Two days ago, theCHIVE launched our first major flash charity campaign of the year for an initiative nobody thought would ever come to fruition. Green Beret Matt Bessler and his service dog Mike were credited for saving hundreds of lives in Iraq. Matt and Mike retired to a quiet community in Wyoming. Then one day while Mike was in the yard playing, a disturbed man senselessly shot Mike with a gun he had holstered to his bicycle. Mike limped behind the garage, lay down, and died.
In the aftermath, a movement to construct the first ever war dog memorial in Wyoming to honor all war dogs past, present, and future, took shape. A lot of empty promises were made by other businesses to fund the project. All had fallen through and hope was waning. If theCHIVE was going to build this memorial, we would have to start from zero.
We knew going in this would be one of the most challenging and complex campaigns we’ve ever launched. Chive Charities our partners at Crowdrise had planned every detail for a year and left the rest to theCHIVE community, who proceeded to destroy the $110,000 goal in 4 hours on the way to $138,000 and counting!
So many times over the years we have handed off the charity baton to the Chivers and watched in awe as they unite to do something no other community on earth is capable of doing. Behind the scenes there are others watching, deeply linked to the project, people who worked hard to lay the foundation for this memorial, like Colonel Buck Wilkerson who heads up the Commission.
You will hear from them now, in their words. I also chose a few comments from our community I felt were appropriate. Thank you again, Chivers. And thanks especially to our Green Ribbon Fund members, who donated the first $60,000 – this small group of committed Chivers leads every Chive Charities campaign. Our Green Members are the charitable equivalent of a 380mm Naval cannon – you pave the way for everything that follows. If you want to be a part of a small group truly making the world 10% happier, explore the Green Ribbon Fund.
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