Vought Supports Reserve Aid at Stars and Stripes Dinner

DALLAS, FEB. 19, 2010 – Employees from Vought Aircraft Industries will attend and support the third annual Stars and Stripes Dinner hosted by Reserve Aid at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field here on Feb. 20. This is the organization’s major fund raising event for the year.  The keynote address will be delivered by Donovan Campbell, Former Marine Captain and author of the New York Times best seller, Joker One:  A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood.

The Saturday event will also include silent and live auctions and entertainment provided by Art in Action and the Military Memory Man.  Artwork produced during the entertainment will also be auctioned off to benefit Reserve Aid.

Reserve Aid is a non-profit organization committed to providing financial support to the families of Reserve Service Members, from all services, who have been called to active duty and are experiencing financial difficulty. Reserve Aid provides grants to military personnel and their families, often ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 for short-term needs like school clothes, or long-term needs like job training.  The organization’s goal is to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens placed on the men and women called to serve our country by supporting their families at home. 

Recent grants include funding to repair and reconfigure the car of a Marine who lost his left leg in an IED explosion in Iraq.  Reserve Aid provided $3,144 in grant money to make repairs to the car’s transmission, radiator and brakes plus special adaptation to the pedals for the solider’s prosthesis.  Another grant of $9,086 went to a female guardsman who is a single mother of four children.  After returning from deployment in Iraq, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and has been unable to work because of the effects of her cancer treatment.  Reserve Aid provided funds for rent, auto insurance, car payment and utility bills.

Vought is contributing to the event with a $5,000 table sponsorship. The 8 Vought attendees at the Stars and Stripes dinner will be joined by two deserving military reservists as guests selected by Reserve Aid sponsors.  As with a recent USO Santa Sendoff in Dallas, Vought and its workers are committed to supporting the nation’s troops. 

“We are proud to support Reserve Aid,” said Mark Blanton, director, Vought Military Programs. “Their efforts to help families through the difficulties of separation or financial difficulties are admirable. It makes us all the more aware of the importance of building quality parts to help our military do its job.”

About Vought

Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (http://www.voughtaircraft.com) is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of aerostructures. Headquartered in Dallas, the company designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies, empennages, nacelles and other components for prime manufacturers of aircraft. Vought has annual sales of approximately $1.8 billion and about 6,000 employees in eight U.S. locations.

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