Spartan spirit: Marine wants new charity group to be by vets, for vets - Army Spouse and Family Resources - Army Times

Spartan spirit: Marine wants new charity group to be by vets, for vets

Sgt. Daniel Arcand is one Marine with high hopes of helping his fellow war veterans.

Last year, Arcand organized and founded a nonprofit charity group called American Spartan Inc., with a mission to provide “financial relief and moral support” to wounded combat veterans and help them make the transition from the military.

While veterans can get help from scores of national and local organizations, Arcand wants his organization to be built and supported by combat vets like himself. He envisions a group that includes active-duty Marines who will actively raise awareness and money to help veterans in need.

Arcand, an assaultman instructor with Infantry Training Battalion at School of Infantry-West at Camp Pendleton, Calif., has organized the group’s first fundraising event, the “Spartan Hike,” with a goal of raising $100,000.

Feb. 12, at McNee Ranch State Park along the Pacific coast south of San Francisco, Arcand and a dozen active-duty Marines will head south toward Pendleton. Carrying about 45 pounds in their packs, they will cover 419 miles over the three-week hike; the journey ends March 5 in San Clemente, just outside the amphibious training base, averaging about 19 miles a day.

The Marines, all combat veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan, volunteered for the event. Each will use personal and weekend leave to do the hike.

Arcand, a Minnesota native, is chairman of American Spartan. In November, the Internal Revenue Service gave it tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization, so donations to the group are tax deductible. For now, he relies mostly on service members who volunteer on the board of directors, but he hopes to grow and “be big enough where we need full-time people,” he says.

Arcand already is thinking of American Spartan Inc.’s next fundraising event — ventures like climbing Washingon state’s Mount Rainier or biking through a desert to raise money, and perhaps a collaboration with other charities to help combat vets.

To learn more about the story, visit americanspartaninc.com.