Charities support veterans, active military, families

The support Americans have for armed forces is evident in how much they donate each year to charities with military-related missions. According to Charity Navigator, Americans donate more than $2.5 billion annually to charities with missions dedicated to the military.
Individuals who want to donate to a charitable organization with a military-related mission may not know where to start, and that can be daunting given the number of organizations that fit the criteria. Charity Navigator indicates there are more than 40,000 American charities with military-related missions, which underscores how difficult it can be to find one to support. Thankfully, Charity Navigator, which has provided donors with free access to data, tools and resources to guide their philanthropic decision-making since 2001, has curated a list of highly rated organizations that provide a variety of services to military members and their families. The following is a brief rundown of that list that can serve as a solid foundation for prospective donors.
One of the local charities is founded by Army veteran Dustin Bagwell of Morgan City. Purple Heart Outdoors is a non-profit organization that is built to support and conduct outdoor activities for disabled veterans, and service men and women. To donate visit www.purpleheartoutdoors.org or its Facebook page.
Wounded Troops
—Air Warrior Courage Foundation (airwarriorcourage.org)
—DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Charitable Service Trust (cst.dav.org)
—Fisher House Foundation (fisherhouse.org)
—Higher Ground (highergroundusa.org)
—Homes for Our Troops (hfotusa.org)
—K9s for Warriors (k9sforwarriors.org)
—Operation Second Chance (operationsecondchance.org)
—Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org)
—Yellow Ribbon Fund (yellowribbonfund.org)
Military Social Services
—AMVETS National Service Foundation (amvetsnsf.org)
—Hire Heroes USA (hireheroesusa.org)
—Honor Flight Network (honorflight.org)
—Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (iava.org)
—Operation Gratitude (operationgratitude.com)
—Operation Healing Forces (operationhealingforces.org)
—Soldiers’ Angels (soldiersangels.org)
—The Mission Continues (missioncontinues.org)
Military Family Support
—Army Emergency Relief (armyemergencyrelief.org)
—Blue Star Families (bluestarfam.org)
—Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation (fallenpatriots.org)
—Folds of Honor (foldsofhonor.org)
—Operation Homefront (operationhomefront.org)
—Our Military Kinds (ourmilitarykids.org)
—Travis Manion Foundation (travismanion.org)
—VFW National Home for Children (vfwnationalhome.org)
The full list can be found at charitynavigator.org.