Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund held a reception on Thursday, August 21, 2025, at the Historic Fort Snelling Visitor Center to commemorate two milestones: 20 years of saying “thanks” to Minnesota service members and their families and the awarding of MMAF’s 20,000th grant check to a Minnesota service member. The event was an opportunity to show appreciation to long-time supporters, donors, and members of the MMAF leadership group, and to reflect upon our journey since 9/11 to personally thank every Minnesotan who has served in a combat zone.
MMAF Co-Founder, General (Retired) Dennis Schulstad, provided introductory remarks about the founding of MMAF. After the tragedy of 9/11 and as the war in Iraq intensified, Denny had a conversation with fellow Minnesotan and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John W. Vessey, who asked if he knew Eugene Sit. Denny did not but would quickly learn about Gene’s love of country and deep commitment to giving back to Minnesota service members. Gene sought to ensure that today’s troops would not experience the vitriol sadly experienced by Vietnam-era veterans. Gene’s passion, energy, and networking led to the creation of MMAF in 2005. MMAF was and remains the nation’s largest non-partisan, non-political, citizens’ fundraising initiative to benefit our troops who have served in combat since 9/11. Although Gene passed away in 2008, his mission of “thanks” endures with over $13.6 million awarded in grants to 20,000 Minnesota service members and counting.
Denny then introduced Major General Shawn Manke, the Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard, who spoke about the outsized impact that Minnesota service members have had since 9/11 in numerous combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how this state and its service members have played a vital role in overseas operations. General Manke thanked MMAF supporters and fellow service members in attendance.
MMAF Chair, Roger Sit, welcomed many of the distinguished guests in the room, including former Commander of U.S. Central Command, General Joe Votel, past grant recipients and past fundraising dinner speakers, including SGT John Kriesel. Roger recognized the members of the MMAF Board of Overseers and Steering Committee who were in attendance as well as many donors and supporters in the room. Roger and Denny then introduced MMAF’s 20,000th grant recipient: SOCS/E8 John Pepas, a retired Navy SEAL with over 25 years of distinguished service and presented him with his grant check. John thanked MMAF for his grant and remarked how good it feels to be thanked for his service and how those words do make a meaningful difference to service members. John’s humble response as a grant recipient is typical of the feedback MMAF has received from grant recipients over the past 20 years. We cannot overstate the power of saying “thank you.”
Thank you to everyone who has supported the mission of MMAF over the past 20 years and God bless our fellow Minnesotans who have answered the call to serve.
