On Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, A Thank You from Vets Charity to ARM Industry

A message from ARMing Heroes Board Vice President Howard Sorber:

As you may have seen on insideARM.com and in other industry media last month, ARMing Heroes (www.armingheroes.org) recently concluded its First Annual Veterans Day Charity Fundraising Drive (“the Drive”).  As a result of the drive, the credit and collection industry raised more than $11,000 in only a ten-week period starting on September 11th and concluding on Veterans Day, November 11th.

A pessimist might look at what was accomplished by the industry in this time and reach the conclusion that the industry, one that is believed to generate over $17 billion in revenue per year, came up short in support of military veterans.  But as a disabled Vietnam-era veteran and an owner of a collection agency myself, what I saw was an outpouring of support and the very best of our industry showing itself, time and time again, through the instantaneous willingness of so many people to get involved in this, our first year raising money.  Some lent their expertise.  Others offered up their time.  Still others took out their checkbooks and put money on the table, funds that will provide a major financial boost to veterans who have put their lives on the line for you and me.

For this reason, in my capacity as ARMing Heroes Board of Trustees Vice President and our organization’s spokesperson, I am writing to thank those of you who have joined our mission of serving those who have served us.  Therefore:

• To our donors (http://www.armingheroes.org/donors.aspx), thank you for directly and financially supporting the cause.  The average donation was in the hundreds of dollars, with some providing support in the thousands.  A few gave personally and then gave again through their company.  Some gave once at the beginning, and again at the end when we were unsure if we would reach our goal.  Other companies with long rosters of other charities they support stepped up and supported us too.  We even got some donations from companies owned or run by those from other countries who were happy to support America’s vets.  As promised, look for news on who your money has helped, and look for it before the New Year.  Without this support, nothing else would be possible.  You will not be disappointed once you hear the stories of the candidates we are about to approve to receive financial grants.

• To our media partners, thank you for getting the word out and driving traffic to our website.  In particular we’d like to thank all the folks at insideARM.com and Kaulkin Media (www.kaulkin.com) who went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the drive was covered heavily throughout its duration.  Their efforts continue to shift the public conversation on debt collection.  I’m told a large percentage of those who have come to us to offer support found us in this way, so you deserve a much-appreciated assist for those dollars.

• To other organizations who have helped to spread the word, thank you for directing your valuable resources to the effort, including ACA International (www.acainternational.org), ACA of Texas (www.texascollectors.com), and the Debt Buyer’s Association (www.dbainternational.org). Your efforts to link up with us have further spread the message and have put the industry firmly behind this cause for the long term.

• To private companies that have provided in-kind services in addition to direct financial contributions in many cases, thank you.  This includes the likes of NCO Financial Systems (www.ncogroup.com), which continues to take online donations on our website at no cost, along with companies like Greenberg Advisors (www.greenberg-advisors.com), which put the word out to all of its contacts, Net Gain Marketing (www.netgain4results.com), which hosts our contact database and directs our marketing and public relations efforts, and EarthSky Studios (www.earthsky.net), the creative force behind our simple, well-organized website.

With this said, now the time has come to turn these individual expressions of thanks into a collective thank you from our industry to the veterans who will soon have the funds needed to improve their financial lives in a real and meaningful way.  My only wish is that, in the future, we may be able to give a grant to each and every veteran who comes to us for help.  Our veterans deserve that kind of optimism at the very least.

Please take a moment now to turn that warm and fuzzy feeling into real, continued action.  There may be a veteran you know who is not aware that we have employers in our network friendly to their needs or that we offer other forms of support.  You may have media contacts outside our industry who should know about what your industry is doing to help veterans.  Your local congressperson should be informed, because she or he is someone who constantly has veterans calling the congressional office for help.  Maybe you have Chris Hansen’s phone number and can pass this along.

Our industry is a cross-section of America.  We’re business owners.  We’re donors to charities, this one and others.  We’re hard workers, like those in any other industry, nearly always operating within the rules.  We’re veterans.  We’re parents or children or relatives of veterans.  And, as you have shown over these past few months, we take care of our own.  Thank you for that.

Howard Sorber
ARMing Heroes Vice President

What Can I Do Right Now to Help?

• Visit www.armingheroes.org and sign up to help.
• Friend us and post this article to your page on Facebook.
• Tweet about this article on Twitter.
• Join our group on LinkedIn, the ARMing Heroes Veterans Charity Supporter / Assistance Center.
• Comment on this article on insideARM and ask us to contact you.
• Forward this article via email to your key contacts.
• Print this article and fax it to your local congressional office and ask them to post our website on theirs as a resource for vets.