation. If you question that your own set of wheels is fully reliable, it’s nice to know that picking out a new car is providing for veterans in need. 

The NVF website has information about jobs, VA benefits and car donations for veterans. Making things easy for veterans is a top goal for nearly every non-profit that aims to meet the needs of returning service men and women. National Veterans Foundation enables individuals who need information and assistance to obtain it with the click of a mouse.

Educational and training workshops are among the most effective developmental opportunities the non-profit offers veterans. With added knowledge and a greater skill set, they become more employable.

And finding employment for the military when they come home is a job in and of itself. For anyone seeking professional services, a referral builds confidence when you have to make a choice. The “Resources” page of the NVF website has scores of suggested contacts. While the organization doesn’t go so far as to guarantee the outcomes from the resources listed, they offer validation.

“We believe them to be good programs working in good faith to assist veterans,” says the webpage. “In some cases, we have a direct experience in working with these organizations. In other cases, we are recommending them based on their reputation and the information we have available.”

By reading over the NVF’s list of resources, you can see where your car donation for veterans will go. Resources on the page include suicide hotlines, housing, and employment referrals and help with VA benefits. There are links to applications for:

• Pensions
• Educational opportunities
• Rehabilitation
• Health Care from the VA
• Disability
• Employment

National Veterans Foundation offers help in managing benefits through referrals for the following:

• Gaining VA letters and payment history
• Claims for compensation
• Direct deposit
• Document uploading
• Home loan eligibility

Some of the important resources promoted on the NVF site cover access to healthcare, including VA prescriptions, medical records, appointments, messaging with providers, hearing aids, prosthetic socks, and health insurance.

You can tap into any of these programs by clicking on the assistance request page.

Homelessness is at the top of the list when you look at various symptoms stemming from issues veterans bring home with them. Often the result of problems with drugs, alcohol and mental health challenges, returning service persons may have trouble acquiring or maintaining employment, which leads to a lack of funds for housing.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as SAMHSA, says that 10% of homeless Americans are military veterans. And 75% of these individuals are battling mental disorders and/or substance abuse. Combat veterans are good candidates for psychological health assistance to smooth the transition to life in the States.

There is also the SSVF program (Supportive Services for Veteran Families) through the federal government, which attains grants from the VA which are awarded to non-profit and consumer organizations to provide for low-income veterans and their families.

Services offered include:
• Healthcare
• Daily living
• Financial planning
• Transportation
• Legal
• Childcare
• Counseling 

The National Veterans Foundation blog is highly informative as well, covering a range of topics from job fairs and other events to articles about vets. There are heartwarming stories and anecdotes both for the benefit of veterans and for the general public. Topics include the legal defense of veterans in court, help offered by unlikely sources and veterans in crisis. 

If a car donation for veterans isn’t possible, you may donate directly to the National Veterans Foundation. By visiting the NVF website you can consider your options for support. Perhaps you don’t have a car to replace or you’ve committed it to your son or daughter already. Of course, your support for veterans doesn’t have to come through a car donation program.

The “Support” tab at the top of the NVF website has a drop-down for car donation and for general giving opportunities. Those who give can become one of the thousands who has provided for more than 450,000 veterans served by the National Veterans Foundation. 

You can choose various denominations listed, from $10 to $1,000 or fill in your own donation total. There’s also an opportunity to become a monthly, sustaining contributor.

Like a car donation for veterans, those who give monetary donations to NVF gain a tax deduction. The Lifeline for Vets helps service men and women of any age or era who are facing transition issues. The hotline receives crisis calls for emotional support and resources.

National Veterans Foundation considers every call a suicide prevention call. The NVF Lifeline phone number is 888.777.4443 or you can request assistance online.

When considering a monetary donation or a car donation to National Veterans Foundation, you finance the hiring of trained counselors, purchase housing costs and battle hunger. A gift of $20 provides for one call through Lifeline for Vets. A $100 donation provides case management for a veteran for a day. And $200 is enough to sponsor a homeless veteran outreach mission.

Housing is a key issue for the National Veterans Foundation. The organization connects individuals with programs such as VASH – the government’s HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing. It gives rental assistance to veterans without a roof over their heads through Housing Choice Vouchers, or HCV, and clinical services from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

NVF sometimes refers clients to PATH, People Assisting the Homeless, which supports veterans who are living on the street, handling the critical need for safe housing. 

They also lead individuals to NCHV, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, a resource for a network of community service providers and government agencies addressing homelessness. They seek to provide food, assistance for job-seekers, legal defense services and healthcare. Some veterans have problems interfacing with landlords, childcare providers, utility companies and movers, so they need help with these details.

From wounded combat veterans to those struggling with emotional issues, all support for National Veterans Foundation meets needs. A car donation for veterans is one way to add to that support while solving two needs of your own – a place to send the vehicle you don’t need and a benefit to your taxes.