Thank you to all those who have served in our US military and have helped protect the many freedoms we enjoy in our amazing country! Today we should not only recognize but give back to the veterans who have served us. In many horrible cases, our vets are returning to us after multiple deployments with a host of mental and physical injuries. 1 in 5 homeless Americans is a veteran, and approximately 67,500 veterans are homeless on any given night. Even worse, the number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans is greater than the number of fallen soldiers during the war (source: Volunteers of America).

I don’t know about you, but these statistics break my heart. So how can we help? Here are 5 ways to honor veterans:

1. Veterans, Inc. is a private non-profit organization which  helps bring a wide variety of professional services to homeless veterans and vets in need. You can contribute cash, men and women’s clothing, canned goods, dry goods and vehicles to benefit their wonderful program. You can make an online donation here.

2. Honor and empower wounded warriors through the Wounded Warrior Project. You can plan and register your own official WWP fundraising event for only $10 and donate all proceeds to the needs of injured service members. Also, enlist in your area’s annual Tough Mudder run, which is a blast and proudly supports the WWP.

3. Help protect and support the families of US military through Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships and other assistance to the spouses and children of wounded and fallen soldiers. Folds of Honor, working cohesively with Patriot Day events, facilitates healing, hope, and opportunity for those who need it most. You can donatedirectly or register for a local Patriot Day event, like one of their Patriot Golf Days or Patriot Marina Day.

4. Bake some sweet thank-you treats for your local veterans and drop them off at a nearby veterans organization, like the Veterans Ministry or Second Harvest Food Bank. Call beforehand to make sure you’re using acceptable ingredients and to make sure they’re accepting drop-offs. Also, you can prepare and mail baked goods in a care package, per Military Family Central.

5. Write letters and send care packages to currently deployed servicemen and wounded warriors through Operation Gratitude. It will literally take you less than 5 minutes to write a letter that will bring overwhelming joy to troops abroad.

What did I miss? How are you honoring our nation’s heroes? Please please please be proactive in showing our former soldiers how grateful we are for their sacrifices and bravery.

Thank you again to all those who currently serve and have served our amazing country. We are truly blessed to live in the United States of America. God bless!

“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…” -Patrick Henry