Military Missions
In Action

State of Military Missions in Action (MMIA), as of July 2022

Six months after the tragic and untimely loss of our dear founder and Executive Director Mike Dorman, Military Missions in Action finds itself at a place many may not have suspected. Mike’s legacy is truly living on as is evident in the tremendous outpouring of support from donors (new and old alike) and much hard work by the corps of volunteers and employees. After some deep albeit necessary soul searching and transformation, Mike’s metaphorical train is not only still on the tracks but steaming full-speed ahead to bring relief and support to Veterans in need. Here are some highlights of what MMIA has been up to since January:

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• Directly assisted a lot of deserving Veterans.

• Promoted Zak Keisler to the Operations Director.

• Cleaned out the MMIA offices and established new work-flow processes.

• Transitioned to official organizational email addresses and cloud-based storage.

• Hired an Office Administrator to ensure a predictable office presence.

• Divested operations from the HWY 401 warehouse and all its overhead.

• Reduced by over half the donated property footprint to make the organization leaner.

• Moved the Fill-the-Footlocker staging location out of the Academy Street basement and into the HWY 55 warehouse in its own designated climate-controlled space for easier and safer access.

• Cleared out the Academy Street home to prep for critical foundation repair and a renovation.

• Synchronized operations with all employees, volunteers, and key stakeholders (still improving).

• Hired a head-hunting firm to find ten top qualified candidates for Executive Director.

• Modified our beloved mission statement to create more opportunity to serve all Veterans in need AND their loving supporting families without excluding any particular type of veteran, active service members, or reservists whether having served in the past or currently serving.

•  Applied and was awarded a state grant to directly assist disabled Veterans.

•  Purchased a new/used Box Truck for Operation Homes for Healing.

•  Purchased a new/used pick-up truck for smaller day-to-day logistical requirements.

•  Moved the Southern Pines office out of the American Legion and into new office space.

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• Some major successful missions included completing four “Standdowns for Homeless Veterans” servicing over 500 homeless Vets; Shipped 257 “Fill the Footlocker” boxes to deployed troops (which is a little over 1285 care packages); Completed five “Operation Building Hope” major construction modification projects (with another six lined up waiting on contractors); and lastly, despite intentionally trying to slow down after Mike’s passing, volunteers have accomplished 41 “Operation Homes for Healing” critical need deliveries of furniture, appliances, and various household sundries all across North Carolina.

• Military Missions in Action has recaptured the initiative and established increasing momentum, thanks to the community of Fuquay-Varina and the surrounding areas. You are what makes MMIA an unwaveringly dependable non-profit to Veterans in need all over North Carolina. Thank you for your contributions and community commitment.