April 9th You Served Radio

Tonight we’re speaking with Eli Williamson who is the Executive Director of “Leave No Veteran Behind” (www.leavenoveteranbehind.org). They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit service run by veterans that works to relieve the educational debt of veterans who are serving and have served in the US Military.

Currently, many service members who receive higher education during, before, or after their service have to take out costly loans to pay for their education. While there are military educational programs that help relieve this educational debt, not all veterans are covered under these programs. Leave No Veteran Behind addresses this issue by taking private donations and applying them directly to veterans' student loan accounts. After receiving aid veterans are required to give back 100 hours of community service. “While our main goal is to give veterans what they deserve; free access to an education, we also want to allow these same veterans the ability to give back to their community. Providing them educational debt relief will remove any roadblocks that may impact their ability to use the skills that they learned in the military and higher education to improve the lives of others.”

We will also be talking with Brittany McKee who is a military spouse and also works for the Sierra Club. She will be discussing the world premiere of a new documentary called Red, White & Green at the DC Environmental Film Festival. The film highlights children of military families as our nation's youngest heroes and showcases the benefits of outdoor experiences. The documentary shows the journey of military kids who came together last summer at Operation Purple® summer camps, which are designed to provide a bit of brief outdoor respite and support-building for military kids dealing with the deployment of a parent. The film tells moving stories of kids learning to cope with a parent's deployment, and also highlights the ways in which the healing power of nature helps the children grow and bond. Together with the National Military Family Association, they will provide over 9000 military kids with a free week of summer camp at over 60 different week-long camps across the country this summer. http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/films.php?FilmID=362

So be sure and join CJ and Troy tonight at www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved for another jam-packed and exciting show.