Glenn Murphy Jr

Marine wife's charity passes $50 million mark

WASHINGTON — In the early days of the Iraq War, Karen Guenther, a nurse and Marine wife, was deeply moved by the sacrifices of the first wounded Marines and sailors who came home from the war.

As her husband marched on Baghdad, Guenther teamed up with other military spouses and hospital employees at Camp Pendleton, Calif., to run welcome home events at the naval hospital. They put together gift bags for wounded troops and their families. They helped families who couldn’t afford to stay with their wounded servicemembers. They raised money to buy a special van for a Marine lance corporal who had been paralyzed from the neck down.

The war stretched on. The needs increased. Their organization grew.

This week, the group that Guenther started, the Semper Fi Fund, announced that it has passed a remarkable milestone. In less than seven years since the group officially launched in late 2004, they have raised and given away more than $50 million to wounded servicemembers and their families.

“We started with just $500,” Guenther said Wednesday. “My first book was ‘Nonprofits for Dummies.’ We taught ourselves. It’s amazing. ... We never envisioned a big nonprofit. We were just helping those right in front of us.”

The Semper Fi Fund helps wounded servicemembers and families with immediate financial needs, along with ongoing things like home modifications, specialized transportation such as the Marine’s van, and other equipment.

The group got a double dose of cash and publicity earlier this year when former TV host Bob Barker donated $2 million to its efforts.

“We put it to good use,” Guenther said, but added that most of the group’s donations are much smaller.

Take out a handful of big gifts such as Barker’s, she said, and the average donation is $35.

The Semper Fi Fund has about 120 volunteers around the world, most of them military spouses, who process 45 requests each day to help wounded military veterans and their families. The fund focuses on Marines and members of the other services who were wounded while attached to Marine units.

While building the organization, Guenther continued to live the life of a military spouse. She and her husband, Lt. Col. Glenn Guenther, who is currently assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, moved five times in the first seven years of the organization’s existence, she said.

Boing Boing: Young Republican National Federation President under ...

Young Republican National Federation President under investigation for sexual assault on sleeping man
Continuing our coverage of criminal Republican blowjobs this week, Glenn Murphy Jr., chairman of the Clark County Republican Party and president elect of the Young Republican National Federation resigned after news leaked that he is under investigation by the the Clark County Sheriff’s Department for "criminal deviate conduct," a felony. Basically, he is accused of giving a blowjob to a sleeping man who woke up and did not approve of what was taking place. Mr. Murphy insists the blowjob that he provided to the unnamed man was "consensual." [A] 22-year-old man who claimed that on July 31, Murphy performed an unwanted sex act on him while the man slept in a relative’s Jeffersonville home.

Murphy, a 33-year-old Utica resident, has not been arrested nor has he been charged with a crime. A copy of the police report has been posted on an politically focused Internet site and another was provided to a reporter with The Evening News and The Tribune on Tuesday evening.

Larry Wilder, Murphy’s attorney, said Murphy is cooperating with police and Prosecutor Steve Stewart. Wilder said Murphy contends the sex act was consensual.

In 1998, a 21-year-old male filed a similar report with Clarksville police claiming Murphy attempted to perform a sex act on him while he was sleeping. Charges were never filed in that case.

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