Established in 2015, the MA FRENCH Foundation was created to facilitate visually impaired combat wounded veterans, veterans and civilians with hunting and shooting sports.
The Foundation, named after Michael Andrew French (21APR1946 -04DEC2013), provides the French Visually Impaired Sighting System (VISS) for those going through difficult stages of their lives, either by introducing or reconnecting them with the hunting and shooting heritage.
VISS is now officially patented by the US Patent Office! Here’s a link to our official patent
In addition to the VISS, any finances remaining in the MA FRENCH Foundation account at the end of the fiscal year, are divided and sent to four key, non-profit organizations that were instrumental in many combat wounded soldiers’ physical, mental and emotional recovery.
These include:
- Sportsman’s Foundation for Military Families (http://www.huntforvets.com/)
- Alaska’s Healing Hearts (http://www.alaskashealinghearts.com/)
- Wounded Warriors In Action Foundation (http://wwiaf.org/)
- Military Warriors Support Foundation (https://militarywarriors.org/).
While there are many great military support organizations out there, the MA FRENCH Foundation fully supports and endorses these four outstanding organizations from past experiences. Donations to these organizations enable combat wounded veterans experiences in the great outdoors. They do A LOT for the soldiers and their families.
It should be noted that the MA FRENCH Foundation is not a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. After lengthy discussions with both lawyers and accountants, there are many financial restraints placed on 501(c)(3) organizations. These restraints can prohibit assistance to the very people that the Foundation is dedicated to help. For example, if a Foundation representative accompanies a combat wounded veteran on a hunt and that veteran doesn’t have the financial means to purchase a cooler or pay for shipping costs for his/her meat to be sent back home -the Foundation’s “for profit” status allows us to pick up those costs.
Representatives and workers of the MA FRENCH Foundation do not receive a salary for their work. All work performed is strictly voluntary. Donated funds, materials and support (ie. Scopes, scope mounts, bases, rings, VISS parts, machining and powder coating, etc.) go entirely to supporting the production and distribution of the VISS sights, additional VISS development, as well as helping provide outdoor opportunities to those members of the US Armed Forces and public servants, that have been wounded serving this great nation.