Army aid recipients up 40 percent from 2005

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Army aid recipients up 40 percent from 2005
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, March, 28, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — The number of soldiers seeking help and the amount of financial aid they’ve received from the Army Emergency Relief Organization have jumped considerably in recent years, according to officials from the nonprofit organization.

Nearly 66,000 soldiers and families received some type of aid from the group in 2007, a 40 percent increase in people served over the 2005 number, retired Army Col. Dennis Spiegel, a group spokesman, said. And the Alexandria, Va.-based organization awarded almost $74 million in financial assistance, up nearly 70 percent from 2005.

The organization gives no-interest loans and grants to Army members facing money problems, as well as merit-based academic scholarships.

One of AER’s primary goals, Foley said, is to keep soldiers from going to payday lenders, who offer exorbitant interest rates.

Many soldiers run into severe debt after taking out such loans for what was initially a relatively small amount of cash.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53641