Gold Star Military Family Desperately Needs Financial Help

On this, the date on which Veteran’s Day is observed, ARMing Heroes would like to tell a story about someone who has come to us for help right now, and encourage anyone reading this to make a pledge or donation today, the last day of the 2012 No Debts for Vets Charity Fundraising Drive.

Like many Americans, a year or so ago Mrs. Terry Hardin and her family were struggling to stay above water in a rough economy. Her recently-married son, Kevin Hardin, had moved to Texas with his wife, where they lived after Kevin had become 100% disabled in Iraq. While on patrol with his unit in 2007, an anti-tank missile came through his Humvee, costing him three of his fingers and a part of his arm. After 32 surgeries, Kevin was beginning to live a life that resembled something one might consider normal, or at least as normal as one could expect for someone who had witnessed the horrors of war and come back from the experience missing parts of limbs with shrapnel forever lodged in his body.

At the same time her husband Charles, a Vietnam veteran, was dealing with a fight more difficult than the one he had experienced in Southeast Asia: colon cancer.

Kevin Hardin was ARMing Heroes’ first recipient of aid of any kind from ARMing Heroes, which had donated furniture to him for his move to Texas back in 2009, shortly after the organization’s founding. The organization had not heard from the Hardins for a few years, until Terry Hardin submitted a grant application last week, asking for help with some bills.

A lot has happened in the Hardin family in the last year.

On January 22, 2012, Kevin Hardin died suddenly in his home at the age of 25.  As this article documents, “The cause of death is still unknown, but the family strongly believes it was some sort of seizure attributable to his war injuries.”

After seeing Kevin go through dozens of surgeries and ultimately die at 25 years of age, his brother went away for basic training on September 11, 2012.

Just two weeks later, on September 26, 2012, Charles Hardin lost his battle with colon cancer.  He was 66.

To say that Terry Hardin has been through a lot this year is an understatement.

Over the past two years, ARMing Heroes has awarded over $35,000 in grants to people like the Hardins.  If you believe people like the Hardins are deserving of some help with financial needs not covered by a government program, please click here to donate today. www.armingheroes.org

Tax deductible donations are also being accepted via mail to PO Box 353, Collingswood, NJ 08108, payable to ARMing Heroes.

For a summary of the organization’s activities since its founding, review the press release section of the ARMing Heroes website here: http://www.armingheroes.org/press.aspx

ARMing Heroes was founded and began operating in March, 2009.  The organization’s mission is to serve the needs of U.S. military veterans, including their spouse and children. ARMing Heroes fills a charitable niche by linking people identified with employment, credit, and financial counseling needs with the accounts receivable management industry, an industry uniquely poised to help in these areas.  Persons interested in volunteering their time and others interested in applying for benefits or pledging other forms of support are encouraged to contact the organization at www.armingheroes.org.

What Can I Do Right Now to Help?

• Visit www.armingheroes.org and join our One for a Warrior Program, sign up to help in other ways, or donate now.

• Friend us and post this article to your page on Facebook.

• Tweet about this article on Twitter.

• Join our group on LinkedIn, the ARMing Heroes Veterans Charity Supporter / Assistance Center.

• Comment on this article online and ask us to contact you.

• Forward this article via email to your key contacts.

• Print this article and fax it to your local congressional office and ask them to post our website on theirs as a resource for vets.