Dear Members of the Board 

We were established in 2011, as a Scholarship foundation, The Little Family Foundation, in order to raise money for my Shipmates, I had personally lost to Suicide after my units got home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  In 2015, after losing my 15th Shipmate to Suicide, and helping to write several pieces of Suicide related legislation and NDAA amendments, my wife and I decided to change the name to Sea Service Family, Foundation (SSFF), and recruit a Board of Directors to help assists us, we are so proud each of you have agreed to join us on this journey as we work to advocate support our Shipmates in the Sea Services. 

For months SSFF has been watching the situation of a possible shutdown unfold, and prepared to act as quickly as possible, should something happen. Then on December 22, after attending an event with my Wife’s command, I realized we couldn’t wait, and needed to find a way to allow families, to not spend their Christmas worrying about their next paycheck.   We quickly called our board to get permission to start a campaign that would allow the spouses and members of the Coast Guard, feel like they were able to have a bi-partisan voice in this space, and take action, instead of just sitting back and waiting for the inevitable to happen. ​

Mike Little, executive director of the Sea Service Family Foundation, which helped organize Tuesday’s lobbying event, said many service members who weathered the initial impact of missing a paycheck are starting to dread the coming weeks.
“Going forward, this is going to start looking dark for these families. They’re worried about how they pay the bills. And they just want to feel like their voice is being heard somewhere.”

Advocates say the missed paychecks are endangering both families’ finances and national security.
“Congress and the president have failed the men and women of the Coast Guard,” said Mike Little, executive director of the Sea Service Family Foundation. “The fact that we have coasties shopping at food banks and officially unable to pay the bills is a violation of these leaders’ obligation to protect their people.”

Mike Little, executive director for the Sea Service Family Foundation, said passing the legislation early in the new Congress would send a strong message of support to the Coast Guard.
“This shutdown has taken away from valuable time (servicemembers) should have been using to enjoy their families, but instead they spent it stressed beyond belief,” said Little, a Coast Guard spouse.