Lockheed Martin recently pledged $4 million to university-based program that provides reconstructive surgeries and other healthcare services to military service members who have returned wounded from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the company announced.
Lockheed, a global security and defense company, is supporting injured veterans through a partnership with the medical campus at the University of California, Los Angeles. The university hosts a healthcare program called Operation Mend, founded in 2007 with a special focus on facial reconstruction.
The defense manufacturer says it is honored to help those who defense the United States.
David T. Feinberg, CEO and associate vice chancellor of the UCLA hospital system, says the Lockheed Martin donation grants the Operation Mend program a boost to help it care for injured veterans who need treatment.
"On behalf of the wounded warriors we serve, we are so grateful for this significant gift from our lead corporate sponsor," says Feinberg. "Lockheed Martin’s commitment to UCLA’s Operation Mend program will greatly enhance the physical surroundings of where the patients are cared for, as well as ensure our ability to provide critical treatment for future wounded military personnel in the coming years."
Most patients in the program suffered wounds as the result of explosions from improvised explosive devices.
Thirty-four men and women from all branches of the military have participated in the program so far, Lockheed says. After undergoing initial surgeries and rehabilitation at hospitals like Brooke Army Medical Center, the severe burn victims are transferred to Operation Mend.
Lockheed is not the only defense manufacturer that is giving back to the community. Raytheon recently announced that it donated $175,000 to the building of an engineering academy on the Dos Pueblos High School campus in Goleta, California.