10 Vintage Photographs of Snowflakes

If for some reason you didn't believe no two snowflakes were alike, here's your proof.
In 1885, Wilson A. Bentley successfully photographed over 5,000 snowflakes by attaching a camera to a microscope (and in turn honing the field of Photomicrography). His photographs supported his and others' beliefs that all snowflakes were unique.
[More from Mashable: 20+ Online Resources for Planning a Winter Getaway]
Bentley become fascinated with snow as a child on a Vermont farm. He later spent time experimenting with ways to view individual snowflakes and their crystalline structure, which eventually came in handy when he had to be quick enough to capture a flake in a picture before it melted.
SEE ALSO: DIY a Hoth Winter Wonderland With Star Wars Snowflakes
These photographs quickly became popular with dozens of scientists who studied Bentley's work and published the images in several scientific magazines. In 1903, Bentley sent about 500 of his photographs to the Smithsonian, hoping they would be of interest to Secretary Samuel P. Langley.
The Smithsonian now has his vintage pics on display, undeniably proveing that snow is just so, so pretty.

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WSJ says Hostess in talks to sell bread brands

NEW YORK (AP) — The makers of Thomas' English muffins and Tastykake snacks are emerging as the two of the bidders for Wonder Bread and other Hostess bread brands as the company tries to sell off its assets under bankruptcy-court oversight, a newspaper reported Saturday.
The Wall Street Journal said Hostess Brands Inc. could reveal as early as next week that Flowers Foods Inc. and Grupo Bimbo SAB are in discussions to acquire the bread brands, which also include Nature's Pride. The report said the brands could command $350 million.
Grupo Bimbo's brands include Arnold breads, Thomas' English muffins and Entenmann's cakes. Flowers Foods Inc.'s brands include Nature's Own breads and Tastykake snacks.
Hostess sells Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, along with Dolly Madison cakes, which includes Coffee Cakes and Zingers. Hostess also sells Devil Dogs, Funny Bones, and Yodels under the Drake's brand.
Hostess, which is based in Irving, Texas, announced in November that it was shutting down its business and selling its bread, snacks and cakes brands along with its 33 bakeries and other operations.
The company's demise came after years of management turmoil and turnover. Workers said the company failed to invest in updating its snack cakes and breads. Hostess filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a decade last year, citing steep costs associated with its unionized workforce.
The company was able to reach a new contract agreement with its largest union, the Teamsters, but the bakers union rejected the terms and went on strike Nov. 9. A week later, Hostess announced its plans to liquidate, saying the strike crippled its ability to maintain normal production. In 2011, the company's revenue was $2.5 billion.
Hostess declined to comment, as did Grupo Bimbo's U.S. division, Bimbo Bakeries USA. Bimbo's parent company is headquartered in Mexico. A message left with Flowers Foods, which is based in Thomasville, Ga., was not immediately returned.
Hostess said in bankruptcy court proceedings in December that it was narrowing down the bids it had received and that it expects to sell off its snack cakes and bread brands to different buyers.
Hostess said in December that it expects to file binding bids for many of its brands this month, followed by a four-week auction process to allow competing bids. Closings for many brands could come as soon as mid-March, according to Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners, which is advising Hostess.
An attorney for Hostess said in court in December that 1,100 employees had been retained to shut down plants and perform other tasks as it winds down its operations. The liquidation of the company will ultimately mean the loss of 18,000 jobs, not including those shed in the years leading to the company's failure.

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NYC iPhone owner tricks thief using dating app

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City musician used a combination of technology, seduction, a hammer and a bribe to reclaim his missing iPhone from a confused crook.
Jazz trombonist Nadav Nirenberg (nah-DAHV' NEE'-run-berg) says he left the phone in a livery cab on New Year's Eve. The next morning, the 27-year-old learned via email that someone was sending messages to women using a dating app on the phone.
Nirenberg logged on to the service and offered the man a date — posing as a woman. He even posted a picture of a pretty girl.
When the culprit arrived at Nirenberg's Brooklyn apartment building with wine, the musician greeted him with a $20 bill while holding a hammer — just in case.
The thief handed him the iPhone and left without a word.

