Jack Daniel's "Operation Ride Home": Helping Reunite Service Members and Families for the Holidays

LYNCHBURG, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

For the second year in a row, the Jack Daniel Distillery will donate more than $100,000 to help service members and their families travel from bases to homes across the U.S. through “Operation Ride Home” this holiday season.

And as with last year's effort, the famed distillery will be asking its friends to visit www.jdoperationridehome.com and contribute what they can to help in the campaign. Through travel vouchers for plane tickets and pre-paid debit cards for gas, lodging and food, the distillery hopes to surpass the overwhelming success of last year's effort that helped send 721 Fort Campbell soldiers and their families home last year. In addition to Jack Daniel's contribution, more than $24,000 was collected from the general public through the donation site.

Increasing the national effort, Jack Daniel's also announced its partnership with the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) of the USA – a top-rated military charity that makes military life easier for junior enlisted military families nationwide. The Armed Services YMCA will partner actively with military commands and committed volunteers to identify those service members and families in most need of financial assistance and to assist them with travel.

“There is nothing like being home for the holidays, and we hope that Operation Ride Home this year will generate an outpouring of support to help those junior enlisted soldiers and their families make it to see their loved ones,” said Jennifer Powell, Senior Brand Manager for Jack Daniel's. “We saw the success of the campaign last year and particularly how it provided a mechanism for folks to give just a bit, that when added up with other contributions, made a tremendous difference in these families' lives. We want to do even more this year.”

“The Armed Services YMCA is proud to partner with the Jack Daniel's Distillery for their second annual Operation Ride Home campaign to reunite deserving military with their families for the holidays,” said Capt. Mike Landers USN (Ret), CEO of the ASYMCA. “Last year, in partnership with the Fort Campbell ASYMCA, 721 Soldiers and family members were given the opportunity to travel home and be with family for Christmas. Thanks to the generosity of Jack Daniel's and their friends, we will be able to make military life easier for even more military families this coming holiday season.”

Country music star and 10-year Army veteran Craig Morgan will serve as national spokesperson for the campaign in an effort to help spread the word about the financial strain so many of the junior enlisted service members and their families are under during the holiday season.

“Having been there, I know that empty feeling in your gut when you want to travel from your base home for the holidays but just don't have the money to do it,” Morgan said. “There are so many of these heroes who have served multiple deployments overseas and haven't seen their families for years. Our nation's military does a wonderful job getting them back to their bases, but it's just not home.”

Through Operation Ride Home, identified junior enlisted (E-4 and below) single service members, military families, and families of deployed who might not otherwise have the funds or opportunity to travel home, will be eligible to receive vouchers and financial assistance for travel by air or vehicle, depending on the distance of their family homes from their current base or installation. An average of $300 travel vouchers per family member for flights and pre-paid debit cards of $100 for each service member and their family who are driving home will be made available through the ORH campaign.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please visit www.jdoperationridehomemedia.com for hi-res photos and broadcast quality video of the ORH campaign.

About Jack Daniel's

Officially registered by the U.S. Government in 1866 and based in Lynchburg, Tenn., the Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, proprietor, is the oldest registered distillery in the United States and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Jack Daniel's is the maker of the world-famous Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey-Based Ready-to-Drink Beverages and Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails.

Jack Daniel's Encourages Its Friends to Drink Responsibly

About the Armed Services YMCA

The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) provides no and low-cost programs to make military life easier for nearly 500,000 active-duty enlisted military and their families each year at 33 branches and affiliates nationwide. Innovative, direct services are tailored to the needs of local military installations nationwide with the help of 18,000 volunteers in addition to community and military support. The Armed Services YMCA was rated in the top 3% of charities nationwide by Charity Navigator in 2011. The ASYMCA does not receive government funding, and does not charge dues or membership fees for their programs. Your tax deductible donation (Tax ID #36-3274346) to the ASYMCA, a top-rated non-profit, will make a significant difference in the lives of young military service members and their families.

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