About Us

Military Family Support Trust in Sun City Florida.

The Military Officers' Benevolent Corporation (MOBC), now doing business as the Military Family Support Trust (MFST) was incorporated as a tax-exempt organization by a group of retired military officers residing in the greater Tampa Bay area of Florida on 24 August 1992. All were volunteers whose interest was in caring, sharing and serving fellow officers of the seven uniformed services and their families, as well as federal employees of equivalent grade. On 14 December 2004, the eligibility criteria was expanded to include all recipients of the Purple Heart no matter their length of service or pay grade and on 13 June 2006, it was further expanded to include all E-5s and above. The assistance provided is in two principal categories: emergency grants and scholarships. Grants in these areas have been provided continuously for 19 years.

The narrow focus of the organization and the difficulties of marketing it to a widespread audience with the limited resources at its disposal in the early years resulted in slow growth of the contribution base. Nonetheless, the trustees saw to it that grants were made from the beginning, and a number of individuals have been helped significantly over the past nineteen years. In July 2008, the Military Officers' Benevolent Corporation (MOBC) began doing business as the Military Family Support Trust (MFST). And finally, your generous contributions and gifts may be written to either the MFST or the MOBC.

The corporation operates with three funds and a number of separate programs. All undesignated donations are placed in the General Fund. Expenses are paid from the General Fund. Expenses are closely monitored and continue to be in the lowest one-third of all non-profit organizations in the U.S. At the end of the year, the Trustees allocate a percentage of the unused and undesignated contributions accumulated in the General Fund to the Financial Assistance Fund, or the Scholarship Fund, based on existing requirements and the experience of past years. Once designated in this manner, these funds become part of the program endowments, and are the basis for corporate growth. Being restricted in this manner, they can only be accessed for expenditure in an extreme emergency situation. Currently grants are made from a combination of investment income and donations received during the year.

CHARITABLE PURPOSES

In order of priority, the three charitable purposes of the organization are:

providing financial assistance through the distribution of funds for support of needy individuals in the eligibility group and their families including, but not limited to, such areas as personal care, subsistence, housing, all aspects of health care;

offering scholarship grants to high school seniors of eligible individuals; and

making distributions of funds to organizations supporting the eligible individuals described above. These organizations must qualify as exempt organizations within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or any statute of similar import (the "Code").

GRANT ELIGIBILITY

The MFST is organized and shall be operated exclusively to serve:

retired, active duty, National Guard, and Reserve Officers (Warrant Officers and above), and former officers of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (commonly referred to as the Uniformed Services), their spouses, surviving spouses, dependents, including grandchildren.

all recipients of the Purple Heart.

elisted personnel/noncommissioned officers of the uniformed services in grades E-5, E-6, E-7, E-8, E-9, their spouses, surviving spouses, dependents, including grandchildren.

W.W.II combat veterans of the Merchant Marine recognized by the Veterans Administration, their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents, including grandchildren; widows and dependents, including grandchildren of officers in these categories who were killed on active duty.

officer grade equivalents of federal employees, i.e. GS-7 and above/FSO-8 and below, their spouses, surviving spouses, dependents, including grandchildren.

honorably discharged or retired foreign military officers of friendly nations living in this country and meeting the service and disability retirement criteria of their respective countries, their spouses, or surviving spouses, and dependents, including grandchildren.

MILITARY GRADES AND TITLES

The uninitiated can have a little problem when the terms “officers and noncommissioned officers of the uniformed services” are mentioned. The following list presents the grades and titles of the eligibility group for the armed services.

OFFICERS
	Army/Marines/Air Force	Navy and Coast Guard
0-1	Second Lieutenant	Ensign
0-2	First Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade
0-3	Captain	Lieutenant
0-4	Major Lieutenant	Commander
0-5	Lieutenant Colonel	Commander
0-6	Colonel	Captain
0-7	Brigadier General	Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
0-8	Major General	Rear Admiral (Upper Half)
0-9	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral
0-10	General	Admiral

NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS
E-5	Army	Sergeant
	Marines	Sergeant
	Air Force	Staff Sergeant
	Navy/Coast Guard	Petty Officer Second Class
E-6	Army	Staff Sergeant
	Marines	Staff Sergeant
	Air Force	Tech Sergeant
	Navy/Coast Guard	Petty Officer First Class
E-7	Army Sergeant	First Class
	Marines	Gunnery Sergeant
	Air Force	Master Sergeant, First Sergeant
	Navy/Coast Guard	Chief Petty Officer
E-8	Army	Master Sergeant, First Sergeant
	Marines	Master Sergeant, First Sergeant
	Air Force	Senior Master Sergeant, First Sergeant
	Navy/Coast Guard	Senior Chief Petty Officer
E-9	Army	Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major
	Marines	Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Major
	Air Force	Chief Master Sergeant, First Sergeant
	Navy	Master Chief Petty Officer, Command Master Chief Petty Officer, Fleet/Force Master Chief Petty Officer

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