Getting Started

 As most of you know, two months ago, on August 28, 2011, we lost a great person, Douglas Jay Green, who we all know and love as “Dougie”, or just “Doug”.  Doug was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan, which was his second deployment since joining the Army in 2007.  During Doug’s service in Afghanistan, his family and friends who talked with him often were able to see that the circumstances he was living with on a daily basis were less than ideal, to say the least.  Doug, and the other men in his unit, were at an outpost where food was hard to come by.  At times, they were only guaranteed one meal a day, while facing extreme physical, mental, and emotional challenges.  We were also able to identify what lifted Doug’s spirit and helped him overcome these challenges, and we did anything we could to bring a smile to his face and comfort him as much as possible while he was away from home.  Our eyes were opened to a whole new world and the saying, “Freedom doesn’t come free.” took on a new meaning.  We realized how much military members truly give up to allow us our daily freedoms; many give their lives.  When Doug gave his life for our country, we knew it was our time to give back to these military members, and to give back in a big way.

Two weeks ago, five of us (Suni, Doug’s mother; Krissy, Doug’s sister; Alicia, Doug’s girlfriend; Kellie and Kiki, Doug’s friends) came together and decided to start a non-profit organization in Doug’s name.  On October 27, 2011, we submitted the Articles of Incorporation for the Douglas J Green Memorial Foundation to the Virginia State Corporation Commission.  We are currently waiting to receive our Certificate of Incorporation and then we plan to file with the IRS to officially start the process of obtaining the status of a non-profit.  While we have been waiting for the legal system to work it’s magic, we have not been sitting still!

Our goal with this blog is to keep everyone up to speed with our progress and future plans.  As we reach milestones and have new developments, we will surely keep you all involved.  If any of you would like to help us with getting started, offer up some suggestions, or even volunteer later on down the road, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!  We would love the company.

Our Mission Statement, Values, About Us, and How We Plan to Help:  We have been working very hard on writing up these important aspects of our non-profit organization, and plan to finalize them within a few days.  As soon as we do, we will post them for you all to get a better idea of exactly what our organization is about.

Our Tagline:  “Don’t Stop Believing!” – One of Doug’s favorite songs was Journey, Don’t Stop Believing.  He even included it as the last song on his CD to be handed out to everyone at his Celebration of Life service, and we happen to think it’s pretty fitting for our cause.  We will never stop believing in the men and women who give up so much for us to live here safely, we will never stop believing in our ability to foster change, and last but not least we will never stop believing in others’ ability to help us help our troops.

Our Logo:  We are working with Studio One Printing in Sterling, VA to draw up a logo that embodies our organization’s values and purpose.  Forrest, the Owner of Studio One, designed the t-shirts that were made for Doug’s Celebration of Life.  We have no doubts that his creativity and drive for quality will produce the perfect logo.

Our Website:  One of Doug’s close friends, Derek, works for a web development company and has been the lead developer on numerous projects.  He has offered to take the lead with our website, and we expect to have something really awesome when it’s all said and done!

Our First Fundraiser:  Kellie, Alicia, and Krissy will be guest-bartending at Buffalo Wing Factory on either December 3rd or December 10th (date is still in the works).  We will have a raffle, and as of right now the items to win are iPads, but there will be more to come as we get closer to the date.  We will have a DJ at the event, as well.  All tips from guest-bartending and all proceeds from the raffle will go towards the Douglas J Green Memorial Foundation.  The funds will help us a great deal with contributing to start-up costs, building a solid foundation to raise additional funds, and really getting our feet on the ground.

We have lots more coming up in the near future, and we have our visions of where we expect this organization to be one year, five years, and even ten years down the road, but we are 100% open to ideas and suggestions, so please don’t hesitate to let us know!  Our contact information is below and we look forward to working with all of you.