THE 1162 FOUNDATION

The 1162 organization engages in select, highly curated charitable missions for the benefit of surviving spouses and children of former Special Operations military personnel killed in action. While no two needs are the same, examples of this group's activities to date have included paying for special needs of a surviving child, funding a Make-A-Wish type experience for a surviving young child, and paying off the home mortgages of surviving families, helping them stay in the houses and neighborhoods they call home, surrounded by friends and neighbors they know they can lean on for support, and keeping their children in the schools they know and love. 

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Named for January 1, 1962, the day on which President Kennedy established the Navy SEALs, the organization's name reflects that - while every January 1 represents new beginnings, new challenges, new commitments, a day when most people take stock of the past and commit to how they will embark on an unknowable future - for the surviving spouse and children of Special Ops personnel killed in action, the loss of their parent presents the starkest possible new beginning. They are forced to embark on a future alone. Their own personal January 1 comes suddenly and without regard to any calendar. Amidst massive grief, many of these families are also suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with new practical challenges of family life. And given the demographics of Special Ops personnel, those survivors are often young parents with young children. 

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Through this charitable organization, individuals and organizations that have most reaped the rewards of our nation, inconspicuously help stabilize and support the lives of these families.