“Operation Homefront’s mission is a great reflection of our members themselves, who as local entrepreneurs are deeply committed to making a difference for their communities and their customers,” said Johnstone CEO DeWight Wallace. “Our employees and our customers are patriotic, hard-working people, many of whom personally know military families or are veterans themselves. We feel this is a terrific fit with our company culture and our customer base.”

Johnstone introduced the new partnership to cooperative members at its recent sales meeting in San Diego, welcoming as guests Operation Homefront founder and current COO Amy Palmer and one of the military families helped by the charity. The guests spoke about the needs and challenges often faced by military families and returning servicemen and women.

Operation Homefront supports military families with rent, mortgage and moving help, food assistance, emergency home or appliance repair, and more. In 2011 alone, the organization met over 155,000 such needs, helping active duty, Guard, and Reserve members from all branches of service. To date, Operation Homefront has raised and distributed more than $170 million in funding to programs benefiting service members in need or facing financial hardships due to military service. For more information, visit www.operationhomefront.net.

Publication date: 6/18/2012