“Be the Tide” – Us4Warriors

Three submariners walk into a bar – There’s a lot more to this story and the punchline is that three Navy men started the local nonprofit, Us4Warriors. Anthony “Tony” Stewart, Ken Greenawald and William Craig “BC” Reed had a vision of how they could help warriors, past and present, live stronger lives. What started as a vision has blossomed into a thriving and successful organization that serves our active duty, veterans and military families.

In five short years, Us4Warriors has accomplished more than what some nonprofits do during their entire lifespan. In fact, Us4Warriors was only a few years old when they were selected as the 2016 San Diego County Nonprofit of the Year!

In just the past year, Us4Warriors has provided food to more than 4,800 military men and women and their families, they have completed thousands of volunteer hours for our local community and finished several landscaping projects for the Chula Vista Veterans Home and a home renovation for WWII veteran

They do all of this and more through a strong “Board of Doers”, about 400 dedicated volunteers, great community partnerships and generous donors.

All of their services, programs and fundraisers are titled X4Warriors – Food4Warriors, Comedy4Warriors, Golf4Warriors and so much more. The titles are very appropriate as all the funds they receive go to our local Warriors.

• Food4Veterans – This is where the organization provides food to veterans through the San Diego Department of Veterans Affairs. Under this program there are specially designed bags of food for a veteran; as an example, a veteran may need low fat foods or foods low in sodium and the volunteers build them a special bag for their needs. These bags are carefully packed especially for homeless veterans too and may include items such as napkins, utensils, can openers, etc…

• Feast4Warriors – Many of our military men and women cannot afford a holiday dinner, so Us4Warriors provides one for junior military members and their families. They are invited to a holiday meal and are sometimes given gas cards or gifts to help them.

• Food4Stand Down – The organization provides food for homeless veterans and volunteers to provide security for the event which is held in north and central San Diego each year.

There are many things that make this organization stand out from other nonprofits and one of those is that they don’t just “give fish” to veterans to “feed for a day”, they lift up when needed, but offer or fund programs to empower their recipients to “fish for themselves” and contribute to our society. Providing this kind of support to our community is not free.

To raise money for the programs and services they offer, Us4Warriors hosts several fundraisers each year. They do this through an annual golf tournament, comedy shows and online donations. Since the organization has no paid employees, every dollar they raise goes to supporting the military community.

The Us4Warriors Foundation suffered a tremendous loss this past December when one of their brothers, Manny Otero US Navy retired Chief Petty Officer, passed away unexpectedly. Manny was one of the biggest doers on their board and people knew him for his big heart, sense of humor and charismatic personality.

He was such an instrumental member of the organization that they renamed their annual golf tournament to the “Manny Otero Memorial Cup” which was held in March. They will continue to honor his dedication and legacy for serving our military community.

Us4Warriors has an upcoming event in May where they benefit from a golf tournament called, “Swing4Warriors”.

A local nonprofit, “May We Give for Love” selected Us4Warriors as the beneficiary of their annual golf tournament. If you enjoy golfing, want to sponsor at the event or donate to the cause, go to:
www.maywegive4love.org

Tony Stewart, Us4Warriors President and CEO said, “A rising tide lifts all the boats; we want to be that rising tide.” Every day they are lifting the community through their actions in the San Diego County – so BZ to Us4Warriors for being the tide!


Us4Warriors is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and like most nonprofits, they are in need of donations and volunteers. To learn more about Us4Warriors and the programs they offer, go to: www.Us4Warriors.org or follow them on Facebook@Us4Warriors.

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