My message to you. What a year of growth!
Dear Friends,
Robert and the Robert Irvine Foundation have been extremely busy these last few months traveling across the country and all over the world. I’m truly overwhelmed by your support. So, before I go any further I’d like to say THANK YOU.
One of the first updates you may notice is our new logo! Behind the scenes, Robert and our team have been working on this endeavor for some time. I am excited to finally share it with you all.
The evolution of the Robert Irvine Foundation has been tremendous. In 2014, Robert established the Foundation to provide grants to organizations supporting our nation’s heroes. Over time, his passion continued to grow. In 2020 the Robert Irvine Foundation began providing support to our heroes directly. Two years later, we revised our mission statement and established new programs under Food, Wellness, Community, and Financial Support. And now, we’ve elevated our logo and have more brand updates to come. All of these exciting changes allows us to increase our mission awareness and expand our outreach to support our nation’s heroes and their loved ones.
I am proud to share that the Foundation has reached a FOUR STAR rating on Charity Navigator and a Platinum-Level on GuideStar. These top ratings were awarded for our financial efficiency, sustainability, and commitment to transparency. Robert and I understand that times are tough for many, so for you to choose the Robert Irvine Foundation, to believe in our mission, and trust us – it means the world.
More than that, it’s changing the lives of so many deserving veterans, service members, first responders, and their families. From Robert, the Foundation team, and so many grateful heroes, thank you.
Sincerely,
Judith Otter
Now, let’s look at our impact!
In 2023, Robert visited 11 Military Bases & Military Installations all over the world. We have 4 more Base Visits planned including a 5 day trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
We served 18,955+ veterans, service members, first responders, and their families at 18 Breaking Bread With Heroes. There are 2 scheduled and more in planning before the end of year. We provided 1 grant to support the Food Insecurity crises that our military families currently face.
In my last email, I shared with you that we identified a veteran to receive a service dog. Tim officially took his dog, CLYDE, home and both are doing great! (Pictured here).
In addition, during June, we matched 2 more service dogs with 2 deserving heroes. Bryan took home VERA, a Medical Alert Dog – Incident Response Medical Alert Dog and Shane took home YETI a Medical Alert Dog -Psychiatric.
In total, the Foundation has matched
3 Service Dogs with their forever heroes in 2023.
Veterans: Eric, Jason, and Ronda (pictured here) were provided IBOTS. Robert presented Zach with an IBOT at our 2023 Golf Tournament. For the first time, we provided police officers with IBOTS. Former Police Officer William and Former Police Officer Tracie are thriving in their new chairs.
In total, 4 veterans and 2 first responders have received IBOTS so far. The Foundation has more IBOTs to give away this year.
We have also provided 2 Fishing Adaptable Devices to 2 veterans. We are providing 2 adaptive sports mobility devices next month.
We supported 36,675+ veterans, service members, and their families at 8 Resiliency Experiences. This photo is from a Resiliency Experience for military families hosted in Orlando, FL.
I’ve included a video from one of our most recent Resiliency Experiences. Robert and the Robert Irvine Foundation hosted 23 military family members, Gold Star Families, and peer mentors with our friends at TAPS.
Through our Financial Support program, we distributed 11 community grants, 4 Relief Fund grants, 1 grant to a Gold Star Family, and provided a Scholarship Grant to ensure educational opportunities for eligible surviving children of fallen Special Ops and children of all Medal of Honor Recipients.
In May, I shared that we launched TWO new programs, Reuniting the Brave and the Medevac Podcast. In addition, we joined the Elizabeth Dole Foundation & USAA’s #FacetheFight coalition to prevent veteran suicide.
In case you missed it, HERE IS THE VIDEO from our first Reuniting the Brave in April at Camp Pendleton.
In total, we’ve hosted 6 Reuniting the Braves for 965+ veterans, active duty, military families, and Gold Star Families. We have 2 more planned in 2023.
The Medevac Podcast hosts are military veterans Christian Meyers and David Reid (David is RIF’s VP of Military & First Responder Outreach).
This year, they’ve hosted 28+ veterans & first responders and 4 of them featured Robert Irvine Foundation beneficiaries, participants, and staff.
On June 16, 2023 we hosted our 4th Annual Military Charity Golf Tournament.
The honorable Mark T. Esper, former United States Secretary of Defense was our featured guest speaker.
We had 4 Foundation beneficiaries, 2 Ambassadors,
and 5 Board Members in attendance. In addition, we invited over 50 veterans to golf alongside our supporters for a day of bonding, respite, and fun.
The morning of September 19, 2023, we hosted the Enlisted Aide of the Year Awards at The Pentagon. We are grateful to Veteran’s Support Network and everyone who helped make the event possible.
The same day we hosted our Annual Red Wine & Blues event.
Title Sponsors: Comcast Business, Ciena, & IncrediTek
Emcees: Kyra Phillips from ABC News & John Roberts from FOX News Channel
Co-Chairs: General Paul Selva, USAF Ret. & Mrs. Ricki Selva
Featured Speaker: Veteran & Reuniting the Brave Participant, Ryan Ackerman.
November 6, 2023 – Beats ‘N Eats
I encourage you to check out the Beats ‘N Eats webpage for information. Please feel free to reach out for more information.
As I’ve said before, it’s been a great year of impact and none of this would be possible with out YOU. Thank you!
