Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." It was with that spirit of giving in mind that President George W. Bush signed the 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill that included a section titled, "Operation Hero Miles. The Fisher House Foundation in accordance with Public Law 108-110 administers the Department of Defense Hero Miles program. Individuals can donate their frequent-flyer miles directly through the affiliated airlines, selecting Fisher House Foundation as the recipient that will provide free airline tickets to military personnel.
Determine the number of your accumulated frequent-flyer miles. Some airlines require donations in 1,000- or 5000-mile increments. Figure out how many miles you wish to donate.
2
Go to the Fisher House Hero Miles (Fisherhouse.org/programs/heroMilesDonate). This web page will provide the list of participating airlines. There are also links directly to the online donation pages of the airlines.
3
Choose your participating airline. You will automatically be redirected to the airline donation page.
4
Log in to your airline account for verification. Enter the the mileage donation in the increments specified by the particular airline guidelines and click the "donate" button to finish the donation.
Tips & Warnings
Watch for "matching" programs by the airlines. For instance, during particular holidays (Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Christmas), the airlines may offer a matching donation. Every 500 miles you donate to Fisher House will be matched by the airline, resulting in a 1,000-mile donation.
In some instances, Fisher House will use your donated miles to fly family members to military hospitals to visit their loved ones who may have been wounded in battle.
The Internal Revenue Service does not recognize donated miles as charitable giving but rather as a "gift" and therefore is not tax-deductible.
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