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DALLAS – Michelle Griffin, 31,
of Crestview, Fla., has been selected as a
grant recipient of the Fallen Patriot Fund, established on April 16,
2003, by the Mark Cuban Foundation, to help families of U.S. military
personnel who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Griffin received $12,000 from the Fund to assist with raising her son, Corey,
5, and her daughter, Makensie, 3, after her husband, Staff Sgt.
Patrick Lee Griffin, Jr., 31, died when his convoy hit an unexploded U.S.
Army bomblet outside of Baghdad on May 13, 2003.
Staff Sgt. Griffin was a data systems
technician with the 728th Air Control Squadron out of Eglin Air Force
Base in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. He was on his way to set up radar and
communication equipment in Baghdad.
“I can’t quite put into words what a donation
like this means. You don’t want to say money solves your problems and you don’t
want to say you want to receive money just because someone died. I’d rather be
broke living in my car and have my husband back,” said Griffin. “I feel that it
is just amazing that people that don’t even know me or my family are so willing
to help us and they appreciate the sacrifice that he made and is not forgotten.
I am a stay at home mom trying to figure out what to with my life, and it is
hard being a single parent. Receiving this grant could not have come at a
better time, especially with some bills I have coming in.”
Donations to the Fallen
Patriot Fund are still being accepted and can be made at any of the 4,200 Bank
of America banking centers; through the Web site at www.fallenpatriotfund.org,
or mailed to the Fallen Patriot Fund, c/o Bank of America Private Bank,
TX1-492-19-09, P.O. Box 832409, Dallas, Texas, 75283-2409. Additional
information and grant application may be obtained through the Web site.
The Mark Cuban Foundation will match
donations to the Fallen Patriot Fund dollar for dollar up to $1 million. Since
April 16, 2003, donations have been received from 48 states, Canada and Italy.
In addition, the Bank of America Foundation will match employee donations dollar
for dollar from gifts of $25 up to $5,000.
Financial resources are vital to enhancing
the sustainability of the family unit who has suffered a loss because its loved
one sacrificed him/herself for freedom. Within
that group, grant recipients will be selected in accordance with criteria
established by The Mark Cuban Foundation. All proceeds will be disbursed.
The Mark Cuban Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(C)(3) organization,
contributions to which are tax deductible.
Please contact a tax advisor for further details on charitable
contributions.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Gillian Breidenbach (Bank of America) 214.209.3122
Gillian.M.Breidenbach@bankofamerica.com
Dawn Holgate (Mark Cuban), 214.658.7170 (office)
214.878.2867 (mobile)
dawn.holgate@dallasmavs.com
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