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4 reasons the government won't mint a trillion-dollar coin to prevent a debt-ceiling crisis

The bizarre gimmick is being discussed — seriously, by some — as a way for the government to keep paying its bills without a fight over raising the borrowing limit
With an epic fight looming over raising the debt ceiling, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and others are reviving a quirky old idea to keep the government from defaulting on its debt: Mint a trillion-dollar coin (or two), deposit it in the Treasury, and use it to pay the bills without having to push the borrowing limit above the current $16.4 trillion. "I'm being absolutely serious," Nadler told Capital New York's Reid Pilifant. "It sounds silly but it's absolutely legal." Actually, not everyone agrees. Here, four reasons the magic coin solution will never happen:
1. It's pretty much illegal
The idea of "minting a $1 trillion platinum coin is getting some blogospheric love" because, technically, the Treasury Department has the authority to make platinum coins with any value it chooses, says Kevin Drum at Mother Jones. There's one teensy problem: "This is ridiculous." The law permitting Treasury to mint platinum coins was pretty clearly intended to apply to bullion and commemorative platinum coins for collectors. "There is, apparently, a widespread belief that courts will uphold a literal, hypertechnical reading of legislative language regardless of its obvious intent, but I'm quite certain this isn't true."
SEE MORE: After conservative revolt, the House clears fiscal-cliff deal
2. It would make the U.S. a laughingstock
"Obviously, this is a gimmick, and no way for a 21st century superpower to deal with its finances," says Steve Benen at MSNBC. Resorting to a cockamamie scheme such as this would turn us into the butt of jokes told around the world. Of course, the fact that people are managing to talk about trillion-dollar coins with a straight face only shows how much "radicalized congressional Republicans" have already raised questions about our creditworthiness and turned our finances into a punch line by "refusing to allow a debt-ceiling increase to pay for spending" Congress has already approved.
3. It would not solve the real problem
Even if President Obama resorts to such an unorthodox move, says Josh Barro at Bloomberg, it won't fix anything. He should only do it if he also promises to issue bonds as soon as Congress allows it so he can buy back any new currency. Then he should push for "a bill revoking his authority to issue platinum coins — so long as that bill also abolishes the debt ceiling," which is the root of the problem. "The executive branch will give up its unwarranted power to print if the legislative branch will give up its unwarranted restriction on borrowing to cover already appropriated obligations."
SEE MORE: The fiscal cliff deal: A big win for President Obama?
4. A trick like this would make fiscal conservatives madder than ever
"Of course, this is not going to happen. Creating money out of thin air is hardly a solution," says Charles Riley at CNNMoney. "It could lead to even more concerns from those worried about inflation." An even more dangerous consequence would be that the many critics already railing about the Federal Reserve's monetary easing programs would be "apoplectic" if the Treasury Department "trumped" Ben Bernanke and literally minted a trillion bucks to pay the bills.

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Congress finally passes scaled-back Hurricane Sandy aid bill

John Boehner got a lot of grief from his own party for stalling the legislation
The House on Friday voted, 354-67, to pass legislation that would provide the National Flood Insurance Program with $9.7 billion to pay out flood claims stemming from Hurricane Sandy. The Senate passed the bill hours later, ending, for now at least, a drama that saw House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) publicly put through a wood-chipper by members of his own party for tabling a $60 billion version of the legislation passed by the Senate.
Boehner decision to spike the larger bill came shortly after the House passed the fiscal-cliff deal that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans — a bitter pill to swallow for many in his caucus. Boehner reportedly concluded that he would have a bloody rebellion on his hands if he followed the tax hike with a bill asking for $60 billion in new spending, particularly since some House GOP members had demanded that the emergency aid be offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget. Boehner and his cohort were consequently lambasted by Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who blamed the hold-up on the "toxic internal politics of the House majority."
And the controversy won't end with this latest bill passage. The House still has to consider an additional $50 billion in requested aid that was included in the original Senate bill. "Today was just a down payment," Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a statement, "and it is now time to go even further and pass the final and more complete, clean disaster aid bill." It remains to be seen whether Boehner can get his unruly caucus to go along. Many House Republicans claim that the aid bill is stuffed with unrelated pork.
The $9.7 billion aid package passed today could also bring a future political fallout. All 67 naysayers were Republicans, the most prominent of whom was Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisc.), widely considered to be a possible contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. "In a time of crisis, we must ensure that every dollar we spend is on those who need it," Ryan said in a statement. "President Obama and Congress owe the people of New York and New Jersey better."

