Helping Hands

Our Helping Hands Program is very unique, as USO Northwest is the only USO in the world to offer it! The program was established when USO-NW recognized the critical need for our military to spend valuable time together with their families as a unit and that our service members had minimal funds available to provide these much needed activities. Compounding the issue is the fact that fundraising by military members is prohibited.

When traditional funding sources are not available or insufficient to cover the entire cost of a unit’s activity or event, USO-NW’s Helping Hands Program provides small funding awards to help offset the cost of the activity. Welcome home celebrations, pre-deployment parties, family day picnics and holiday parties are just a few examples of the family-focused activities that our Helping Hands Program makes possible.

Helping Hands fund requests are reviewed individually and decided on a case-by-case basis. Units that are requesting Helping Hands support are not eligible to also have the Mobile USO Canteen at their event unless pre-approved by the USO.

Our Helping Hands Program is supported by the generous contributions made to the USO Northwest through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). 100% of the donations that we receive through the CFC goes directly to support our military and their families through our Helping Hands Program. As the needs for our Helping Hands support grows, we look for additional partners to support this valuable program.

Last year, USO-NW’s Helping Hands Program provided over $77,000 in support and served over 99,000 local service members and their families. We would like to thank Delta Air Lines and AT&T as generous corporate sponsors of our Helping Hands Program.

Effective immediately, Helping Hands ‎checks will no longer be written to individuals but can be written to organizations such as your local FRG or Association supporting your command/event. Thank you!

To review the program guidelines or submit a Helping Hands Program funding request for consideration by our USO-NW Programs Committee, click on the preferred link:

Helping Hands Form Word Document

Helping Hands Form PDF