Hundreds of thousands of veterans and military families expected to benefit from ‘American Icons’ fundraising for Got Your 6

Today, national veteran campaign Got Your 6 and leading national retailer Macy’s announce early fundraising results from Macy’s “American Icons” campaign. The campaign reached the $3 million goal in just a few weeks and on June 1st Macy’s held an additional promotion called “Got Your 6 Saturday” that raised more than $415,000 in addition to the $3 million already raised, so that through “American Icons,” Macy’s has raised more than $3.4 million to support Got Your 6 and its veteran-focused nonprofit partners.

Launched in mid-May, “American Icons” featured a cause marketing effort that offered customers a special savings pass for $3, or the chance to purchase the pass and the iconic “Got Your 6” logo pin for $6 at Macy’s stores across the country. Donations from the fundraising campaign will support the work Got Your 6 and their nonprofit partners have already begun, including securing pledges from more than 800 businesses to hire 200,000 veterans; housing more than 14,000 chronically homeless veterans; and garnering over 1.5 million hours of veteran service work.

Got Your 6 is an awareness initiative working to change the conversation around America’s millions of returning veterans and military families by uniting more than two dozen expert veteran nonprofits with leading entertainment studios, networks and agencies in Hollywood. Got Your 6 focuses on six areas critical to successful reintegration: jobs, housing, education, family, health, and leadership. Utilizing resources contributed by the entertainment industry, Got Your 6 magnifies the reach and impact of each nonprofit organization, which in turn creates measurable, meaningful benefits for the hundreds of thousands of veterans and military families they serve nationwide.

“Got Your 6 is incredibly proud of our partnership with Macy’s. The reach of the Macy’s brand and their many stores has brought incredible awareness to the Got Your 6 campaign and our partners,” said Chris Marvin, managing director of Got Your 6. “By mobilizing the generosity of the American public, Macy’s has exceeded expectations and will now deliver crucial resources to some of the best veteran-focused nonprofits in the country.”

As a result of the fundraising done by Macy’s “American Icons” campaign, nonprofit partners of Got Your 6 will be able to put these significant dollars toward their respected commitment to veterans and military families. The Pat Tillman Foundation and Student Veterans of America will be able to help more college campuses adopt veteran friendly practices; Team Rubicon will have the funds to deploy more veterans and supplies for emergency disaster relief; and the 100,000 Homes campaign will be able to expand their vulnerability surveys to many more cities as they work to help house chronically homeless veterans. Specifically in the job pillar, Hiring our Heroes—a nationwide effort to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment—will be able to hold more job fairs, create more resources and provide additional opportunities to veterans and businesses across the nation as they work to complete their pledge to hire 500,000 veterans.

Though this partnership with Macy’s, Got Your 6 is able to reach millions of Americans with its messaging platform on veterans and military families. Macy’s “American Icons” campaign is supported by a marketing program that includes multichannel exposure through in-store visual, direct mail, newspaper, television, radio and social media. In support of Got Your 6, Macy’s also created a 30 second national TV spot, which highlights the partnership with Got Your 6 and features Macy’s employees who are also veterans. To further celebrate its veteran and military family population, Macy’s created special ribbons and invited associates in-store to wear these ribbons proudly and be recognized as a military veteran or a military family member.

“Macy’s is so proud of the successful partnership with Got Your 6, and our effort to raise millions of dollars in support of its mission to improve and advance veteran reintegration,” said Martine Reardon, chief marketing officer for Macy’s. “The enthusiastic response from our customers is testament that this is a cause the American public cares about deeply. We thank our customers for their participation which, when multiplied across our 800 stores, adds up to big impact at more than $3.4 million for Got Your 6 and their non-profit partners.”

At its launch, Got Your 6 developed a set of measurable goals in six “pillars of reintegration” and registered them with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Top veteran nonprofits specializing in jobs, housing, education, family, health and leadership signed on to these pledges, and they have had great success in the first year of the campaign. Organizations such as Student Veterans of America, Pat Tillman Foundation, 100,000 Homes, The Mission Continues and Hiring our Heroes have dramatically increased their reach and influence as a direct result of their involvement in Got Your 6.

The progress and milestones of the campaign are many, but some of the highlights to date include:

Jobs
Hiring our Heroes secured over 800 pledges from business to hire 200,000 veterans and more than 93,000 hires have already been confirmed this year, working toward 500,000 hires by December 2014.

Education
The Pat Tillman Foundation and Student Veterans of America have collected over 105 pledges from colleges and universities committing to implement and/or enhance resources, programs and policies to support student veterans in a goal of attaining 500 by June 2014.

Housing
100,000 Homes Campaign and their community partners have been able to house over 14,000 chronically homeless veterans in less than a year and have now doubled their commitment with Got Your 6 to help get 20,000 veterans off the street and back into communities nationwide.

Leadership
Over 1.5 million hours of volunteer service have been completed by veterans through the leadership of The Mission Continues and their partners.

Family
The Military Child Education Coalition has trained over 46,000 teachers and Blue Star Families is planning to release an e-book on military family reintegration in June in efforts to provide reintegration tools and training to 300,000 military families and 100,000 school educators by December 2014.

Health
Give an Hour recently hosted a major summit to kick off its formal strategy to engage and educate 100,000 graduate students in mental health disciplines on the unique issues of veterans and military families.

About Got Your 6

Got Your 6 is a campaign designed to change the conversation in America such that veterans and military families are seen as civic assets and leaders who will reinvigorate our community. The campaign combines the reach and resources of the top American entertainment studios, networks and agencies with the expertise and commitment of more than two dozen nonprofit organizations. Through an extensive media footprint and a set of substantial service commitments, Got Your 6 will ensure successful reintegration of veterans into civilian life. For more information, visit www.gotyour6.org. Be the Change, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is the organizing body and fiscal sponsor of Got Your 6.

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