Local Businessman Passionate About Supporting Returning Vets

By John Voket

Every time Michael Kelly meets a veteran, especially those seeking assistance through various organization including VA facilities, he becomes even more passionate about a newfound cause he and his company are supporting.

The Newtown businessman, who has been an armed forces vendor for 30 years, currently works as the national sales manager for the Addressograph Military Division of NewBold Corporation, one of only three global suppliers of the machines that stamp military identification or “dog tags.”

Working in collaboration with company executives, including his immediate supervisor, Gary Spellman, and company president Frank Canestrari, Mr Kelly helped NewBold launch a program that in just over a year has provided $12,000 in support to the Armed Forces Relief Trust (AFRT). The AFRT is a unique sanctioned nonprofit organization providing financial assistance and other services to veterans and their families regardless of which branch of the military they serve.

The AFRT may provide something as simple as payment for a soldier’s airfare to fly home for a parent’s funeral, a special reading program for a sailor’s daughter, special medical attention for a pilot’s expectant spouse, or college tuition for a soldier’s child. Last year, the trust’s four emergency assistance programs disbursed more than $109 million in interest-free loans and grants to 145,000 individuals and families in need, according to the agency’s website.

Mr Kelly said that his company’s commitment to this cause started when his boss approached him in the spring of 2007 with the observation that many of NewBold’s employees’ families included members who were veterans or actively engaged in military service.

“I mean, a couple of times a week we were making contributions to collections or putting together care packages going off to someplace in the world to a son or daughter, or a mom or dad in service,” Mr Kelly told The Bee recently.

Despite the fact that NewBold’s Addressograph division was a relatively small subsidiary with approximately 50 employees, the company’s unique position in the global market provided an advantageous situation where sales are concerned. And Mr Kelly shared other executives’ opinion that their company could do more to help military service men and women.

So after several brainstorming sessions, a core group including Mr Kelly pitched an idea to the board of directors. They asked to take a portion of all sales and designate them to helping support military families like the ones working for NewBold, and the board voted to go for it.

With the backing of his board, it was now Mr Kelly’s charge to help qualify a charity that would be the designated recipient of this new program.

“We wanted to find an organization that passed through the largest amount of donations directly to the troops, and a charity that served all branches of the military in service, as well as their families at home,” he said. “I was surprised to discover that there really aren’t a lot of them.”

He returned to report that the AFRT fit all the criteria, and the company began its set-aside program a few days later.

Then, one recent afternoon, Mr Kelly accompanied other NewBold officials to the Washington, D.C., headquarters of AFRT, bringing with them a $10,000 check representing the first fiscal year’s donation, along with another $1,300 directly donated by employees of the company’s neighboring Virginia office.

Since the end of the fiscal year, NewBold has further restructured its AFRT donation program to provide ongoing donations throughout the year, versus a single annual payout. That first 2008 donation of $2,000 has already been delivered.

“The sooner we can get these families the money they need, the better,” Mr Kelly said.

By donating directly, the NewBold employees see 100 percent of their payment going to the trust for distribution to the cause, versus those who may donate online through PayPal, which diverts a nominal fee toward processing. The company’s ability to generate the amount of donations it provided in such a short time, Mr Kelly said, is greatly contingent upon Addressograph’s newest technology, which is in demand worldwide.

“In 2004, the military requested we develop smaller, lighter versions of the machines we were already manufacturing, because they wanted to make them available in more locations,” he said. “The result was an extremely portable piece of equipment, and on July 2, we shipped out the thousandth unit to the US military.

“I just sold one to the Romanian Air Force,” Mr Keely added, saying the company is a primary supplier to many US allies around the globe, as well.

In the past week, the Newtowner said his resolve to help NewBold sustain and grow the donation program was renewed after he visited a couple of regional VA facilities during a round of routine sales calls.

“Both were a very sobering experience, although I have been in military health care facilities hundreds of times over my 28 years in this business,” he said. “The most disturbing thing was the sheer volume of patients and families assisting the patients who were filling every available seat in the lobby, main admitting area, and outpatient clinic’s waiting areas.”

In just the short time he was there, Mr Kelly observed that as soon as one person would vacate a seat, the seat was immediately taken by another patient or a member of their family. He saw all ages represented in those facilities, from very the young to the obvious World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Vets.

“Male and female and all races were represented,” he said. “And as I went throughout these facilities I was constantly reminded how much we owe the brave men and women who have placed themselves in harm’s way to defend not only the freedom of us here in the USA, but also those less fortunate around the world.

 “I sincerely hope that The Bee can [help] make a few more people in the area aware of the wonderful work that Armed Forces Relief Trust is doing with all of our military relief societies.”

To learn more about the AFRT, visit www.arftrust.org.