Friday, August 21st, 2009

Active Veterans Advantage members are currently reading this week’s e-mail newsletter to learn more about partners and locations that accept the Veterans Advantage Card. For starters, as I mentioned in the blog last week, I replaced my office machine at a nearby Apple Store, showed my Veterans Advantage card and saved over $200! And we chose this week to salute a handful of other providers doing the same: Boston Market, Red Roof Inn, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile, just to name a few. Click their links on our newly designed Web site to learn more about what you get when you show your Veterans Advantage card.

Our editor’s special picks should make for interesting reading about all military families as well. For starters, our VetFamily profile this week reveals a very disciplined side to two-time Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams, and how an ol’ fashioned Army brat upbringing has led her to her latest achievement, co-starring with Meryl Streep in this month’s hit “Julie and Julia.” Secondly, be sure to check out the report from our military disabilities expert, Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, about how war-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is affecting children returning to school this year.

Want to read our newsletter before joining Veterans Advantage? No problem: Here’s a sample.

Posted in Apple Computer Discounts, PTSD, Veterans Advantage benefits | No Comments »

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Welcome to our new redesigned Veterans Advantage Web site! I hope you like it. It was literally years in the making — borne of the years our Veterans Advantage team has been listening to members tell us what benefits they want and how they prefer to access them. Each day, we respond to their needs through our ever expanding benefits package, and today we are proud to deliver a Web site upgrade, too.

Here’s a couple of tips I think will help you get started:

If you are exploring our program for the first time: Click any of the blue links across the top for background on our program. We’ve worked to enhance this area to underscore the importance of our mission — ranging from unique money-saving benefits across a range of key everyday categories with your Veterans Advantage Card, to the latest news and resources to keep you informed about your ongoing benefits from the government and the private sector. And finally, through our charitable activities, we want you to know that you are truly part of something special.

If you are not a member yet, I encourage you to sign up today and get started.

If you are already a member: Click on “Members Only” in the upper right hand corner of each page to access your benefits to enter with your Veterans Advantage Member ID and password. You’ll find direct benefit access just one or two clicks away from anywhere on our Web site.

Our valuable member services support continues to be online: visit the personalized “Your Account” area and “Contact Us” for online support or see our Help section. And finally, your Veterans Advantage Membership qualifies you for our free weekly member e-newsletter that updates you on the latest inclusions in your benefits package and is posted on our new site under “Resources.”

All of us here at Veterans Advantage hope you like this upgrade to our Web site. Tell us what you think!

Enjoy VeteransAdvantage.com today.

Posted in Events, Financial Services, HeroVet, New Benefits, News, PTSD, veterans articles | No Comments »

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Lin and I attended a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project last night in our hometown of Greenwich, CT. Organized by resident Michelle Simonte, it was a wonderful and important event. Founder John Melia spoke movingly about the beginnings of WWP and their commitment to honor and assist our wounded warriors. Scott Higgins & John Melia. Here’s a picture of John and me in front of a Support the Troops Board signed by our daughter Drew, along with other students from her high school.

As you may already be aware, Veterans Advantage is proudly providing complimentary VA lifetime memberships to all WWP alumni, with a contribution of nearly $250,000 this year alone to the Project. We and WWP are grateful to our members who support Veterans Advantage and make such a gift possible. You are doing your part in giving back with your program participation.

If you check out this week’s TopVet feature story on Harry Kalas, you’ll learn that literally millions of Philadelphia Phillies baseball fans can thank the U.S. Army for one of the most legendary broadcasters of our time. Because the Army stationed him in Hawaii in 1959, Kalas started calling his first ballgames there and experienced his first successes in the profession. He later went on to 39 memorable years calling play-by-play for the Phillies. It’s only fitting that in his last season as a broadcaster in 2008, the Phillies won the World Baseball championship. So this Veteran went out on top.

Dell, one of our longest serving and loyal benefit partners has an even more special deal for you: Since 2002, the company has promised to combine generally advertised dell.com special offers with our 10% Everyday Savings. Now the company is going one better: If you find a system on the public dell.com listed at a lower price than what you see in our special Dell online store, our Dell representatives promise to not just match, but actually beat the public Dell price – just call Dell toll-free at 1-866-257-4711 and provide your Veterans Advantage identification.

