Tuscon.com | By: Ben Wittstein
There is perhaps no more noble act a human being can perform than making the decision to sacrifice their own life in the hopes of protecting others. With more than 1.3 million active service members and 800,000 reserve personnel as of September 2017, the U.S. Armed Forces is made up of some of the bravest, most selfless Americans the nation has to offer, and it is the citizens' collective responsibility to support them in whatever way possible. With the help of Charity Navigator, Stacker put together a list of 87 top-rated charities that support the military, veterans, and their families. Each charity is assigned a financial score, an accountability, and transparency score; our list is ordered by financial score from lowest to highest, with any ties broken by the program expenses ratio, representing the percent of a charity's total expenses spent on the programs and services it delivers. Read on to get a sense of some of the best charities that you might consider donating to in support of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
Focus: Military Family Support
Overall score: 95.38
Financial score: 93.48
Accounting and transparency score: 100.00
Program expense ratio: 79.7%
Mission: Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation's mission is to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. We are dedicated to serving the families of service members from all branches of the armed forces who have died as a result of combat casualties, military training accidents, service related illnesses, suicide, as well as other duty-related deaths as ruled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vision of Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation is to ensure that every child of a fallen patriot receives all necessary college funding. Since 2002, Children of Fallen Patriots has grown in its mission and vision to extend peace of mind through college scholarships to Gold Star families in all 50 states, in all branches of the military.