Mountain House Spotlight: Honoring Our Veterans

Here at Mountain House, we’re proud to join the rest of the country in the observance of Veterans Day. We welcome the special attention the holiday draws to active and former members of our armed services, but of course we believe honoring these men and women (and the families who support them) is truly a 365-days-a-year affair.

Our parent company, OFD (formerly Oregon Freeze Dry), partly got started supplying military MRE freeze-dried food to troops during the Vietnam War. Our roots with the U.S. military therefore run deep, and we’re proud to say that Mountain House meals continue to be enjoyed by service members stationed near and far.

On this Veterans Day, we’d like to take the opportunity to spotlight a number of organizations dedicated to helping out military members, veterans, and their families. All of these groups are most definitely worthy of your notice—and your support.

Team Rubicon

The training, skills, and on-the-ground experience of military veterans make them amazing resources in the face of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. The non-profit Team Rubicon, established in 2010, taps this resource by connecting veterans with first responders to assist in disaster relief the world over.

Wounded Warrior Project

From physical wounds to mental and emotional trauma, our servicemen and women make incredible sacrifices to protect our country. The Wounded Warriors Project provides free treatment programs, support services, and other resources to veterans and service members as well as their families and caregivers.

Source One Serenity

We love Source One Serenity’s approach to helping out veterans via a deeply soothing and meditative form of nature immersion: namely, fly fishing. Established by an Iraq veteran and based in Roseburg, Oregon—not all that far from our Willamette Valley headquarters here at Mountain House—Source One Serenity makes the superlative Umpqua River its rifled healing ground.

photo credit Uncage The Soul Productions

Heroes & Horses

Heroes & Horses, which we sponsor here at Mountain House, also uses the great outdoors—and a human being’s intrinsic connection to it—to help our military veterans center themselves and reorient to the world. It does so via pack trips into the Montana wilderness, where time spent with horses, the rhythm of the trail, and the power of backcountry mountainscapes can work wonders.

Hope for the Warriors

For more than a decade, Hope for the Warriors has been delivering a wide variety of services for post-9/11 service members: from health and transition resources to community-engagement, athletic, and outdoor-adventure programs.

Puppies Behind Bars

The wordless support, companionship, and warm heartedness of a four-legged friend can make a world of difference for someone who’s been through shattering trauma. Puppies Behind Bars brings veterans who have endured physical injuries or the trials of PTSD together with Labrador retrievers—raised and specially trained by prison inmates, hence the name—for some canine-facilitated therapy.

Thanks USA

Thanks USA—which counts Stephen Curry as its national spokesperson—helps support military families by granting need-based educational scholarships (college, technical, vocational) to the spouses and children of service members. Since its inception in 2006, ThanksUSA has provided better than $13 million worth of scholarships.

Fisher House Foundation

This organization meets a vital need by housing military families in comfort homes when their loved one is in the hospital. These Fisher Houses, situated at military and VA medical centers, have saved the families of service members and veterans some $360 million in out-of-pocket lodging and transportation expenses since the foundation began its work.

If you’re serving or have served in the military—and we know there are many in the Mountain House family who have—we thank you for what you’ve contributed. If you’re a family of military personnel, we honor the sacrifices you’ve made. Here’s wishing everybody a wonderful and deeply felt Veterans Day!