Relief fund for the families of the ARA San Juan crew launched

On November the 22nd the Argentine Navy announced the loss of the ARA San Juan. This crowd-sourcing project will help the families with any needs they may have as they grieve their loss.

The ARA San Juan relief fund can be found here: https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/ara-san-juan-relief-fund–2

We understand that 100% of the proceeds will be given to a vetted and reputable charity. The creator of the project will be researching the best charity as long as he can to ensure they are the right fit. An updated fund thread on /r/ submarines will be available for transparency and any questions or concerns you may have.

Please donate what you can. Money, incentives, even just a shoutout or a link to the funding page would be helpful.

We spoke to the project creator who told us about himself and why he’s involved:

“So after 9/11 went down I decided I wanted to help. I joined the navy. I was stationed on the USS Hampton SSN-767 from 03′-08′. I was a conventional (auxiliary) mechanic (Machinist Mate) for the first 4 years then crossrated to Torpedoman for the rest of my tour. I went to the north pole during ICEX 04 along with your HMS Tireless.

I even had a port visit in Plymouth and enjoyed the UK for over a week. We were then sent on a Western Pacific Deployment where we changed homeport to San Diego. I was honourably discharged and started living the normal life. I missed the community of the submarine world so I ended up building one on reddit.com/r/submarines.

Once the San Juan sank we were doing live updates of the tragedy. During that, we realised that the subreddit was being used a source of good information, and brought a lot of people to it. I decided that we needed to do something to help the families. So I used the influence and network I built with the subreddit and twitter to make it happen.

My goal is to help the families with needs. I’m still trying to find out what those needs are. The government provides really good benefits but I’m still unclear what they are. I will be working with the ARRA or some similar credible source to best use the funds.

Here we are. I am currently working with a few different non-profits to figure out a path for the funds. I want to make sure the funds aren’t sent to a corrupt group or someone that is going to skim off the top. I wish I had the logistics lined up beforehand but I knew I had to strike while it was hot to ensure the best outcome. After I get that lined up… it’s clear sailing. “

He also had a request:

“If anyone has any direct connections to any of the families please feel free to message me on reddit /u/KingNeptune767 or Twitter @KingNeptune767. I will also accept Bitcoin and Ethereum donations (Info posted at a later date).”