Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A foundation aimed at providing support for local veterans is moving its way into Whitman County. The Guardians Foundation, which got its start in 2011 in Spokane County, is a public charity which assists veterans and their families in areas such as homelessness, food, clothing, household items, counseling referrals, unexpected expenses and educational and job opportunities.
The foundation was founded by Sgt. Mike Shaw, who served in the U.S. Army and Idaho National Guard. He was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation New Dawn and the Global War on Terror when he founded the foundation. He said he hopes to see the foundation continue to grow.
“My initiative is to be in all counties in Washington,” he said. “Hopefully in a year.”
Currently, The Guardians Foundation is established in Adams, Lincoln, Pend Oreille and Spokane counties in Washington, as well as Bonner and Kootenai counties in Idaho. It got its start in Whitman County two weeks ago.
“We started fund raising there last week,” said Shaw. “We raised $1,800 in the last week in Pullman.”
Shaw said the way the foundation works is through county veteran service officers.
“Under state legislation, county veteran service officers have criteria in which they can only serve their veterans,” said Shaw, stating that a number of things, such as proving one year of state residency, can lead to a denial of services. “A county veteran service officer wants to serve the veteran, but he is unable to because of restrictions, so that's when he calls us.”
Whitman County does not have a veteran's service officer, but Shaw said there are groups, such as Legion or VFW, which work with local veterans. He said these groups can request funds for veterans as long as they meet the state criteria.
“We're here to help facilitate and bridge gaps,” said Shaw. “We fill the gaps they can't do based on state law.”
When the foundation receives a call from a county veteran service officer or group, they are directed to have the veteran fill out an application on the foundation website, and then that paperwork can be processed.
“We do things like immediate cash assistance for unexpected expenses and deposits for rentals, which is the primary, most impactful way,” said Shaw. “It has to be unexpected though, such as if there's car problems or medical expenses.”
Shaw said not all requests qualify for the assistance.
“We get all kinds of requests, and there's a few where people request things that are not immediate,” he said. “Not all are approved, but we strive to do as many as we can. It's based on the revenue we raise in the county.”
Shaw said Whitman County has approximately $20,000 to support veterans, and he wants the foundation to be able to provide a good supplement to that.
“We would like to represent about 15 to 20 percent of that, which would be about $8,000,” he said.
He said he hopes to do fundraisers similar to that of the 'Fill the Boot' fundraiser firemen do, and he also hopes to work with the fraternities, sororities, veterans and clubs at Washington State University.
“We're very successful in Spokane County, and we just want to expand our services to all counties in the next two years,” said Shaw.
Shaw estimated there to be approximately 3,000 veterans in Whitman County. He said he is excited to see the foundation get its bearings in the county and see the impact it can make.
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