30 TOBACCO BUSINESS | JULY / AUGUST | 22 ASSOC I AT I ONS : OPERAT I ON : C I GARS FOR WARR I ORS A DECADE OF SERVICE Operation: Cigars for Warriors celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Operation: Cigars For Warriors (CFW) reached a significant milestone on May 12, 2022: 10 years in operation as a charity devoted to deployed military service members. As a Platinum-level certified charity (verified by GuideStar), CFW operates with the highest ethical standards of transparency and accountability. There are many amazing memories and milestones to celebrate over the past decade, but seven in particular stand out: • The first organization to take CFW on as their primary charity. The C.A.T.S. community has brought massive cigar and cash donations, had great raffle prizes donated and has been the primary source for new volunteers for the first five years. Now there are a huge number of clubs and organizations that have CFW as their primary or secondary charity priority. • The first news article covering CFW appeared in Cigar Press, which to this date still sends magazines to CFW for the troops and still donates three pages to the charity. This opened the door to additional earned media opportunities, including magazines and 50-plus podcasts over the last decade that have dramatically improved the charity’s visibility. • The CFW Donation Center Program. Smoker’s Haven in Lubbock, Texas, was the first store that took a chance on CFW, which led to over 600 stores over the years that have joined the CFWcommunity. • The Event Coordinator Program. The first non-founder volunteer that joined the program was SSG Chris Preetorious, who eventually became the charity’s first military liaison director. Preetorious continues to assist at events on a regular basis. • The “millionth cigar shipped” in 2019 - a truly remarkable accomplishment for the charity. As of this writing, CFW is already well on its way to the second million with nearly 1.3 million cigars shipped. • The launch of the Synergy Program, dramatically leveraging the power of the relationships between retailers, manufacturers and the charity to “do good while doing well.” Major successes include collaborations with Hiram & Solomon’s Live2Serve, Caldwell Cigars’ Mad MoFo “Long Live the King,” and most recently The Nubber and Ventura Cigars’ “The Operator.” • 2020 “Charity of the Year” award from Cigar Trophy/Cigar Journal. Despite the dramatic increase in premium cigar sales over the past two years, the restrictions on social gatherings and events have dramatically affected the charity’s ability to operate and collect both monetary and physical donations. As festival season accelerates, CFW asks for your generosity and support in helping us reinvigorate our financial and operational health. Monetary donations and information on how to donate cigars can be found at cigarsforwarriors.org. Additionally, CFW is announcing a formal challenge to share videos and photos of past events as part of a project to capture the most amazing moments of the charity’s history over the prior decade. Post your memories on social media using the hashtag #CFW10YRS or send photos directly to photos@cigarsforwarriors.net. Storm Boen, chairman and CEO of Operation: Cigars forWarriors commented: “Ten years ago, we took on the challenge of serving deployed men and women, providing moments of comfort and relaxation in the midst of incredible hardship. Bonds are forged in the moments of camaraderie that sharing cigars creates. “CFW and our servicemen and women are deeply grateful for the generous donations and tireless efforts of our volunteers, sponsors and partners to support this worthy cause, and we are deeply committed to continuing this mission and expanding our ability to serve.” Operation: Cigars for Warriors is a registered 501(c)3 charity operating nationwide whose mission is to provide premium cigars and cigar accessories to U.S. troops serving in active combat zones. Since 2012, over 1.2 million cigars have been donated to U.S. service members, in addition to coffee, magazines, cigar lighters and cutters. How you can get involved: • Become an official CFW Donation Center: paul.hinman@cigarsforwarriors.net • Become a volunteer: shane.woodmancy@cigarsforwarriors.net • Sponsorship opportunities: trey.boring@cigarsforwarriors.net TB O Photos courtesy of Operation: Cigars for Warriors Nathan Deily, Public Relations Director, Operation: Cigars for Warriors
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