PenFed Foundation donating $300,000 for home at retreat

The PenFed Foundation, the charitable arm of Tysons-based PenFed Credit Union, is donating $300,000 to Serve Our Willing Warriors (SOWW).

The money will be used to construct a home that will provide a week-long respite in the Virginia countryside for hundreds of wounded military personnel undergoing long-term medical treatment.

SOWW serves the needs of the wounded and their families through “Warrior Getaways” at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. Since opening in 2015, the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run has hosted nearly 600 guests, including wounded service members from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and other area military hospitals, at its 11,000-square-foot, five-bedroom house on a 37-acre campus on the edge of the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy in Haymarket.

During their stay, recovering warriors and their families are able to participate in more than 65 different activities and programs offered through local service partners, including helicopter tours, fishing, hiking, amusement park visits and a 5-star chef-prepared meal. They can also partake in physical and canine therapy, and family counseling.

The Warrior Retreat at Bull Run is currently able to house one family at a time. The construction of the PenFed Foundation Home will allow SOWW to host two families at a time, thus doubling their capacity and enabling them to serve more than 500 wounded warriors and their guests per year.