Tags: WWP alumni benefits
Posted in PTSD, Veterans Advantage benefits, charitable activities | No Comments »

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

There appears little question that our troops will be leaving Iraq in greater numbers in the months and years ahead. The question now is, how will we welcome them back?

There was little thought given to this question for those who served and sacrificed in Vietnam and the results were painful and disastrous; they continue to reverberate through American society nearly 35 years after the end of that war.

Along with training and equipping our troops for wartime service, we need to focus our energies on how we train and equip them to reenter American society. The consequences of inadequate re-entry programs are disturbing and real. Read the article by Give an Hour Founder Dr. Barbara Romberg, who examines the response to the rise in suicides in the Army community. And read our HeroVet profile of Brian Delate, a talented actor and director, long active in the New York veterans community, and now making news on the national scene with an award-winning movie about the perils – and triumphs – faced by people with PTSD. Clearly, we have an obligation to our brave men and women not to repeat the mistakes of Vietnam.

With an eye on your wallet (as always), we highlight this week discounts for food, computers, your upcoming tax filing, and, lastly, flea and tick medication for your pet. Our new discount program with 1800petmeds.com has everything you need to protect your pets from insect-related illnesses this spring.

Posted in HeroVet, New Benefits, PTSD | No Comments »

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

At this time of year, our thoughts turn to those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. We thank them and their families from the bottom of our hearts. We are deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice. Please include your prayers with ours that each one returns home safely.

As you know, your membership supports and makes possible our charitable activities. Thank you. We are rounding out our second deployment of complimentary Veterans Advantage memberships cards to those serving in and around Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly 70,000 this holiday season. That brings us to a total of 300,000 this year. See a full listing of our charitable activities here.

From all of us at Veterans Advantage, we wish you the very best of health and happiness over the holidays and throughout the New Year.

Tags: charitable activities
Posted in PTSD | No Comments »

Monday, October 20th, 2008

With the dramatic events of the last week, most people and their families and businesses are struggling to cope with a weakening economy and plunging financial markets. This crisis hits all of us, but it’s especially difficult for those who serve overseas and their families; they’re already saddled with a host of financial, family and personal issues associated with a deployment halfway around the world. This week’s exclusive column in our Military/PTSD Transition Center focuses on the need to treat those who suffer from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD when they return to the States. We have to find a way to adequately address these significant healthcare issues in a tough economy. Thankfully, Give an Hour’s Dr. Barbara Romberg is leading an effort to provide free and low-cost treatment for veterans who suffer from these debilitating conditions. Please visit Give an Hour today, and learn about this important new initiative at Veterans Advantage.

This week, we are providing special coverage to another financial need during tough economic times – insurance and health care. Through Veterans Advantage, you’re covered with $55,000 in special travel and accident insurance, when you activate your participation in our group policy in Members Only. This insurance coverage is a benefit of membership – there’s no additional fee. Lastly, remember to use our drug discount program for your prescription drugs; it provides discounts up to 65% (15-20% off on average) on hundreds of medications and is accepted at over 50,000 pharmacies across America.

As you know, we are dedicated to partnering with companies that want to thank and honor those who serve with discounts on their goods and services. We will be announcing a group of exciting new partners in the coming weeks – just in time for the holidays! Stay tuned.

Tags: Financial Crisis, Insurance, PTSD, Veterans Benefits
Posted in Insurance, PTSD, veterans articles | No Comments »

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday on its front page about a serviceman returning from Iraq, struggling with alcoholism and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), whose drunk driving took the life of a 16-year-old cheerleader. It was a heart-wrenching story that highlights the extraordinary health issues that so many of our servicemen and women face returning to the States from Iraq and Afghanistan. To raise awareness, we are expanding our own services for Veterans Advantage members with the launch of a special area devoted to returning active duty troops –as well as their families – for dealing with the health issues associated with PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury).

And let us not forget our colleagues who are living with experiences of WWII, Vietnam, and Korea. These conditions do not discriminate.

As we launch our PTSD Resource Center, we are featuring an article by Dr. Barbara Romberg. I hope you read it. Dr. Romberg, the founder of Give An Hour, is a leader in mental health therapy for those suffering from PTSD and TBI and their families; she’s building a remarkable organization – a nationwide network of health care providers who give one hour a week to help address these critical health issues

Tags: ptsd resource center
Posted in PTSD, charitable activities | No Comments »