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The daily gossip: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez break up again, and more

5 top pieces of celebrity gossip — from George Lucas' upcoming nuptials to Tom Selleck's proposed continuation of the Three Men and a Baby franchise
1. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez break up again
Congratulations, Beliebers: Justin Bieber is reportedly back on the market, after his seventh or eighth breakup with Selena Gomez over the past two months. (We've officially lost track.) The star-crossed lovers reportedly split again shortly before New Year's Eve, which they had originally planned to spend together in Mexico. "They keep breaking up and getting back together. It's an on-again, off-again relationship," says a source at the New York Daily News, describing at least 70 percent of teenage couples.
2. George Lucas is engaged
All is not tragic in the world of celebrity relationships: The Associated Press reports that a short time ago, George Lucas proposed to longtime girlfriend Mellody Hobson, who agreed to marry Lucas even though he's responsible for both Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks. Star Wars fans can presumably look forward to a re-edited, re-mastered cut of the couple's wedding tape using the latest state-of-the-art technology sometime in 2043.
3. Hulk Hogan refiles lawsuit over sex tape, reminding everyone that he was in a sex tape
If you'd finally managed to forget that a sex tape starring former wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan was leaked in October, Hulk Hogan is here to remind you. After dropping his lawsuit against Gawker, which originally posted a clip from the tape, TMZ reports that Hulkamaniac has refiled the case — perhaps because he couldn't convince them to settle it in the ring.
4. Nicki Minaj is still worried about being cool
You might think that earning a Platinum record and also setting a record for consecutive singles on the Billboard 200 would settle any questions about whether a person is "cool" — but in the case of Nicki Minaj, you'd be wrong. "Sometimes you are afraid of being too famous because it's almost, like, is that even cool?" said Minaj, explaining her reluctant decision to become an American Idol judge, in an interview at The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm still surprised that I decided to do it." Minaj's reported $12 million paycheck may have been a tiny motivating factor.

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HISTORY MEETS FIREARMS

HISTORY MEETS FIREARMS
Barack Obama's determination to enact a gun control measure in the wake of the Connecticut shootings could transform his place in history.
Success, which is anything but assured, given the lobbies arrayed against him and the many failures of such measures, could upend more than two centuries of American tradition. It also could boost the president into the pantheon of liberal presidents, placing him beside Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson as the principal progressives in modern American history.
This may seem discordant with the prevailing view of Obama as a reluctant warrior, a halting leader, an eager compromiser whose opponents are more vocal and more committed than he or his supporters. And on the surface, Obama's accomplishments may seem to pale next to those of FDR and LBJ, both of whom passed multiple pieces of major legislation and whose programmatic principles fit neatly under the two-word thematic umbrellas of the New Deal and the Great Society.
Obama lacks such an overarching template, and his signature achievements -- overhauls of health care and financial services to accompany a potential victory on gun control -- would be more modest in number than those of Roosevelt (scores of alphabet-soup initiatives in just a hundred days, not to mention the Second New Deal) and Johnson (a war on poverty, housing programs, grand civil rights victories and sprawling educational enterprises).
All that is true. But with a victory on guns Obama would deserve an exalted place not because he could match those who came before him program for program or initiative for initiative but because, unlike them, he would have achieved major liberal goals that had eluded his predecessors for generations.
The first, of course, is a comprehensive overhaul of the health care system, which accounts for about one-seventh of the economy, arguably affecting more Americans more deeply than any measure promoted by any president ever.
This is not liberal propaganda, for if you listen to conservatives you will hear the identical argument made with regret: that Obamacare and Dodd-Frank are massive intrusions of government interference in the economy with little if any precedent. If that argument can be made persuasively by conservatives, and you can hear it almost daily on talk radio, then it can be made by liberals to elevate Obama among progressive presidents.
A victory on gun control would similarly set off an earthquake across the American political landscape.
Curtailing the availability of weapons has been a liberal goal since the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, with a few conservatives, including former White House press secretary James Brady, joining the effort after the 1981 attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan. What Obama almost certainly will propose will be more far-reaching than any proposal on this subject by any previous president, and if he prevails he will have succeeded where other chief executives with liberal leanings, including Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, have failed.
Although liberals would be reluctant to agree, a victory on gun control also would be a profound departure in American progressive history.
The story of American liberalism is the accumulation of rights. The nation began with brave Enlightenment-era talk about the rights of man, but that very phrase, part of the vocabulary of the late 18th century and the title of a Thomas Paine manifesto, specifically omitted half the population and, because of the presence of slavery in the new nation (and the decision to count slaves as three-fifths of a person), delegated these vaunted rights to a distinct minority of people who thought they lived in a land consecrated by majority rule.
The glory of American liberalism has been the extension of rights to those who did not own property, to those who were not male, to those who were not white, to those who were not straight.
But a major gun control victory for Obama -- awarded an "F" by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence after signing 2009 legislation permitting people to carry concealed weapons in national parks -- would be the first significant abrogation of American rights in our history.
Prohibition does not count; the 18th amendment did not curtail what had been a constitutionally protected right. Limiting gun rights, as NRA members argue, would do so.
Obama's higher status would reflect his success in redeeming long-sought liberal measures. Though he would have only a few legislative achievements to his credit -- plus nudging same-sex marriage toward the mainstream -- the decades-long resistance to his initiatives would give them special standing.
Most of Roosevelt's accomplishments, which include the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Wagner Act, the Works Progress Administration and others, were emergency responses to the Great Depression, not measures longed for by liberals for decades. Obama's health care overhaul is arguably as profound an element of the American social contract as FDR's Social Security Act of 1935 (and LBJ's Medicare legislation of 1965). Roosevelt's legislation creating the National Recovery Administration was struck down by the Supreme Court, while Obama's health care legislation was upheld.
By the same token, many of Johnson's Great Society initiatives grew out a sense that a nation as prosperous as mid-1960s America ought to share its bounty with the aged, hungry, poor and striving. Indeed, aside from civil rights, most of the Great Society projects were quickly conceived, not long-thwarted.
Obama has stirred bitter opposition from conservatives and bitter disappointment from liberals. Though conservatives believe he personifies unbounded liberalism, many of his putative allies believe he hasn't pushed hard or far enough. If a major gun control measure is signed into law, history will argue otherwise.

