CARRY THE LOAD
Who Are You Carrying?
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
To raise awareness of those who sacrifice for us daily by providing Americans an active way to remember, honor and celebrate them. To raise funds to be distributed to non-profit partners who provide healing services for the mind, body and soul of our warriors. To inspire patriotism in our youth by educating them about the American flag and the sacrifices made to honor it.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Awareness
Fibe routes operate daily throughout the month of May, handing off the American flag every 5 miles of walking and/or cycling. More than 20,000 miles of ground covered provides a chance to get out the message about honoring our nation’s heroes. The Memorial May campaign culminates with a 20-hour walk in Dallas, TX on Memorial Weekend.
The Awareness program also includes Veterans Day and Patriot Day campaigns to bring further awareness to those that have served and sacrificed for our freedom.
20-hour walk-in Dallas from the Sunday before Memorial Day, through the night, ending on Memorial Day.
Carry The Flag Educational Program
Carry The Flag is an education-based program that teaches the next generation about sacrifices made by our military, veterans, first responders and their families
Continuum of Care
Carry The Load’s Continuum of Care program is built upon a strategic collaboration among our corporate and non-profit partners. The program raises much-needed awareness and funds to assist with the many issues facing our military, veterans, first responders and their families.
In addition to the healing our heroes experience by physically walking or volunteering with Carry The Load, peer-to-peer fundraising and corporate support strengthen nationwide services such as counseling, adaptive training, suicide prevention, equine therapy, service dogs, job placements, civilian transition, home improvements, hope for homeless veterans, educational scholarships for children of the fallen, and many other healing services.
Where we work
Awards
Good Works Under 40 2013
Dallas Foundation
Charity Challenge 2014
Culturemap
Affiliations & memberships
Center for Nonprofit Management Excellence Network 2014
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number registered participants
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Awareness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
2022 Impact goal: For all Americans to participate in honoring the sacrifices made by our nation's heroes.
As we continue to spread the mission across the US, we are adding rallies and other ways for people to participate anywhere in the US.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By connecting the American public with the military, veterans, first responders, and their families, we realized an explosion of gratitude and healing between the two groups that have contributed deeply to the unique culture and community of Carry The Load. Our strategy includes a continued effort to pair these groups together in walks and rallies all over the country. We are strategically targeting younger generations who traditionally like to join community teams and support causes through active participation. Through grassroots, rally growth we plan to establish more Carry The Load events in major cities across the nation all continuing our National Relay focused on spreading the word and impacting heroes and their families. In 2016, we added a West Coast Relay in addition to our established East Coast Relay. In 2018 our rally events increased to over 50 cities participating to bring recognition to our First Responders and Veterans throughout Memorial May, ending in Dallas to honor our Veterans on Memorial Day at our Dallas Memorial March. In 2019 we added events in new cities, and a Midwest relay route. In 2020, we hosted virtual events across the country. Even in times of Covid-19, the need to remember those who had sacrificed for our freedom is needed. In 2021 we added a 5th relay route traveling through all 48 continental states during the month of May
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Corporate sponsorship, team participation, peer to peer fundraising and passionate load carriers and media partners around the country make this mission possible. In 2015, we were featured Nationally on NBC Nightly News, Fox & Friends, CNN and countless local affiliates as well as Cumulus Radio and Sirius XM. In Dallas our partnership with WFAA has helped us to grow the Dallas event to one of the largest Memorial Day events in the DFW Metroplex. In 2016, we picked up additional local media partners as we moved to the West Coast. We partnered with several MLB teams and were recognized during the games as our Relay walked through their city. We threw out the first pitch in Seattle at the Mariners game, were recognized at Fenway Park by the Boston Redsox and were also recognized in Chase stadium by the Phoenix Diamondbacks. In 2020, through virtual events we continued to grow our partnerships and rallies by increasing to 70 cities
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Memorial Day remains generally unrecognized for its true meaning. As we move further and further away from the World War I and World War II generations that originally established Memorial Day, there is a gap in sensitivity and understanding of the meaning of Memorial Day by our present generation. Locally, we have established a presence and a movement that does highlight the importance of the day with 30,000 program attendees in 2018. Carry The Load has also established an organizational structure that will create stability for long-term growth and evangelism of the cause nationwide. Carry The Load has also achieved tremendous growth in fundraising and has established a vehicle for steering a high percentage of funds and resources to nonprofits serving military, veterans, first responders and their families. Carry The Load still has much ground to cover, but is on course to make a successful transition from bake sale to enterprise. In 2021 we plan to host both virtual and in-person events. This allows people to come together and share their stories. Connecting Americans is vital.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CARRY THE LOAD
Board of directorsas of 12/01/2023
Mr. Stephen Holley
Aaron Rigby
Stephen Holley
Craig Couch
Couch and Russell Financial Group
Todd Boeding
Hallie Johnston
Mike Devlin
John McCaa
Junior Ortiz
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/14/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.