News

Miller to be honored for 'greatest fundraising story' WNC has ever known

Jeff Miller

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 13, 2023

Explaining why it chose this year’s Summit Award winner, the Western North Carolina Association of Fundraising Professionals made it simple.

“The greatest fundraising story in the history of Western North Carolina is not known well enough,” the organization said. “Jeff Miller, a businessman from Hendersonville, pioneered a national movement that has affected millions of people.”

Here is the association member Alex Comfort’s account of the conception, execution and lasting legacy of Miller’s achievement:

After the World War II Memorial was created in 2004 due to the herculean efforts of Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole and Fred Smith of FedEx, a physician’s assistant in Ohio named Earl Morse realized that few WWII veterans were visiting it. He and his father, both pilots, began flying veterans to see it in their small planes.

Miller heard of the efforts and conceived a plan to expand the idea. After a phone call with Earl and planning to work together, Jeff and his family and friends began to raise money to charter full flights to Washington, D.C. On Sept. 23 and 24, 2006, they flew two commercial-sized flights full of veterans to the WWII memorial, and “HonorAir” was launched. Earl Morse from Ohio also attended.

The plan was to ask airline companies and other vendors for no charitable “freebies”— just to offer their best price. All veterans flew for free. Physicians and guides for each 3 to 4 veterans all paid $300 to $400 for their own seat. (EMT’s and media were allowed to fly for free). The experience included a hero’s welcome at Washington National Airport, visits to the WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials, as well as other stops. Then the veterans returned home to a thunderous welcome at the Asheville Regional Airport. The sizes of the crowds meeting them varied from 800 to 2,000, but there were always cheering people, bands and media to welcome them.

Miller engaged many of his friends who were in the Hendersonville Rotary Club to help him, and this led to Rotarians all throughout North Carolina and all across the country to help. So far, the Hendersonville contingent has sent six flights to Washington, and Asheville and the Buncombe County region (mainly through the Rotary Club of Asheville) has sent 13. (Another is scheduled for late October, 2023).

In the early days the rental of the plane and crew, police escorts in D.C., food and equipment totaled $60,000. Now the total price is $90,000 per flight. Jeff and his volunteers in our region have now sent almost 3,800 veterans to D.C. This figure includes flights from Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Greenville. My approximate calculations of the money raised in this region since 2006 is $2,400,000.

Additionally, Jeff and his volunteers now offer a monthly breakfast for all veterans, whether they have made the trip or not, and also a monthly dinner. This, too, is at no cost to the veterans. Also, Jeff and his volunteers have helped the ABCCM Veteran’s Quarters (250 men) and Transformation Village (75 women) by supplying all their linens, towels and Christmas presents since 2010.

However, all this just scratches the surface. In February of 2007, Jeff, Earl and others created the Honor Flight national network. After the ABC Evening News and CBS Sunday Morning News (chiefly through the work of CBS reporter Bill Guice) featured the success of the flights, the national network took off. Retired Air Force Col. F. Hank Johnson, of the Hendersonville Rotary Club, wrote “HonorAir for Dummies” as a guide, and there now are 122 Honor Flight hubs in the United States. It is estimated that 300,000 veterans have now participated for free. Many thousands of WWII veterans have been to Washington as well as many from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. My personal calculation for the amount raised is well over $25 million. West coast flights, for example, are much more expensive for the planes, fuel, and overnight accommodations. Sites within driving distance take buses. So the total amount raised is difficult to assess.

All of this success, I believe, is due to Jeff Miller’s vision, his friends, and his determination to do this absolutely correctly. As of this date flights continue around the country. Most of those now flying are Vietnam War veterans, and these folks absolutely need the honor and recognition.

One of the most special parts of this experience is that Bob Dole and Jeff Miller met by accident early on when Jeff went to see the WWII Memorial at twilight in 2007. Across the way he saw Bob Dole by himself. He screwed up his courage, introduced himself, and told him what he was doing. Bob asked: “Are you the guy who is sending all these veterans in these tee shirts up here”? Miller laughed and said he was just a part of it, and Dole said he wanted to be there every time, meeting each veteran and having an individual picture taken with each WWII veteran. (One day there were 2,000 veterans attending from all over the country and Dole was convinced to take two veterans for each picture for purposes of saving time)! And it happened just that way until Senator Dole was not physically able to continue. The two became fast friends, and Jeff flew to Washington many times to do various things with Senator Dole. They recruited talent like Clint Eastwood and Gary Sinese, and General Colin Powell frequently stood in for Senator Dole when he was unable to attend.

Among many awards Jeff Miller has received include the Presidential Citizen’s Medal (the second highest award a civilian can receive) from President George W. Bush, presented in the Oval Office in 2008, and the Outstanding Civilian Service Award, presented by U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley in October of 2018.

It is high time that we present Jeff Miller our highest award for his vision to honor veterans. All his accomplishments lean on his incredible ability to tell the story and to raise the funding to honor our most distinguished military veterans.

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Alex Comfort is a veteran fundraising consultant in WNC and a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. During its annual luncheon on Wednedsday, National Philanthropy Day, at the Renaissance Hotel in Asheville the association will present six awards, topped by the Summit Award.