Local Resident Spends Own Retirement Funds To Support Troops

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By Darrell Mak

It’s not a decision that anyone could easily make, but last year Crownsville resident Scott Mallary decided to risk his retirement savings to show his appreciation to help local military families, wounded warriors and veterans. Mallary began Truckin 4 Troops, a charitable foundation that supports troops by providing gifts, as well as transportation from BWI Airport to local hotels.

 “I cashed in my IRA and everything,” said Mallary. “I was so passionate. I had to go all-in to get started.”

A key factor motivating Mallary into creating the foundation was a study he citied showing illegal immigrants were actually receiving more support from the government in the form of benefits and entitlements than veterans, something that sorely disappointed him.

“That was the spark that convinced me to raise money to help support veterans,” he recalled. “I don’t hate or dislike illegal immigrants, but I don’t like the way the government is encouraging them. I’d jump a 200-foot fence to get what the government is giving to them.”

This past Christmas, Mallary and his family knew they wanted to help military servicemen and women and their families in any way possible. They first started by providing financially struggling military families with Christmas gifts. They decided to purchase 20 iPod Shuffles to hand out at a local military hospital, but after seeing so many wounded servicemen and women, they knew 20 iPods weren’t nearly enough. They increased the number to 50 iPods, and with the assistance of Apple Computer, they were able to have the iPods engraved for free and selected the words "Thank You For Your Service!"

To make the iPod gifts even more special, Mallary added some patriotic songs on the iPods before delivering them to the recovering servicemen and women.

“A lot of time and effort went into making sure the songs picked were commemorative of our appreciation,” said Mallary. “As soon as word got out of what we were doing, many of our friends and family wanted to contribute too.”

Truckin 4 Troops has delivered iPod Shuffles to injured service members at Walter Reed Army Hospital and the Bethesda Naval Hospital.

But Mallary still didn’t believe he was doing enough. After Christmas, he was so inspired by the reaction of the service members that he wanted to do even more for them. After much thought, Mallary decided to invest his own personal funds to purchase a massive F650 4x4 pickup truck that the group now uses to transport the arriving military personnel from BWI Airport to local hotels.

“It has been a great success,” said Mallary. “They are very grateful for what we are doing for them, which has inspired us to do even more to show our appreciation for what they do.”

Mallary’s continued dedication to supporting the military will require additional financial resources. He plans to hold a number of fundraising activities over the next several months, the largest of which will be an all-day and evening Car, Truck and Bike Show planned for August 20 at the Arundel County Fairgrounds. Mallary is hoping to raise enough funds to allow Truckin 4 Troops to purchase a second vehicle for transportation.

“There has been lots of demand. I’ve had to leave people behind,” Mallary said.

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