NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sallie Mae – the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company – will observe Veterans Day throughout the week of Nov. 9 with $60,000 in grants for military scholarships and special expressions of gratitude to customers and employees for their military service.
The Sallie Mae Fund, Sallie Mae’s charitable foundation, donated $50,000 to Folds of Honor, a national nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to the spouses and dependent children of servicemembers killed or disabled while on active duty. The Sallie Mae Fund has also donated $10,000 to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to support the fundraising efforts of Laurent C. Lutz, Sallie Mae executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, who ran in the 2015 Chicago Marathon on behalf of the Foundation, which is the nation’s oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children.
“Of the one million-plus dependents adversely affected by military deployments, nearly nine out of 10 do not qualify for federal scholarship assistance,” said Major Dan Rooney, Folds of Honor founder and F-16 fighter pilot who served three tours of duty in Iraq. “Thanks to partners like Sallie Mae, we can provide scholarship assistance to those who most certainly deserve our support, and we can help ensure that no family is left behind on the field of battle.”
This week, thousands of Sallie Mae customers who are current or former servicemembers will receive thank-you notes acknowledging the sacrifices they have made on behalf of their country. In addition, the company will hold a special ceremony and moment of silence at its headquarters on Veterans Day. Employees are also being encouraged to wear red on Nov. 13 to support the Red Shirt Fridays (Remember Everyone Deployed) movement. Many of Sallie Mae’s employees are current or former servicemembers, some of whom are featured on SallieMae.com.
“We are profoundly grateful to the men and women who selflessly safeguard our freedom, and we salute them not just on Veterans Day, but every day, by helping make college more accessible and affordable for veterans and their families,” said Raymond Quinlan, chairman and chief executive officer, Sallie Mae. “It is an honor to serve them any way we can.”
Sallie Mae offers a number of resources to help military families manage student loans before, during, and after deployment. The company has a team of specially trained customer service representatives who work exclusively with military families, and tips, tools, and resources are available on SallieMae.com. Sallie Mae makes it easy for customers to request military benefits, and goes a step further by proactively applying benefits for eligible customers.
For more information about the benefits and resources available to military personnel, visit SallieMae.com/military. To speak with the dedicated customer service team for military families, call (855) 534-2668. For more information on saving, planning, and paying for college, visit SallieMae.com.
Folds of Honor is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in Owasso, Okla., with a mission to empower military families by providing educational scholarships and assistance for the children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while on active duty. Since its founding in 2007 by Major Dan Rooney, a former F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, PGA Professional, and USGA member, Folds of Honor has raised more than $27.4 million for educational scholarships, and awarded more than 10,000 scholarships in all 50 states. For more information or to make a donation, visit FoldsofHonor.org or connect on Facebook or Twitter.
Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
