I've Been Waiting Months to Tell You This.

In September, the whole country got to see something you helped build.

In Tampa, the Robert Irvine Foundation and USAA launched Fuel to Serve, a five-year effort to strengthen how the military community is nourished and supported, from the dining facility to the home, from the installation to the surrounding community.

Here is what we're setting out to do. By 2031, Fuel to Serve aims to reach one million members of the military community across 50 installations and communities.

But the bigger goal is what those numbers represent: service members, veterans, and military families who know where to turn for good food, practical support, and people in their corner—before a challenge becomes a crisis.

Here is why it matters. Every month, a military family runs the same math. Rent. Gas. Childcare. Groceries. Groceries are the only line that bends, so that is often the line families cut.

Research from RAND found that about 1 in 4 active-duty service members have trouble affording food. And it doesn't stay in the kitchen. It can affect how people sleep, train, serve, and hold things together at home, and those challenges don't necessarily end when someone leaves the military.

Food is the front door. A meal gets someone in the room. Once they're there, everything else can follow: cooking skills that stretch a budget, help accessing benefits they've earned, programs that help people stay strong, and a community that notices when someone is struggling.

After one of our Family Cooking Days, a military mom told us her kids “are going to be talking about it forever.”

Now imagine that moment in 50 communities.

That's what you helped make possible.

For years, your support has helped us learn what works, one meal, one program, and one family at a time. Fuel to Serve gives us the opportunity to bring that work together and reach more military communities than ever before.

USAA's commitment as founding sponsor gets Fuel to Serve started. People like you are what will help carry this work forward and turn a five-year vision into something military families can feel in their everyday lives.

P.S. It starts at Fort Bragg. Over the next five years, we'll introduce you to the people and communities behind our goal of reaching one million members of the military community.

Learn more about FUEL TO SERVE

With gratitude,

Anne-Marie Grey

Interim-CEO