Plutonium Page recently authored a
diary citing an article in Salon that describes how wounded veterans (with amputated limbs and other severe injuries) who are being treated as 'outpatients' at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are required to pay for their daily meals out of pocket.
The subsequent thread led to a (somewhat vague) plan to provide concrete action on this issue.
This diary is a request for your help.
You can review the thread, but by way of summary I can say that there were a couple of themes regarding ways to help:
- Theme 1: Let's raise money to help the soldiers pay for their meals, in the same way that folks at dKos raised money to help a disabled vet buy a Mac.
- Theme 2: Don't raise money for this - that's what the government should be doing
Here's an outline of what I developed following the discussion:
Project
lunchforwoundedveterans.com
Summary
A website used to meet the following objectives:
- Inform the public about the current DoD practice under which disabled active duty military personnel being treated as outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical center are held responsible for the cost of their daily meals, as originally described in the dKos diary by Plutonium Page
- Solicit contributions from site visitors to help affected veterans pay for their meals
- Lobby Congress for changes to the existing DoD regulations via legislation or other effective action.
- The web site will be developed and operated by volunteer contributors.
Functional Overview
- Visits to the site will be generated from associated dKos diaries, other web-based promotion, publicity/free media, and like-minded progressive and veterans sites and organizations.
- Visitors will be presented with information about the meal cost issue, and with multiple opportunities to make secure online contributions to help affected veterans pay for their meals.
- Visitors will also be encouraged to lobby/convey to members of Congress their support for legislation, rule changes, or other effective action to provide affected military personnel with meal cost support while they are being treated. The site will include tools to facilitate such action.
What's Been Done So Far
Plutonium Page posted the original diary on Wednesday, January 26.
RabidNation posted: "if someone wants to buy the domain and administer the site, I'll host it for free."
RubDMC replied, "I'll grab the domain...www.lunchforwoundedsoldiers.com has been registered"
What's Needed, What's Next?
We need participants with a range of skills who can work closely together to help launch this project over the next several weeks. Here's an initial list of desired skill sets:
* Site hosting/tech support: RabidNation
The ideal contributor is experienced in all aspects of technical support required to set up and maintain the server/hosting component(s) of a high-volume web site, including assessing and obtaining 3rd party technical services.
* Site Development/Project Lead: RubDMC
The ideal contributor is experienced in all aspects of developing and maintaining the content and function of a full-featured, high-volume, commerce-enabled web site, including project team and timeline management for all aspects from launch to initial operations.
* Organization/Administration:Needed
The ideal contributor(s) is experienced in all aspects of setting up and running a not-for-profit/advocacy organization based in the U.S., including associated record-keeping and complying with associated regulations.
* Accounting/Financial Management/Reporting: Needed
The ideal contributor(s) is experienced in all aspects of financial management and reporting in an online, not-for-profit/advocacy setting, in particular in association with U.S. government agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD).
* Veterans Affairs/Outreach:Needed
The ideal contributor(s) has current or recent active duty military experience, and is familiar with all aspects of military pay, disability benefits, and other related regulations pertaining to the objectives of this project.
* Legislative Outreach: Needed
The ideal contributor(s) has extensive experience in identifying and working with key legislators and staff for the purpose of generating support for, and crafting legislative language to effect, changes in the associated regulations regarding meal costs for disabled military personnel undergoing outpatient treatment.
* Marketing/PR/Community Outreach: Needed
The ideal contributor(s) has extensive experience in developing messages and channels to mobilize public support for, and participation in, a range of actions to achieve change consistent with the objectives of this project.
All contributors must be self-directed, team-oriented, and able to collaborate online. RubDMC will initiate and maintain a series of project diaries at dKos to support such collaboration.
So, this is a call for smart, motivated bodies. This thing looks good on paper, but right now that's all it is. I know that there are lots of you out there that could fit into these roles and contribute to this project. I also understand that it's hard to do so while also meeting your many other obligations. It's taken me over a week just to post this diary, and how hard is that?
And, of course, nobody gets paid ;^)
I can't monitor this diary as closely as I'd like, and am unable to respond to specific questions any earlier than the wee hours of tonight/tomorrow while I'm at work (assuming things are quiet at some point).
But I wanted to get this out there for you to see and, hopefully, respond to.
Your comments or suggestions about the project are welcome, but the priority here is to identify a working group who can see this through over the next few weeks.
And like an old boss once told me (though I'm not always able to comply) - "Better to under-commit and over-perform, than the other way around."
Thanks in advance.
Peace out, RubDMC