Coast Guard Emergency Assistance

@Team,

 

I am writing you this note today as a call to action – my hope that you can take a couple minutes from your day to read through this.

 

Outside of my immediate family and work family @ Nike, the other community that is woven into the fabric of my life is the Coast Guard. As you may or may not know, I served for four years in the military as a ‘puddle pirate’ at the USCG MSRT (Maritime Security Response Team).

 

Tomorrow, every single individual serving in the Coast Guard is going to miss the cutoff for their second straight paycheck. Without getting into politics and/or the nuances of how the Department of Homeland Security is organized vs. the Department of Defense, just know that with the current government shutdown every USCG service member is subject to service without pay until a bill is passed that will resolve the budget issue (two failed on the Senate floor yesterday).

 

Why this matters to me is a little more personal. As a former enlisted sailor, I know first-hand what these men and women are currently experiencing. I have run with, sweat with, fought with, bled with these folks. It might surprise you to know that the junior enlisted folks serving our communities make a yearly salary just above what we consider the U.S. poverty line. They simply do not have the resources to miss more than a paycheck without being tasked with the burden of trying to figure out how to provide for themselves and their families, all while maintaining their commitment to saving lives, 24/7/365.

 

A lot has been written about how these men and women are relying on food pantries and donations as well as organizing from within to tackle issues like child care and medical appointment assistance. I know for a fact at my prior unit that families are worried about how they are going to buy food and diapers. And so my ask of you is one of three things:

 

     *Please join me here in donating to a 501(c)(3) via GoFundMe that I am personally involved with 
     *If you cannot help financially at this time, please forward this on – visibility to this issue is paramount
     *Write your congressperson or senator and implore them to end this shutdown 
 

My promise to you is that every dollar provided will be put to good use. The non-profit organization I am involved with (CGTLEA) has zero overhead, meaning they operate 100% as volunteers and take literally nothing off the top (0% of donations). Everything flows directly towards those who need it most. Please reach out if you’d like more information on this / how it works.

 

I apologize for such a heavy note, but I can’t in good conscious continue to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. I appreciate you reading through this and I hope that, if anything, this makes us appreciate how good we have it.

 

Fired Up,

 

Schmiddy