A Letter from our President
Dear Families, Teammates, and Friends,
Since our humble beginning in 2012, Word of Honor Fund has facilitated meaningful support activities for our community’s Gold Star and Surviving Youths. By Spring of 2016, we determined more could be done; not all youths experienced equal support. By that Summer, the team had developed a holistic strategy to reach the previously unregistered youths throughout the Naval Special Operations enterprise. In the fall of 2016, we launched a campaign to register all Gold Star and Surviving Families spanning the east and west coasts. Since its launch, we have seen a significant increase in registrants and their accompanying activities. This endeavor is ongoing and will continue through 2017. To achieve our stated goals and to meet this new demand, it was essential for us to establish new infrastructure and increase our support staff. In February 2017, we opened the Virginia Beach based Word of Honor Fund Support Center. This center now provides our families direct access to our team and serves as a physical location for our supported families to participate in designing activities geared around their father’s intentions, as well as their own interests. I am pleased to report that it has been an exciting and activity-filled year for Word of Honor Fund sponsored Gold Star and Surviving Youths and their Mentors. The preceding pages of this update will provide you a small glimpse into their shared experiences covering June 2016 to June 2017. We look forward to sharing many more of their experiences in subsequent volumes. On behalf of the Word of Honor Fund Team and a grateful Naval Special Operations community, thank you for your enduring friendship and support.
Very Respectfully, Louis W. Shepard
