Charities

Each month eMartAmerica features a different American charity that’s really making a difference in the world today. The cause that we choose can be any tax-except organization (non-profit groups, including schools, religious organizations and many more) that helps enhance the American way of life. eMartAmerica is committed to making a difference by giving back to the world in which we influence. It is our policy to donate 2% of net sales generated through our online store for the month to our featured organization.

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This month’s charity is the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.

Founded in 1980 by Vietnam veterans Bobby Muller and John Terzano, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) is an international humanitarian organization that addresses the causes, conduct and consequences of war through programs of advocacy and service for victims of conflict around the world.

VVAF became one of the first humanitarian organizations in the world to offer rehabilitative services to landmine victims when it opened its flagship clinic on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1991. That same year, VVAF co-founded the global campaign to ban landmines that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

Today, VVAF is one of the world's leading providers of comprehensive rehabilitative services. Thousands of people who suffer from injuries caused by war or debilitating diseases such as polio benefit every year from artificial limbs, braces and wheelchairs designed and produced at VVAF clinics. In addition, patients are enrolled in physical therapy sessions where they learn the skills necessary to participate as contributing members of their society. Specifically, VVAF operates and supports clinics and survivor services in Angola, Cambodia, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, the province of Kosovo, Nicaragua and Vietnam.

In addition, VVAF's Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) is conducting surveys in Iraq and Lebanon to map the impact of landmines on those countries, and is also providing technical assistance to coordinate information necessary for humanitarian relief in Liberia. Further, VVAF recently signed an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vietnam's Ministry of Defense to conduct a national survey assessing the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance that have contaminated that country since the Vietnam War.

Finally, VVAF's Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign (NTRC) educates and mobilizes key constituencies to advance U.S. public policy that reduces the threat posed by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.