About our 2023 Giving Day project
Our project is simple: meeting military families where they are, and partnering with them to address the challenges they face in transitioning from the military to MSU. As Bobcats, we pride ourselves on serving those who have served our nation and welcoming them into our family. Montana has one of the highest populations of veterans per capita in the nation; we all know someone who has served.
We believe it is part of our land grant mission to assist those who have set their dreams to the side for a higher calling and help them get back on track toward their goal of a college degree.
Our goals
Our goal will be to raise $10,000 towards the Veteran Family Emergency Fund. This fund helps ease the financial burden veteran and military families face when transitioning from the military to MSU, often moving entire families across country. Some of these expenses include: child care, short term emergency housing, household needs, books and supplies, vehicle needs, food security, and access to physical and mental health care. As our nation moves further away from conflict in the Middle East and into a time of peace, it can be easy to forget that we have veterans separating from the military every day and making their home here in our valley.
Bozeman can be a very difficult place to move to due to a high cost of living, so this adds additional barriers to our veteran families who may already have other challenges from their time in the military. The state of Montana and MSU have a long, proud history of military service and we also pride ourselves on serving those who have served once they come home.
This campaign has been generously supported with a $2,000 dollar-for-dollar match. The first $2,000 dollars will be doubled.
About our organization
At the Travis Atkins Veteran Support Center, our mission is to partner with veteran families and all military-affiliated students as they transition from a life in the military to life here on our campus. We work side by side with these students to help them shape their signature experience here at MSU, and in keeping with our land grant mission, do all we can to minimize barriers to access and success.
Our office has been a part of MSU as long as veterans have been attending the university, but the Center was created in 2011 after a surge of post-9/11 veterans started coming to MSU. This project is ongoing year-to-year as we constantly have veterans and their families moving to our community. We are a part of the Division of Student Success here at MSU.
Your gift will have an impact
All military-affiliated students at MSU will benefit if our project is successful. Having access to readily available funds allows our unit to meet military families where they are and address challenges they face to success and retention at MSU. Ensuring these students have a home here at MSU benefits our entire community as student veterans and their families add so much value to our campus.