Spirit of America (SoA) is a
US non-governmental
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
and
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
that works alongside American
military personnel
Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or e ...
and
diplomats
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internatio ...
to promote American values abroad by saving and improving lives. The organization provides material goods, programs, and personnel to help the
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
achieve its objectives. Spirit of America was founded in 2003 by Los Angeles based venture capitalist, Jim Hake, who in the wake of the
September 11th attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
sought to directly support conventional military and special operation teams performing reconstruction efforts in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. The
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
gave Spirit of America an overall 4-star rating for 2019 fiscal year.
History
Spirit of America was established in 2003 by Jim Hake in response to the September 11th terror attacks. Inspired by the efforts of an
Army special operations team building positive relationships with Afghan villagers by teaching them the game of
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, Jim Hake sought to create an organization that would allow donations from American citizens to directly support the efforts of servicemembers and diplomats on the ground.
By 2010, the organization had evolved from resourcing mission essential items to military personnel in overseas into an organization with an institutional memory, a network of local partners, and a strategic vision on how to best assist American forces conducting
civil-military operations
Civil-military operations or CMO are activities of a military force to minimize civil interference on and maximize civil support for military operations. CMO is conducted in conjunction with combat operations during wartime and becomes a central p ...
. Mr. Hake worked to formalize the ties between commanders in Afghanistan and his organization as a "Commander Support Program" (CSP) with support from senior
Marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
officers "who had developed a good working relationship with the group in Iraq".
This resulted in scrutiny from Pentagon lawyers, who argued that sending goods to commanders violated ethics rules.
With help from
John Bellinger,
Jeh Johnson
Jeh Charles Johnson ( "Jay"; born September 11, 1957) is an American lawyer and former government official. He was United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017.
From 2009 to 2012, Johnson was the general counsel of the Departm ...
,
General Joe Dunford and General
Jim Mattis
James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persia ...
, the rules were changed to allow the CSP to operate.
Working with the US Embassy in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, in 2016 Spirit of America funded the establishment and optimization of
Army FM
Army FM ( uk, Армія FM) is a Ukrainian radio station owned and operated by the Ministry of Defence. Army FM was sponsored by the American nonprofit, Spirit of America, and started broadcasting on March 1, 2016 in test mode. The station br ...
, a
Ukrainian Ministry of Defense
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
radio station that provides information and entertainment to soldiers defending their country in eastern Ukraine, who are suffering from a barrage of Russian propaganda.
In 2018, SoA was recognized by
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
through that year’s
NDAA NDAA may refer to:
*National Defense Authorization Act
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense ...
and approved by the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
to perform official work with the US Military abroad.
Following the
fall of Kabul to
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
forces in August 2021, Spirit of America launched an Afghanistan Emergency Fund to support Afghan evacuees. SoA supported efforts to evacuate at-risk Afghan civilians, including interpreters and their families, in support of the US military’s
Operation Allies Refuge
Operation Allies Refuge was a United States military operation to airlift certain at-risk Afghan civilians, particularly interpreters, U.S. embassy employees, and other prospective Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants from Afghanistan during ...
.
During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Spirit of America provided humanitarian and non-lethal military assistance to the Ukrainian government, including issuing protective equipment to the
Territorial Defense Forces.
References
External links
Spirit of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit Of America (Charity)
Charities based in Washington, D.C.
Nonprofit institutes based in the United States
United States military support organizations
Philanthropic organizations based in the United States