Skip to content
No Greater Sacrifice

Volunteer

Our volunteers are integral.

It takes a community to educate the children of our nation's fallen and severely wounded Service members — and volunteers are at the heart of it. Run, host, lend a hand, or cheer Scholars on. There's a place for you, and a Scholar who is better for it.

A degree is built by a whole community.

Funding a debt-free degree takes more than tuition. It takes people who show up — at a starting line, at a gala check-in table, at a BootCamp session helping a nervous freshman polish a resume. Every one of those moments tells a Scholar the same thing: you are not doing this alone.

However you want to pitch in — an hour, a skill, a finish line — there is a way to do it, and a Scholar who is better for it. Here are four of the most common.

At the 2009 Freedom Award Gala, a U.S. Army officer in dress uniform leans down to interact warmly with a smiling young girl seated at a decorated banquet table, while a woman in a patterned dress looks on nearby.

More than one way to give your time.

Four grounded ways to get involved, drawn straight from how supporters already help. Not sure which fits? Email info@nogreatersacrifice.org and we'll find the right role for you.

  1. Run for us

    The NGS Endurance team is a group of individuals who raise awareness and funds through athletic events of their choosing, nationwide. Pick your challenge — a marathon, a 5K, pickleball, CrossFit — and athletes of any skill level are welcome on the team.

    Run for a Scholar

  2. Volunteer directly

    There is a wide variety of volunteer opportunities — from helping Scholars draft resumes at BootCamp to lending a hand at galas and events, or working behind the scenes. Reach out and we'll match you to a role that fits.

    Lend a hand

  3. Attend an event

    Come to one of our galas, golf tournaments, and special events across the country. You'll help raise awareness and meet the community of families, alumni, and supporters who make this mission possible.

    Find an event

  4. Search for good

    Make No Greater Sacrifice your cause on GoodSearch and a penny is donated every time you search the web — quiet, everyday support that adds up while you go about your day.

    Search for good
Runners wearing race bibs cheer and raise their hands at the start of the 2015 Army Ten-Miler endurance event. A large crowd of participants in athletic gear lines up on the course, with several wearing NGS-sponsored race numbers.

The NGS Endurance team.

Since 2008, supporters have championed this mission by picking an athletic challenge and turning it into awareness and funds for military families. Members have run the Army Ten-Miler and the U.S. Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., taken on CrossFit, laced up for 5Ks, and played pickleball.

You choose the event; we help you make it count. Every mile, match, and rep becomes a scholarship dollar and one more reason a Scholar can keep going. Athletes of any skill level are welcome on the team — you do not have to be fast, you just have to start.

Pick a finish line. We'll do the rest.

Joining is simple: tell us the event you'd like to run, ride, or play, and we'll help you set up a fundraising page and rally your friends and family behind a cause that outlasts the race.

Whether it's your first 5K or your tenth marathon, your starting line is a Scholar's, too. Reach out at info@nogreatersacrifice.org or (202) 756-1980 and we'll get you on the team.

A group of seven runners wearing red NGS shirts and race bibs pose together outdoors before or after the Army Ten-Miler race. The team includes men and women of various ages, several displaying numbered race bibs from the event.

When you step in, you join a community that has been showing up for nearly two decades — and one your time makes measurably stronger.

2008the year the NGS Endurance team first laced up
600+supporters — alumni, family, and friends — who power our events
Anyskill level welcome on the Endurance team
95%of every dollar goes directly to the mission
At the 2014 NGS Freedom Award Family Day, an older man in a tan jacket shakes hands with a young boy in a gray jacket, surrounded by smiling family members and scholars on the lawn outside a historic house.

At least 600 supporters and counting.

At least 600 supporters — NGS alumni, family members, and friends — have made the work possible: BootCamp and Family Days, NGS Endurance events, fundraising galas and awards nights, and social media. Many are alumni who were once Scholars themselves and now return to mentor the next class.

Corporate partners join in too. The LKQ Community Foundation is a Title Sponsor of BootCamp — a $100,000 commitment in 2025, its second year at that level — and LKQ employees serve as volunteers and mentors for Scholars. Your time joins theirs. Whatever you bring helps a Scholar enroll, persist, and graduate.

Inside BootCamp.

BootCamp is the annual, multi-day gathering in Washington, D.C. where NGS prepares incoming Scholars for college and builds the community that carries them through it. At a recent BootCamp, 30 incoming freshman Scholars and a parent or guardian worked with NGS staff on their Academic and Financial Roadmaps, drafted resumes and bios with volunteers, toured the Capitol and the Library of Congress, met the Secretary of Veterans Affairs — and went home with new laptops and a community that has their back.

Volunteers and alumni make it run: leading resume sessions, sharing what worked in their own college years on the alumni panel, and welcoming families the moment they arrive. It's hands-on, it's a few days, and it's where a Scholar's whole trajectory can shift.

At the 2025 NGS BootCamp, a woman in a red NGS polo shirt sits at a table displaying an 'Academic & Financial Roadmap' sign sponsored by LKQ, ready to assist scholars and families.

Run for Us

Go the distance for a Scholar.

Join the NGS Endurance team and turn an athletic event of your choosing — anywhere in the country — into awareness and funds for the children of our fallen and severely wounded Service members. Athletes of any skill level are welcome.

Run for a Scholar

Volunteer directly

Lend a hand where it counts.

Pitch in at BootCamp — the annual college-prep gathering where incoming Scholars build community and skills — at galas and events, or behind the scenes. Tell us how you'd like to help and we'll find the right role for you.

Lend a hand

Questions & answers

Frequently asked questions

Let's find your role.

Run, host, mentor, give, or lend a hand — tell us how you'd like to pitch in and we'll take it from there.

Volunteer with usSupport the mission