HispanicBusiness

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/02/12 -- Harvesting Happiness is launching a new trend in grassroots fundraising: boutique philanthropy. Starting July 1st, a portion of the retail purchases from the Shop Happy online store will benefit HH4Heroes.org. HH4Heroes, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing multidisciniplinary, balanced and stigma free, wellbeing and positive psychology coaching retreats and workshops for post combat wounded warriors and their families at no cost, has received the GuideStar Exchange Seal of approval, demonstrating its commitment to donor transparency.

Shop Happy by Harvesting Happiness offers charitable citizens, seeking a positive and chic approach to military philanthropy, an opportunity to assist in healing post combat veterans. Why? According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, 11-20% of our nation's current combat veterans suffering from the immobilizing and invisible wounds of PTSD, TBI, MST (Military Sexual Trauma) and MSA (Military Sexual Assault), have served as OIF and/or OEF (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom) combat warriors. An estimated 40% of the veteran population suffering from post combat side effects, stem from the Desert Storm and Vietnam wars, 23% of female veterans report sexual assault when in the military, and according to the VA's crisis line, "more than 600,000 calls from suicidal veterans, active-duty troops or their family members, have been tracked within the last five years, with the numbers steadily increasing...," as reported by the Stars and Stripes.

"We launched Shop Happy as an educational crowdfunding site, empowering consumers with an awareness of post combat veteran reintegration needs, and providing solutions based products and programs that positively strengthen the mind, body and emotions for both the buyer and veteran," said Lisa Cypers Kamen, Harvesting Happiness Director and Founder of HH4Heroes.org. "Veterans are coming home every day with residual combat stress that eventually can lead to substance abuse, depression, relationship and communication default, anger management failure and suicide. Shop Happy by Harvesting Happiness assists HH4Heroes.org to aid our veterans and their families before they become a terminal statistic of war." As the climbing rate of veteran suicides begins to equalize with the numbers of soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2011, suicide prevention is a key focus of HH4Heroes.