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REPUBLICANS' FISCAL RESTRAINT IS MOSTLY IN THEIR HEADS

Thanks to an ultraconservative congressional faction, many Americans now view the Republican Party as extremist, petty and irresponsible. You need look no further than the ridiculous, drawn-out drama over the so-called fiscal cliff to see the GOP's inability to negotiate reality.
But while its brand is badly damaged, the Republican Party has managed to keep alive its mystique as the party of fiscal restraint. Shortly before the election, a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that, by a margin of 51 percent to 43 percent, Americans believed Mitt Romney would do a better job on the deficit than President Obama. That's in keeping with years' worth of public opinion that gives Republicans credit for fiscal conservatism.
But it's flat-out wrong. That's just a convenient myth that Republicans have sold the taxpayers -- a clever bit of marketing that covers a multitude of sins. There is nothing in the GOP's record over the last two decades showing it to be a party that is sincere about balancing the budget, ferreting out waste or reining in excessive government spending. Indeed, it's a big lie.
Just look back at the presidency of George W. Bush -- eight years of red ink that Republicans would like for you to forget. First, Bush pushed through the tax cuts that ruined the balanced budgets Bill Clinton had enacted. Then, he proceeded to prosecute two wars and enact a huge new entitlement: the Medicare prescription drug plan. In response to concerns about spending from then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Dick Cheney reportedly said, "You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter."
Here's what Republicans and their base believe in: cutting spending for programs that benefit the poor, the darker-skinned, the sciences. They want to stop the flow of government funds to the arts. They want to fire bureaucrats who prevent businesses from harming their customers with poisons and bad products.
But the GOP doesn't really want to end big government, nor does it really care about balancing the budget. If it did, wouldn't its members be ready to tackle the Pentagon? As we wind down a decade of war, isn't this an excellent time to cut back on hyper-expensive weaponry? Can't we stop feeding the military-industrial complex?
Instead, House Republicans have done everything they can think of to protect current rates of military spending. Mitt Romney, for his part, campaigned on a promise to build more warships. Please remember that the Pentagon accounts for about 30 percent of federal spending.
Then there are those pesky retirement programs -- Social Security and Medicare. House Republicans supported Paul Ryan's plan to change Medicare to a voucher program, but they did so knowing that it would never see the light of day. If they were so proud of it, why didn't Ryan campaign on it when he was Romney's running mate?
Instead, the Romney-Ryan team denounced Obama for making cuts to Medicare. The party that claims the mantle of fiscal responsibility shamelessly pandered to its aging base by blaming Obama for trying to rein in one of the costliest government programs.
Democrats have their own soul-searching ahead on Social Security and Medicare, which cannot be sustained without tax increases, benefit cuts or a combination of the two. (Let me rush to say here that Social Security is a much easier fix. Just hike the payroll tax for people earning more than $114,000 a year.) Medicare costs, especially, are growing at an alarming rate as baby boomers retire.
Still, tea partyers -- the core of support for arch-conservatives in Congress -- aren't keen on cutting Medicare, polls show. Many of them seem to believe that cutting spending means only cutting that which goes to other people, not to them. Indeed, political science research shows a sharp racial edge underlying those sentiments, with racially resentful whites likely to favor cuts to programs, such as Head Start, which they associate with the "undeserving" poor.
After winning the gavel as House speaker again last week, John Boehner said the "American dream is in peril" because of debt and pledged to reduce it. As another budget brawl nears -- a debt-ceiling fight will be upon us in a couple of months -- you'll hear Republicans frequently claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility.
There is no reason to believe them.

