The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) announced April 21 that it can no longer provide assistance to veterans who need help navigating the benefits and claims systems operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as state and local veterans’ agencies. Although all Purple Heart-provided assistance will cease June 30, all pending actions will be transferred to other accredited veterans’ service organizations. The 86-year-old organization stated that it would continue as a “patriotic and fraternal” entity. The decision to end its service program was cost-driven, necessitated by the failure of Purple Heart’s fundraising arm to raise sufficient money to sustain it.
“Faced with a dramatic reduction of 50 percent of the prior year’s operating budget, already well below earlier years, the MOPH has been left with no choice other than to dramatically reduce expenditures for its outreach programs,” the organization said.