Colorado Trust funds DAV innovation.

With proper funding and planning, innovation often leads to more innovation.

Nowhere within the DAV is this kind of synergy more plainly visible than in The Colorado Trust.

Heralded as a great innovation in providing service to disabled veterans since its creation in 1996, the Trust has kept good ideas blossoming from every possible DAV source.

"It's up to Chapters and Departments to mm innovative ideas into service realities," said National Adjutant Arthur H. Wilson, vice president of the National Service Foundation. "The Colorado Trust is an incredible tool to mold prospects into services."

As a "playing field leveler," the Trust provides Chapters and Departments with excess funds a way use those "rainy day" dollars to help veterans and their families.

Since its creation in 1996, the spirit of sharing the wealth to equally benefit veterans has been the driving factor behind the Trust.

This spirit can be seen in the Trust's support of the Hospital Service Coordinator Program and the introduction of the DAV Transportation Network in areas that could not have provided these services without the Trust. While the need and support for such programs existed in these areas, some Chapters and Departments simply lacked funds to provide services. By sharing funds through The Colorado Trust, all Chapters and Departments are able to better serve veterans and their families.

"The DAV's cause is monumental, but neither one person nor a single act can accomplish our work," Mr. Wilson said. "Rather, it's through teamwork and the daily contributions of our most dedicated members that we can make steady progress.

"This is the guiding principle of The Colorado Trust."

As a restricted fund within the DAV National Service Foundation, the Trust's use is limited to providing service to veterans and their families. Funds from the Trust may be distributed to Chapters and Departments to initiate and support innovative programs where funding assistance is needed. The Foundation can also dispense funds donated to the Trust for use in both the National Service and Voluntary Service Programs of the organization.

Distribution of the funds is handled by an advisory committee, consisting of one elected member from each of the 21 DAV National Districts. Committee members advise and recommend to the Foundation the dispensation of moneys from The Colorado Trust based upon need, appropriate application and verification, and the NSF Board grants final approval.

The Colorado Trust got its name from the inaugural contribution of $500,000 from the DAV Department of Colorado and has been helping to build better lives for veterans for more than six years.

The Colorado Trust also offers Chapters and Departments a unique way to increase their contributions to disabled veterans. Currently, the DAV National Organization matches every dollar donated to the Trust.

The DAV National Bylaws encourage expending excess funds for service (Article 18: Accumulation of Funds). This spirit, engrained in words in the DAV's guiding legislation, is manifested in The Colorado Trust.

"The possibilities that can be achieved by our vast DAV membership are limited only by our imagination," Mr. Wilson said.

For every DAV Chapter and Department, any number of obstacles stand in the way of innovation, including manpower, local interest, and, of course, funding. The Colorado Trust is a tool that can keep these obstacles from hindering the DAV's unyielding effort to build better lives for America's disabled veterans and their families.