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1099-R Electronic Filing and Laser Printing Software Released by W2Mate.com

Real Business Solutions (W2Mate.com) simplifies 1099 retirement information reporting for customers nationwide with new software for 1099-R electronic filing and laser printing. Immediate free trial download at http://www.W2Mate.com/.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
In response to customer needs, Real Business Solutions (W2Mate.com) is introducing new software solutions aimed at helping business filers simplify 1099 reporting and electronic filing. In line with the company’s customer-inspired-solutions vision, Real Business Solutions is unveiling W2 Mate 2012, a comprehensive W2 and 1099 processing software that will allow companies to create, print and e-file 1099 forms in-house at a fraction of the cost of outsourcing. W2 Mate 2012 provides compliance tools for paper and electronic filing of federal and state 1099, W-2 and series forms including 1099-R, W2, 1099-MISC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, W-3, 1096, 1099-S, 1098-T, 1098, 1099-A, 1099-B, 1099-C, 1099-K, 1099-PATR and 1099-OID.
Free 1099-R electronic filing and laser printing software trial available for immediate download from http://www.W2Mate.com/ or by calling 800-507-1992.
In the past, only larger companies could afford an advanced 1099 R processing software system to manage 1099-R printing and electronic filing process. With 2012 / 2013 W2 Mate, any business can gain full-scale 1099 reporting management tools featuring state of the art integration with leading accounting and tax applications including Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Peachtree and Sage DacEasy.
In a statement Nancy Walters, W2 Mate product manager at Real Business Solutions said, "The 1099-R filing module inside W2 Mate software arrives as the professional 1099 R tool essential to business and tax professional in the 2012 / 2013 tax season."
According to 2012 IRS regulations, penalties may be assessed for failure to file correct information returns (1099, 1098 and other similar tax forms) by the due date, without reasonable cause. This includes Form 1099-R. The penalty may also apply if the filer shows incomplete or incorrect information, or files on paper when required to file electronically. Businesses and accounting professionals required to process IRS Form 1099-R this year can rely on W2 Mate for all their 2012 / 2013 filing needs.
W2 Mate is the perfect software program for business filers looking for answers to questions like how to make 1099-R forms, how to file 2012 form 1099 R electronically, how to report 1099 information to the state of Nebraska, how to process 1099-R using QuickBooks and Peachtree, how to print out 2012 1099 tax forms on a computer and many other similar questions.
If the 1099-R information to-be-filed resides inside Intuit QuickBooks (QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Enterprise, QuickBooks Premier), Microsoft Dynamics (GP or SL), Sage Peachtree, Sage DacEasy or Excel, then W2 Mate is definitely the right solution for the job. W2 Mate has a unique mechanism for importing data from different accounting and payroll software to allow users print a wide range of w2 and 1099 forms.
1099 Efiling is mandatory for those payors /filers with 250 or more forms. 1099 forms may be e‑filed by using the IRS FIRE System on or before March 31st of the year following the reporting period. The 1099 electronic processing module that ships with W2 Mate provides the capabilities for E-Filing the following forms with the government: W2, 1099-MISC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-K, 1099-R, W-3, 1096, 1099-S, 1098-T, 1098, 1099-A, 1099-B, 1099-C, 1099-PATR and 1099-OID.
W2 Mate Software Highlights:

