A Special Note from Founder Keni Thomas

The Hero Fund was started to raise awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides scholarships and educational grants for the children of our special operations personnel killed in training or real world combat. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is currently committed to sending over 600 children to college, providing them with educational opportunities their fathers would have wanted them to have.

The quiet professionals of Special Operation forces are all volunteers. And they did so fully knowing the hazards of their chosen profession. The training is dangerous because it has to be. The missions are real-world. But ask anyone in the military and they will tell you the most difficult job belongs to the families. During the never-ending deployments, they are left at home alone to deal with the difficulties of not knowing, the worry and the very real threat of "What if?" This is something I have a huge appreciation for.

OUR MISSION:

“The HERO FUND will seek to increase national awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and provide ongoing and substantial financial support for the families of our fallen Special Operations Personnel.”  

As a member of Task Force Ranger I was part of the unit sent into downtown Mogadishu in search of a criminal warlord. You may know the battle from the book and movie Black Hawk Down. We lost 19 Americans in that fight, another 76 were wounded. For those of us who make it out of something like that, you spend the rest of your life thanking the men to your left and to your right. Because, by the grace of God, they are the reason I am still here today.


RLTW,
Keni Thomas

SOWF STATS:

Currently the Special Operations Warrior Foundation is committed to providing scholarships for more than 600 children. In 2003, SOWF provided $659,758 in scholarship grants, educational programs and financial aid counseling. More significantly, the Warrior Foundation qualified for, and obtained, from outside sources other scholarship funding for program services of $553,766, thus providing total benefits to students in the amount of $1,246,150 in 2003.

ADMIN FEE:

The Hero Fund has no administration fee which means 100% of the money raised goes directly to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. SOWF has a current administration fee of around 10%.