Attachment 3 - Part 3Town Council members, it gives us great pleasure to tell you about an Veterans Foundation's exciting
proposal submission for a Tribute to Freedom for the Town of Los Gatos.
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® In 20121 former Mayor of Los Gatos, the Honorable Steven Rice, approached Mike Frangadakis, the
President and Founder of our Foundation, about creating a tribute to Veterans for the Town. we are
excited to share with all of you information about our progress to date and our plan.
The purpose and primary goals of this Foundation are as follows:
1. Erect a "Tribute to Freedom" —
Establish a veterans memorial located in the Town of Los Gatos that honors the courage and
loyalty demonstrated by the brave men and women who defend the freedom that defines
America.
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The purpose and primary goals of this Foundation are as follows (continued):
2. Promote an appreciation for the sacrifices made of those who serve -
To insure that the Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation of Los Gatos is a resource for
promoting the historical understanding and recognition of the contributions of all Veterans,
past, present, future, living or deceased, who have served, are serving or will serve our nation in
the United States military and /or specialized services, their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their
families.
The purpose and primary goals of this Foundation are as follows (continued):
3) Educatethecommunity —
Through this endeavor, we plan to educate the Los Gatos and surrounding communities on the
history of our military and promote a better understanding of the contributions and sacrifices of
military men and women who defend the freedom we are privileged to enjoy.
The purpose and primary goals of this Foundation are as follows (continued):
4) Provide humanitarian support —
And finally and of primary importance, the foundation has been developed to provide
humanitarian support to Veterans and to their families.
By association, supporting our veterans augments the Town's brand and characteristics with a patriotic
theme of honor, respect and gratitude for America's veterans and the freedoms our military defends on
behalf of the people of the United States who have the privilege to enjoy freedom daily in America.
• The members of the military supporting our freedom today is an all- volunteer military.
Returns from deployment are already underway. This return from deployment creates significant
new challenges for our Military and for America.
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• Many will require job training, education and jobs.
• Some entered the military right out of high school. Considering that fact, finding a job upon return to
America and launching a new lifetime chapter may be the first opportunity in the lives for some, as
example, to create a resume.
• Our Northern California veterans return to this area seeking help from the Oakland Veterans Facility
which was not long ago rated the second to worst in the country for claims processing.
• A results based survey displayed a three -year response time on claims processing. Worse still, the
claims experienced a 40% error rate.
• Imagine... you just returned from Afghanistan and have to wait three years to receive the benefit of a
claim.
• Our goal: We do not want to overstate the capabilities of this Foundation or position it as the total
solution to all of Washington's problems; however, we do hope to reduce the gap where feasible.
® We recognize that the needs of today will be different than the needs of tomorrow. Our goal will be
to solicit input first to determine what's needed and then develop the support to help — Veterans
and their families - so they receive the assistance that's needed that this Foundation can best
positively affect with the resources available to it while Washington fixes the real issues.
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• The good news and America's new challenge....
• What's new for the military today while it continues its return from the War on Terror?
• The double edged sword of today's healthcare improvements is that today, more wounded warriors
are surviving compared to prior conflicts. Here are sample statistics: Between the years 2001 to
present, our military experienced 6717 Fallen, and 50,897 Wounded. This is compared to the impact
of all major conflicts combined in America's prior history for which the numbers are staggering but
are more evenly matched: 1.2 M Killed in Action or Fallen, 1.3M Wounded. In past wars, some of
those inflicted with injuries would never have had a chance of survival. Today's advances in medicine
promote that survival.
• One of the members of our board visits Fort Sam Houston annually, home to many of our Wounded
Warriors who spend an average 2.5 years in rehabilitation. In 2011, there were 13 victims in rehab
who lost three limbs due to war. The new challenge confronting America today is how to give that
survivor a fulfilling life going forward.
• A second challenge: suicide rates are higher than ever before and is the second - leading cause of
death among U.S. military personnel. According to the Department of Defense in 2012, there were
319 suicides among active duty service members and 203 among reserve service members,
compared to the 237 combat - related deaths of active duty service members in Afghanistan.
• A third challenge that is not new; fortunately there is greater awareness about this challenge today
than historically: helping those heal inflicted with the invisible wounds of war such as Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder.
• Do we owe something to these people? Our Foundation replies with a resounding "Yes!"
• Much can be done to positively affect these issues. Based on informal conversation with Army
chaplains, we have learned that evidence is overwhelming that chances of suicide are significantly
reduced as individuals rapidly find new purpose in the next chapter of their new civilian life as
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example. The Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation of Los Gatos intends to help.
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• So where are we in our journey?
• Two years ago, former Mayor of Los Gatos, the Honorable Steve Rice, approached Mike Frangadakis
about the need to establish a veterans memorial in Los Gatos.
• Hence, the Veterans Foundation of Los Gatos was born.
• This is a photo of the inaugural signing of our Articles of Incorporation which were filed by our Los
Gatos based attorney, Michael Bays, who is has been very kind to offer his time pro -bono.
• The Articles of Incorporation were approved by the State of California on 10/4/12, now considered
the birthday of our organization.
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Shortly thereafter, in (November '2012, we developed our Bylaws and Elements of Resolution which
define who we are.
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In December 2012, we filed our non - profit 501 (c) (3) application with the IRS, only two months following
our birth. According to Michael Bays, our attorney, 501 (c)(3) approval typically requires an average of a
year and could take as much as 20 months. The application for 501(c)(3) can be a complex and
voluminous filing effort. I believe our application was 35 plus pages in length.
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The IRS voted "yes ". This was a big win. The IRS granted our non - profit status in record time, only 69
calendar days — holidays and weekends included - following our postmark date.
According to Attorney Michael Bays, It typically takes an average of a year to 18 months to obtain non-
profit status approval from the IRS. This is one of the few times some of us may thank the IRS. It
certainly speaks to the fact that they have our military men and women in their hearts. This early
approval will allow us to push our mission ahead sooner than expected. One may be aware of the fact
that corporations will not donate or match individual donations without proof of an entity having its 501
(c)(3) approval. This clearly was a big win for us all.
We then had to consider launching the non - profit. We first attacked the issue of identity. We
needed a logo.
® As you heard, we support the five branches of the US military. So we chose to represent the five
branches with five stars.
® We're all about honor and respect and we think a great icon for honor and respect is the eternal
flame Which stands lit in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier and Kennedy's grave in
Washington D.C.
® The result — Our logo.
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We created a Foundation website, YouTube page, Facebook page, and Twitter page.
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And of course, gave our viewers an option to donate.
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We officially launched our existence at the July 4th- 2013 Town celebration and began to get the word
about Town of our existence by participating in community events such as July 4th- Fiesta de Artes and
the Veterans Resources Fair events.
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Veterans Day is near and dear to our hearts and in advance of that day, we decided to support our goal
of educating the community. we took on a very active role with the Fisher Middle School essay
challenge in which each student is required to interview a veteran and then write an essay about what
they learned.
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We rewarded the top tier of our young authors with cash prizes and the Los Gatos Weekly rewarded our
winners with some local notoriety and press coverage. More importantly, our authors received the gift
of learning what it takes to secure America's freedom.
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