The Cover Down Fund is the newest non-profit helping Mahoning Valley veterans get back on their feet.
The 501(c)(3) allows donors to make tax deductible contributions that will stay local. The organization's founder, Herm Breuer, said while helping out veterans in recent years he noticed some people wanted to donate but couldn't find an organization that would give them that exempt stipulation for their money.
“When it came to folks that wanted to provide help I knew that there was this void,” Breuer said. “So this is my way to give back to the community that supported me when I came home from Iraq."
Typically when some donates to a 501(c)(4) it cannot be written off on taxes. With this new group being a 501(c)(3), that exemption is allowed and Breuer believes that small change will bring in thousands for the local veterans.
Any veteran in the Mahoning Valley can apply for the grant funding online here. The money can be used to help with educational expenses, home repairs and can even go to other veteran organizations like VFW’s.
The name of the group comes from the military term “cover down” which is when one soldier helps out another either physically in the line of duty or figuratively.
“It becomes a euphemism…that the understanding is that when we cover down, we’re looking after each other so that's the idea behind the organization,” Breuer said.
The Cover Down Funds first official fundraiser will be a golf outfit outing at the Trumbull County Club Saturday, Sept. 13.