The GW Veteran Service Initiative announced this weekend that it received a $5,000 donation from a veteran and GW School of Business alumnus to award grants to any local student veteran who is looking for ways to develop new or support existing social entrepreneurship initiatives.
A grant application will be posted on the organization’s website by the end of the week, but interested students can also email [email protected] for more information.
The Veteran Service Initiative, created in 2011 and designed by GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and Office of Veteran Services, works to connect student-veterans with community service opportunities and promote social entrepreneurship.
Making that connection helps student-veterans transition into university life, said Geoff Ball, director of the initiative and a student in the Elliott School of International Affairs.
“They have tremendous skills and are a huge asset to the GW and broader D.C. communities,” Mr. Ball said. “Empowering them to continue their service not only further cultivates our next generation of leaders but also gives them a new mission and can help recreate the brotherhood or sisterhood they have just separated from.”
Any student-veteran—not just GW students—is welcome to join the initiative by contacting [email protected]. Leaders can discuss how to start your own service program or find one that fits your personal and professional goals, Mr. Ball said.
The initiative’s announcement on Saturday came during the Veterans Day of Service. GW hosted more than 100 volunteers from the student military community, including veterans, family members, ROTC and civilians, for a day of work in Northeast D.C.
After Sergeant Major Bryan B. Battaglia, senior enlisted advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered the keynote address, volunteers planted flowers, picked up litter and re-painted a daycare center for the D.C. Promise Neighborhood Initiative and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation. Volunteers also served at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, which assists those who have lost a loved one in the military.
Volunteers hailed from GW, American University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, George Mason University, Team Rubicon, the 6th Branch, the Mission Continues and the Pat Tillman Foundation.