About No Greater Sacrifice
Honoring service. Opening doors.
No Greater Sacrifice is dedicated to the children of our nation's fallen and severely wounded Service members by delivering tailored scholarships and resources to improve their quality of life through the pursuit of higher education. Since February 2008, that mission has meant 571 Scholars and $30M+ committed to their education.
A debt of gratitude, answered with opportunity.
Since 9/11, more than 130,000 children of the fallen and severely wounded have been impacted by war — losing a parent, or growing up alongside the long recovery of a severely wounded mother or father. For these families, a college degree should never be out of reach. And for our Scholars, it isn't.
No Greater Sacrifice removes the financial barrier to a degree and walks alongside each family through scholarships, mentorship, and one-on-one coaching. A full undergraduate degree — tuition, fees, room and board, books — now costs roughly $96,000 before other aid, a sum that, after the loss of a parent, can quietly close the door on a young person's future before they ever reach for it.
We exist to keep that door open. The goal is simple and lasting: Scholars who graduate ready to lead, not weighed down by debt.
Investing in their capacity for greatness.
We do not define these young people by what they have lost. We invest in what they are becoming — a forward-looking promise renewed for every Scholar, every year.
The goal is concrete: a debt-free undergraduate degree from the school of their choice, and the confidence, independence, and resilience to keep climbing long after graduation.
Scholarships, yes — and so much more.
We are intentional and customized in our approach. We prioritize trust and relationships, collaborating with each Scholar and family on a tailored academic and financial roadmap that combines federal and state benefits, financial aid, and outside scholarships with their NGS award so they graduate debt-free.
We build confidence, independence, and resilience through individualized mentorship and coaching — developing self-advocacy and financial-management skills with structured, one-on-one guidance.
We work to break the cycle of generational trauma caused by war, lifting the burden of paying for college after the loss of a parent or years of caregiving for a severely wounded Veteran. And we embrace the whole family, listening for needs that have nothing to do with tuition and connecting families to a wider network of veteran service organizations.
The result isn't charity. It's partnership — a relationship-driven approach built so Scholars graduate debt-free from the school of their choice, and keep climbing long after.
More than a scholarship — a guide.
A check pays for tuition. A mentor changes a trajectory. Through our Mentorship and Coaching Program, every Scholar gains personalized insight into their academic and career path, with one-on-one coaching that helps them discover where they want to go and how to get there.
For Scholars accepted before their senior year, a College Prep Package funds the practical steps that open doors: campus visits, standardized-test registration and prep, application fees, and financial-advising support. As-needed tutoring, networking, and referrals fill in the rest.
It comes together each summer at BootCamp — our flagship college-prep experience that gives incoming Scholars and their families practical tools, self-awareness, and a circle of peers who understand exactly where they've been. It is, by design, a community as much as a program.
Built in 2008. Still growing.
No Greater Sacrifice was created in February 2008 to provide college funding to the children of those who had fallen in service since 9/11. After the Post-9/11 GI Bill's Fry Scholarship — a federal benefit that funds education for the children of the fallen — was enacted, NGS broadened its mission to support the children of severely wounded Service members, too.
What started there has grown into a national community sustained year after year. Since 2008, NGS Scholars have pursued degrees at 350+ colleges, universities, and trade schools, the organization has committed $30M+ toward their education, and 196 college-aged Scholars are part of the community this fall — with more families joining every year.
More than fifteen years on, the work hasn't changed shape so much as deepened: the same promise made in 2008, kept for a new generation of students every single year.
For military families
Your child's future is our mission.
Lost a parent to service since 9/11, or living with the long recovery of a severely wounded parent? Your child may qualify for a debt-free degree.
For donors & partners
Your investment has a name.
Ninety-five cents of every dollar reaches the mission — funding tuition, mentorship, and coaching for the children of the fallen and wounded.
A team built around one mission.
No Greater Sacrifice is led by Executive Director Rebekah Williams Lovorn alongside a dedicated staff. Its Board of Directors is chaired by John J. Brown, a retired UBS Group Management Director, with Charles "Chip" Grace as Treasurer and Bonnie Sutherland as Secretary and Military Family Liaison.
Guiding the organization is a national Leadership Council — among them co-founders Peter Bilden and Paul McKellips, Fox News anchor Bret Baier, and NewEdge Capital Group co-chairman Robert J. McCann — who lend their experience to the children of the fallen and wounded. Every person on the roster brings a high degree of military and corporate experience, and a personal commitment to the cause.
About NGS
The donors behind every degree
Companies, foundations, families, and individuals sustain our Scholars — many of them giving faithfully for years. Every scholarship is different, funded to each family's need, and more than 95 cents of every dollar reaches the mission. No two gifts look alike; together they turn a single mission into a nationwide promise kept.
About NGS
Don't take it on faith
More than 95 cents of every dollar goes directly to the mission — discipline that has supported 571 Scholars since 2008, with $30M+ committed to their education. Independently audited statements, our IRS Form 990, and the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (formerly GuideStar) are published for you to read for yourself.
About NGS
Scholars in the headlines
Milestones, partnerships, and Scholars in the headlines. John Wayne Walding appeared on Fox News to share NGS's mission and the ongoing need for support. Every story is backed by a real number and a real name.
About NGS
A person, not a portal
No Greater Sacrifice is a small team with one address, one phone number, and one email — and someone who reads every message that comes in. Eligibility questions, partnership inquiries, event details, or a note of encouragement for a Scholar: all of it reaches the same inbox, and all of it gets a reply.
A single recent year, by the numbers — proof that fifteen-plus years in, the work is still growing.
Questions & answers
Frequently asked questions
Fund The Gap.
95 cents of every dollar goes directly to the mission. Your gift funds the gap — the unmet cost of a degree that other aid leaves behind — for the children of our nation's fallen and severely wounded Service members.