Northern Indiana Atheists Connects with Veterans for Military Family Month

In Northern Indiana, active duty installations are not prevalent, but there is always a military presence. Guard and reserve installations as well as VA health care are located throughout the region, and veterans have settled in the area after leaving the military. The American General HMMWV production facility is also in northern Indiana. As with many facilities, the local VA Clinic near South Bend has resisted for years placement of humanist materials alongside its prominent Christian displays.

In celebration of Military Family Month, Northern Indiana Atheists (NIA) offered free one-year family memberships for all active duty and prior military members. This is one of many successful programs bring atheist programs to progressive causes, including reproductive choice, black lives matter, and LGBTQ rights. They also sent letters to protest government prayer at a local police station. NIA is the perfect local partner for veteran outreach.

MAAF sponsored over 20 radio advertisements on local NPR station 88.1 WVPE, including during Science Friday. The campaign brought 29 new members to the local group, mostly from the Army.

Building a community of atheists and our allies is an important aspect of what NIA does. And fostering the shared community service interests of our members has been some of the most rewarding work we’ve done. Two exciting projects we have coming up are building and installing our Little Freethinker Libraries that will share books in underserved neighborhoods and our Little Free Pantries that will share resources and food. These types of projects are a direct result of building a community of likeminded people with a love for their fellow humans and a passion for serving.

Troy Moss, NIA President

MAAF is looking for other local partners to reach veterans. If your group is doing parades, installation activities, outreach to the VA hospital, or partnership with veterans service organizations, consider applying for a grant from MAAF.