Draft:Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund

The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund is a charitable organization co-founded in 2014 by U.S. military veterans. Founders included Atlanta Falcons CEO Steve Cannon, who participated "in honor of his brother, also a West Point graduate, who took his own life while battling post traumatic stress disorder". It has been described as having begun as "a small effort by a group to help the family of a fallen 1986 West Point classmate". , the fund was described as having "helped over 1,500 military children with scholarships totaling $12 million", and was set to award "over $4 million in scholarships in 2019". By 2020, it was reported as having "awarded over $16 million in college scholarships and education programs, funding over 2,000 students.

In 2015, Black-ish star Anthony Anderson hosted the organization's inaugural gala celebration, "raising $1.4 million toward college scholarships for veterans and their families".

In 2020, fire-service vehicle manufacturer Rosenbauer donated the purchase price of 24,000 N95 masks to the organization.

"It transformed into a mission to help as many military families as possible.

According to its website, Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund was created in 2014 "to give back to those who gave — especially to those who gave their all, like Johnny Mac ... symbolic of all who have served and sacrificed."

Since 2014, the fund has awarded $25 million in scholarships to veterans and military family members. There are 3,500 Johnny Mac Scholars attending schools in the U.S."

[more in following source] "By the end of its first year, the fund made its first grant, of $50,000... The fund had raised $3 million by the end of 2015 and held its first gala, in Houston, with the Army Chief of Staff, Ray Odierno.

The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund now has awarded over $20 million in scholarships to veterans and military family members, especially children of the fallen or disabled. There are now 3,000 Johnny Mac Scholars attending schools all over the country."