Press Release

Oregon Military Families to Benefit from New Operation Homefront Field Office

6/14/2012

Portland, Ore. – The U.S. military mission is changing, and Operation Homefront is changing to prepare itself to best serve military service members and their families in Oregon – now and beyond the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.  As part of its planning for the future, the organization is opening the Oregon Field Office to serve military families and Wounded Warriors in the state.

Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and Wounded Warriors.  Assistance is in the form of grants to meet the most basic of needs like rent, utilities, and food.

"Like our military, Operation Homefront has been asking questions like 'How will our mission need to change?' and 'Where will the needs be?' and 'What resources will we have and how should those resources be best employed to help the most families?'" said Jim Knotts, Operation Homefront's president and chief executive officer.  "These are complicated questions, but it would be irresponsible not to take an active approach to making the changes necessary to continue supporting our troops.” 

The non-profit’s network of staff and volunteers in the state will be led by Portland-based non-profit executive Kari McClellan.

“Military families already know that change is part of the deal when serving our country,” McClellan said.  “This is a new day for Operation Homefront, but the families of our service members in Oregon can count on us to be there for them, now and after the deployments to Afghanistan end."   

“With these changes, we will be able to leverage the strength of national support while serving our military families on the local level,” McClellan continued.  “Our donors, who have been so supportive, will continue to have the option of supporting our troops at the local level or wherever the need is greatest around the country.”

"One of our benefits has always been our forward presence in communities around the country, where we serve our military families face-to-face," Knotts said.  "The change will eliminate some duplication of efforts and costs around administrative and management tasks, which means more of our donations go directly to serving families."

About Operation Homefront:  A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers with nationwide presence, and has met more than 590,000 needs of military families since its inception in 2002.  A four-star rated charity by watchdog Charity Navigator, nationally, 94 percent of total revenue donated to Operation Homefront goes directly to assist service members.  For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net/Oregon.