Veterans Need your Help

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JBFG

Contributor
Messages
1,341
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Location
Ottawa, Canada
# of dives
I just don't log dives
*** MODS, if this is not in the right section or breaches some rules, please move or remove***

I'm a currently serving military member with over 21 years of active service and I've recently started to get involve with an organization called Under The Surface Scuba who uses Scuba as a mean to treat PTSD, trauma, injuries, etc through deptherapy. It is something close to my heart.

Under the Surface is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Canadian Military Veterans, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, police, fire, paramedics, and others on their road to recovery through the therapeutic qualities of scuba diving. Link

Unfortunately, we rely on donations to function as government funding is just not available.
We want to help veterans in needs but do not want to charge them a hefty cost for their scuba therapy.
Right now, funding is used to rent equipment every time we have a session, which is not sustainable. This increases the costs to the veterans, something we do not want. We would like to have on hand 6-8 sets of "recreational" scuba gear which we would use in our scuba therapy programmes.

If you, your shop, or a friend has some used, but serviceable scuba gear sitting in your scuba locker, we would gladly take them off your hands! We cannot issue tax receipts, but you can rest assure that your used equipment would be used to help a veteran in need!

We are looking for:
Regs or reg sets,
BCDs (jacket styles) small to Xl,
Masks, snorkels,
Fins (all sizes),
weight belts,
wrist computers,
compasses,
Wetsuit 7mm (small to XXL),
Booties,
Hoods, and
Gloves.

If you are interested in being a super hero and making a donation, please contact me via PM. :superman:
 
I initially went through soldier on but they put me in touch with wounded warriors and I was able to get some funding.........
 
I initially went through soldier on but they put me in touch with wounded warriors and I was able to get some funding.........
No luck there, that’s why we need the power of SB!
 
Well this fundraising was a huge miss. I guess freedom is free after all.
It funny that some big scuba store that advertised here and claim to support military and veterans did not even have the courage to even reply to my emails. A simple "we can't" would have been nice but pure silence; shame shame shame.

Thanx to the handful that donated. Your contribution was extremely generous and I know it will be very appreciated by the Vets.
 
Good luck mate.
I found the more civilians I met after 20+ years in the military, the more I liked all my neighbours' cats, and I don't like cats.
They [ the ubiquitous they] just don't understand you.
 
Well this fundraising was a huge miss. I guess freedom is free after all.
It funny that some big scuba store that advertised here and claim to support military and veterans did not even have the courage to even reply to my emails. A simple "we can't" would have been nice but pure silence; shame shame shame.

Thanx to the handful that donated. Your contribution was extremely generous and I know it will be very appreciated by the Vets.

You're asking a small group of people, to provide support for a smaller group of people, in a country most of the people you're asking for don't reside, while there are a number of other agencies offering similar things in countries where more of the members here are from. A snarky response about how you didn't get the support you were asking for is probably unwarranted under the circumstances. I could donate used gear to one of 4 or 5 different groups in the country I live in who support disabled veterans from my country, or ship it to another country where those disabled vets from my country wouldn't be likely to get any benefit AND lose out on charitable deductions on my taxes at the same time (and it wouldn't be used by one of those organizations I volunteer for). It's not a big leap to see why I'd choose not to bother sending my donations to another country in those circumstances. Large suppliers likely get solicited for things from TONS of individuals, charities, groups, and organizations as well. Sometimes responding to all the requests "just to be polite" is simply a bad choice to make as it costs resources and provides little benefit as pragmatic people won't see it as a big slight if they didn't respond to a particular request for free stuff from someone representing a group.

While I'm sure the response here was disappointing to you, as a representative of your organization you might want to reconsider how you interact with the public as posts that come across as indignant attempts at shaming people for not supporting you over the other hundreds of thousands of charities they could give money, time, or items to comes across as attacking a personal choice people make regarding their charity, and it's not a great idea to treat such as choice by others as a personal affront if they don't choose to pick your organization this time. It might put them off helping in the future.
 
I help 2 local veterans dive organizations that do free certs to divers, both not only in my country but in my state.

@jlcnuke you are right I donated once to a larger charity for years after I got so many calls from others it bordered on harassment.
 
Soldier On will provide up to $1,000 per applicant plus tax. This isn't much in the realm of scuba gear but it helps them get some personal gear such as fin, mask possibly a wet suit or BCD. Also some bases have dive clubs so they may be an avenue to check into for gear support with very low if any costs. I'm a Canadian military vet as well and have used the Soldier On grant which was quite easy; I never received "free" training etc but my LDS gives a small discount. Not sure if there is a military club in Ottawa but you may get support to run a course in Kingston through the base club there as well; assuming that you are in Ottawa as listed on your profile.
 

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