Prepares unlimited number of 2012 1099 and W-2 tax forms for multiple employers and payers.
Fills in pre-printed 1099 Copy-A forms and prints other 1099 copies such as recipient and payer copies on plain paper using black ink.
E-files 2012 W2s and 1099s with the SSA and IRS (no limitations on the number of tax forms or submissions).
Generates ready-to-email 2012 W-2 forms and 1099 forms. Which eliminates the need to print and email W2s and 1099s.
SSA-approved to print W2 and W3 forms on regular paper including government copies.
Data import from Sage Peachtree, MS Dynamics, Great Plains, Intuit QuickBooks, Sage DacEasy, Excel and CSV.
Efficient and intuitive manual W2 / 1099 data entry.
Supports 1099MISC, 1099K, 1099INT, 1099DIV, 1099R, W2, W3, 1096, 1099S, 1098T, 1098, 1099A, 1099B, 1099C, 1099PATR, 1099OID.
Automatically calculates Social Security and Medicare taxes. For paper filers 1096 and W3 are automatically generated.
Supports Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 or Windows 98.
Roll-over of payer and recipient information from year to year.
Password protection and data validation.
Generates printing labels, form totals and recipient lists.
Prompt, courteous and reliable U.S.-based support through phone, chat or e-mail.
Network ready with affordable pricing for multiple seats.
Exports W2s and 1099s to excel.
Meets IRS and SSA regulations.
TIN matching and verification including reports for missing TINs and TIN matching errors.
Secure and reliable.
Completes 1099 forms electronically.
Complete W2 preparation software.
Includes 2012 form 1099 instructions.
A free 2012 1099 R electronic filing software solution evaluation can be downloaded from http://www.W2Mate.com. Customers can purchase the software and receive it instantly.
About Real Business Solutions: Established in 2003, Real Business Solutions is an industry leader in providing payroll software for small business, IRS 10 99 printing programs and W2 form software for 2013, 2012, 2011 and before. Real Business Solutions products are used by thousands of businesses, tax professionals, non-profit organization, and government agencies all across America. The Company's mission has been to provide powerful and great value software solutions coupled with high quality customer service.

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Altria Continues Their Commitment to Nonprofit, Hope For The Warriors

Donations to Community Outreach Program with Hope For The Warriors will Focus on the Integration of Military Families into Communities

RICHMOND, VA (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
Altria Group, located in Richmond, VA, has once again made a commitment to the needs of military families through a $75,000 donation to Hope For The Warriors®. Their donation will benefit the nonprofit’s Community Outreach Program. Hope For The Warriors® is a national nonprofit organization that assists combat wounded service members, their families, and families of the fallen.
The Community Outreach Program engages the military family by providing person-centered planning, utilizing a network of programs within Hope For The Warriors® as well as programs supported by the military, government, community and other nonprofits. Additional, Community Outreach educates communities nationwide of the challenges and needs of wounded service members and their families.
The Community Outreach Program is just one of 11 programs supported by Hope For The Warriors® in their aim to restore self, family and hope for wounded service members and their families.
“Hope For The Warriors® is extremely thankful to Altria for their continued support to our organization and to all wounded service members,” Robin Kelleher, Hope For The Warriors® President said. “Altria has made it possible for our staff to focus on our programs and improve the lives of our military families.”
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About Altria:

Altria Group is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, and John Middleton. Altria also owns Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Philip Morris Capital Corporation and has a continuing economic and voting interest in SABMiller.    For more information visit http://www.altria.com.
About Hope For The Warriors®:

The mission of Hope For The Warriors® (http://www.hopeforthewarriors.org) is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty. Hope For The Warriors® is dedicated to restoring a sense of self, restoring the family unit, and restoring hope for our service members and our military families.
Hope For The Warriors® has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org), an independent organization that evaluates fiscal responsibility and accountability of nonprofits.
Hope For The Warriors® (Federal Tax ID 20-5182295) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity as defined in sections 509(A)(1) and 170(B)(1)(A)(VI) of the Internal Revenue Code. Combined Federal Campaign, CFC #27800.

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