ASHBURN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund is pleased to announce that its recent 3rd Greater Houston Gala raised $850,000 in support of its mission of giving back through education to military veterans and their family members. Over 375 people attended the event on April 6, 2017 at The Houstonian Hotel, Houston, Texas, hosted by Anthony Anderson, star and executive producer of ABC’s “Black-ish”. The keynote speaker from Washington, DC provided perspective about current military initiatives.
The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, founded by fellow graduates and classmates of West Point, is inspired by Colonel John “Johnny Mac” McHugh, killed in action in Afghanistan May 18, 2010. An Army aviator, Colonel McHugh served 24 years in the U.S. Army, and is remembered as a selfless soldier, leader, family man, and friend.
“We’re honoring our veterans and fallen comrades by helping take care of their educational needs and those of the children they’ve left behind. They have served, and now we have an obligation to serve---we must serve. It’s a part of who we are,” commented Tony Guzzi, co-founder of the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund and President & CEO of EMCOR Group, Inc. “We must take care of our own. Through the mission of Johnny Mac, we can all give back in a small way that has immeasurably large impacts to those who have sacrificed so much for all of us.”
“We have a responsibility to give back to veterans and their children who have given up so much--their moms and dads--in service to our country. As a country we need to come together and pay that back,” stated Stephen Cannon, co-founder of the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund and CEO of AMB Group, LLC. “Johnny Mac’s mission is to step into the gap and, through education assistance, help support veterans and children whose parents made the ultimate sacrifice---that’s 16,000 kids whose lives we can impact right now.”
Top sponsors for the event were Mercedes-Benz, 7-Eleven, Inc., AutoNation, Comfort Systems USA, EMCOR Group, Inc., Keystone Concrete, and NCI Building Systems.
About Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund
Established in 2014, the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to financially assisting veterans and their family members with education expenses. The fund is inspired by Colonel John “Johnny Mac” McHugh, KIA in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 18, 2010. To date, Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund has awarded nearly $3.5 million in college scholarships. To learn more or to support the mission of Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, visit www.JohnnyMac.org
