KANSAS CITY, Mo. – GEHA and the Kansas City Chiefs today announced they are teaming up to support Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational scholarships to the families of U.S. military personnel wounded or killed while serving their country.
Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, a former F-16 pilot who served three tours in Iraq, founded Folds of Honor in 2007 when he realized the devastating realities families face when a loved one in uniform is fallen or disabled. Since then, the organization has awarded more than 29,000 scholarships totaling more than $145 million in educational impact across all 50 states as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Italy, Germany, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
The program includes private financial tuition and tutoring for children in grades K-12, as well as higher education assistance for spouses and dependents.
“We are grateful for the life-changing support from GEHA and the Kansas City Chiefs,” said Rooney. “These academic scholarships are given to military spouses and children who deserve and need our help. GEHA and the Chiefs recognize the importance of an education and are doing something positive about it.”
“As a nonprofit association that focuses on serving federal employees, retired military and their families, finding a charitable organization that connects with our mission was critical. Folds of Honor was a perfect fit as there is overlap between those the organization supports and the families we serve through our medical and dental plans,” said GEHA Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Bierman. “We are appreciative of the Chiefs for furthering our partnership through this important initiative and feel this is the perfect way to honor and memorialize this special group of heroes. Through this partnership we hope to find additional ways to demonstrate how thankful we are to our members for all they have done and continue to do on behalf of our nation.”
“GEHA has been a strong partner to the Chiefs over the past few years, and as our relationship has grown and evolved, we’ve remained jointly focused on creating new opportunities to give back to our local community, as well as GEHA’s member base of more than 2 million federal employees, retired military and their families,” said Chiefs President Mark Donovan. “We are proud to work with Folds of Honor and GEHA to recognize military families for their dedicated service and bravery throughout this upcoming NFL season.”
As part of this partnership, GEHA and the Chiefs will co-sponsor the Folds of Honor Kansas City Chapter’s 10th anniversary gala on Nov. 13, 2021.