EDITOR’S NOTE: The Air Force Assistance Fund is an annual effort to raise funds for the charitable affiliates that provide support to our Air Force family in need (active duty, retirees, reservists, guard and our dependents, including surviving spouses). The charitable affiliate organizations provide support in an emergency, with educational needs or a secure retirement home for widows or widowers of our Air Force members in need of financial assistance. Hill’s Air Force Assistance Fund campaign runs through April 10. Contact your unit representative to donate.

The LeMay Foundation awards grants to enlisted and officer retirees’ surviving spouses. We respond because we believe they are entitled to a dignified lifestyle and because it is a privilege to serve them as they served along with their spouses.

Our primary beneficiaries are stalwart widows who supported their families and active-duty spouses. In 2013, we gave more than $426,302 in assistance that benefited widows with monthly grants to augment incomes that fall below the poverty line, and provided one-time grants to assist with needs like hearing aids, dental care, and minor home repairs.

We continue to give our recipients gifts of $100 at Christmas, $50 for Thanksgiving and a $100 gift for each widow in honor of their spouse for Memorial Day. In addition, we give a monetary gift for their birthday. Our grants are awarded without fanfare, like a gift to a beloved family member.

When we can help a spouse stay at home, near their church and neighbors, we stay true to the vision of our founders, General and Mrs. Curtis LeMay.  When you give to the Air Force Assistance Fund, in whatever amount you are able, your sacrifice helps those who sacrificed themselves for our freedom.