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Grant Application

Eligibility Criteria

Minnesota Resident prior to deployment or Non-MN resident as stated below.
Served in a designated Combat Zone and received Hostile Fire Pay after September 11, 2001.

All branches of service, active service of honorably discharged providing DD214.

MMAF will issue one grant per applicant. If you are injured on a later tour and received a Purple Heart, you are eligible to re-apply for an additional grant.

IMPORTANT!

Please fill out the PDF form below, print and mail to the address below.

If you are/were a Minnesota Resident prior to deployment or a Minnesota Taxpayer:

Send in a signed copy of the Grant Application.
Send in a copy of a LES with Hostile Fire Pay OR DD214 from.
If you were injured and received a Purple Heart, send in a copy of your Purple Heart Certificate. If you have received the initial $2,000 Purple Heart Grant, send in our Supplemental Grant Application.
If applying for a fallen service member, the SGLI Beneficiary should fill out the SGLI Beneficiary Application and a copy of Report of Casualty #1300.

If you are/were a Non-Minnesota Resident prior to deployment or Non-Minnesota Taxpayer:

Send in a signed copy of the Grant Application.
Send in Copy of a LES with Hostile Fire Pay OR DD214 form.
If you are/were a drilling member of a MN unit, send in a copy of your MN Service Deployment Orders.
If you were transferred to a MN unit, traveled to Minnesota, and deployed with the MN unit send in a copy of your MN Service Deployment Orders.
If you were injured and received a Purple Heart, send in a copy of your Purple Heart Certificate. If you have received the initial $2,000 Purple Heart Grant, send in our Supplemental Grant Application.
If applying for a fallen service member, the SGLI Beneficiary should fill out the SGLI Beneficiary Application and a copy of Report of Casualty #1300.

Download Grant
Application PDF

Please send these materials to: Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund P.O. Box 2070 Minneapolis MN 55402

If you have any questions, please review the following Frequently Asked Questions, and if there are any additional questions / issues, please call us at 1-877-MN-THANX (877-668-4269) or email Thankmntroops@gmail.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

How important is sending in an LES?

In order for MMAF to validate deployment to a combat zone, we are requesting an LES that reflects payment of Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay. Your DD214 form is also acceptable (replacing the LES) if it reflects MN as your tax base and reflects Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay.

I am from a state other than Minnesota, and I was transferred to a Minnesota unit but never set foot in Minnesota with that unit. Do I qualify for your grant?

We are sorry but you do not qualify for our Minnesota grant. To qualify, you must have actually come to the state of Minnesota to deploy with the Minnesota unit prior to deployment.

I am from a state other than Minnesota, and once I arrived in Iraq I was assigned to a Minnesota unit. Do I qualify for your grant?

We are sorry but you do not qualify for our Minnesota grant. Our grant criteria states that you must be either a drilling member of a Minnesota Guard or Reserve unit prior to deployment. In addition, service members who were transferred to a Minnesota unit, traveled to Minnesota, and then deployed with the Minnesota unit are eligible for the grant. We want to ensure that we include those non-residents from our neighboring states (i.e.: IA, ND, WI) that travel to Minnesota each month in order to be a drilling member of a MN unit, and then are deployed with that unit.

If I served in Bosnia, for example, and received a check for $500, and now I have been deployed to Iraq, can I receive another grant?

MMAF would like to “Thank” service members for every deployment. However, we do not pay grants for each deployment. MMAF has funds readily available to pay grants per service member, not per deployment.

Is there a deadline for applying for the MMAF grant?

No, there is not any immediate deadline.

Is this grant just for the National Guard?

No, MMAF will provide grants to all active duty and honorably discharged Minnesota military personnel who have served in a combat zone since September 11, 2001.

What is my M-1 MN State Individual Tax form?

Some service members may need to send the front page of their standard Minnesota tax paperwork filed in the year during or prior to their deployment. This will only be requested if an application has been found incomplete when being processed.

What is the status of my application?

MMAF is currently processing all grant applications, and we are working on applications just received in the last 30 days. If you mailed your application and supporting documents to MMAF prior to that and you have not heard back, please email us at thankmntroops@gmail.com to inquire about your grant application. Please allow at least 30 days for processing before emailing or calling MMAF.

What is the status on MMAF issuing me a second grant?

Successful fundraising activities enabled MMAF to increase grant disbursement from $250 to our original goal of $500. The MMAF Steering Committee approved this on March 19, 2007. Supplemental grants in the amount of $250 were issued during May and June of 2007. Effective April 1, 2007 all new grant applications will be processed at the new amount of $500. MMAF pays grants one per service member, not per deployment. If you have received a grant from MMAF, you are not eligible for a second grant unless you were injured and received a Purple Heart after receiving your initial grant. If you have not received two (2) $250 grants from MMAF, please contact us at 1-877-668-4269.

Which Commander’s name do you want?

List the name of the Commander that could verify your deployment to a combat zone