Golden West Humanitarian Foundation

08/21/2026

We are pleased to announce a new partnership between Swim for Life and Mitrade Foundation to support child drowning prevention efforts in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. 😄

Mitrade Foundation has generously sponsored the next phase of our water safety education and drowning prevention activities, with program planning now underway. 🏊

Mitrade Foundation was established to support community development, education, sustainability, and humanitarian programs through local partnerships. Its support reflects a shared belief that practical, community-based action can help protect lives and create long-term impact.

Through this partnership, Swim for Life plans to support water safety education for school-aged children, strengthen local instructor and community capacity, and provide practical safety equipment such as warning signs, life jackets, and floating backpacks for children most at risk. 🛟

Drowning remains one of the most serious and preventable risks facing children in Vietnam. Since 2014, Swim for Life has worked with local partners in Central Vietnam to help children, teachers, families, and communities understand water-related risks and develop safer habits around rivers, canals, ponds, and flood-prone areas. 🌊

We are so grateful to Mitrade Foundation for standing with us in this life-saving work. Together, we hope to help more children learn the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe in and around water.

08/20/2026

What do 1,000 chickens, NASA, the U.S. Marines and humanitarian mine action have in common?

They are all part of the remarkable journey that led Chris Clair to Golden West Humanitarian Foundation as our new Director of EOD Training and Strategic Engagement.

Chris believes the best training does more than transfer skills. It builds people, systems and institutions that can succeed long after the trainer has left.

Read his story, and discover why those 1,000 chickens mattered: https://bit.ly/4xRxrrW

Golden West Humanitarian Foundation welcomes Chris Clair as Director of EOD Training and Strategic Engagement, bringing EOD, counter-IED and mine action experience.

08/19/2026

Capacity building is strongest when knowledge is brought forward. Golden West Humanitarian Foundation was pleased to support U.S. Military partners during the teach-back delivery of bespoke Ammunition Incident Investigation and Temporary Storage courses at the training facility in Ferizaj, Kosovo.

The courses were delivered by Albanian Armed Forces and Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) personnel who had previously received the initial training in Albania, marking an important step in strengthening regional instructor capability and sustainable Weapons and Ammunition Management (WAM) development.

Golden West and our U.S. Military partners also continued mentoring KSF on wider WAM priorities, including planning, siting, and potential future storage requirements.

We are proud to support the continued development of safe, secure, and accountable weapons and ammunition management capacity across the region.

08/19/2026

Swim for Life Vietnam’s external evaluation found that community-level communication is as essential as connecting with the schools

This is an important lesson.

Drowning prevention needs schools, but it also needs whole communities. Parents, grandparents, neighbors, local leaders, youth groups, and community volunteers all have a role to play in keeping children safe around water.

Swim for Life is now studying ways to expand wider community engagement and reach people beyond the school system.

Help us take drowning prevention messages further:
https://bit.ly/4vJScVv

08/05/2026

Across Africa, safer weapons and ammunition management (WAM) is built through training, infrastructure, and trusted partnership.

In July, Golden West Humanitarian Foundation continued supporting U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) WAM efforts across Zambia, Chad, Senegal, and Cabo Verde, from curriculum development and technical mentoring to Foundation WAM training, site coordination, and ammunition storage infrastructure improvements.

Golden West is proud to work alongside U.S. AFRICOM, U.S. Military teams, MILGP partners, and national counterparts to strengthen safe, secure, and accountable weapons and ammunition management systems.

08/03/2026

Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is proud to support Weapons and Ammunition Management projects in the Republic of Moldova. This achievement was made possible thanks to the funding and support of the United States 🇺🇸.

This month, Chief USMILGP-Moldova, 🇺🇸 U.S. Embassy Chisinau, visited ongoing project sites, which highlighted two important areas of work:

Moldova’s 3D Laboratory, which is producing practical training aids for safer weapons and ammunition management instruction, and a specialized ammunition storage construction site that will strengthen long-term safety, security, and accountability.

These efforts go beyond infrastructure and equipment. They reflect a partnership grounded in shared security interests; building lasting Moldovan technical capacity to safely manage and sustain the weapons and ammunition required for national defense while contributing to stronger regional defense and stability.

Golden West extends our sincere thanks to the 🇺🇸 United States Government, .S.EmbassyMoldova, USMILGP-Moldova, and the Moldovan National Army for their continued partnership and support.

07/26/2026

SUPPORT Swim for Life THIS WORLD DROWNING PREVENTION DAY!

Swim for Life Vietnam's programs across 6-districts of the former Quang Binh Province (2021 - 2025), facilitated or provided:

- Free swimming lessons for 5,071 disadvantaged children

- Water safety education for 22,415 school-aged children

- 72 warning signs in high-risk areas

- 330 communications boards in schools and community common areas

- 640 life jackets and floating backpacks for children in high-risk flood-prone areas

These are not just program numbers. They represent children reached, schools strengthened, families informed, and communities better prepared to prevent drowning.

Help us continue child drowning prevention in Vietnam
https://bit.ly/4vJScVv

07/24/2026

25th July National Hire a Veteran Day. It was founded in 2017 by Dan Caporale, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and founder of Hire Our Heroes Group: Employers Hiring Veterans Welcome!

Since Golden West Humanitarian Foundation was created in 1998, one of our core values and greatest sources of pride has been our policy of hiring military veterans.

For almost three decades Golden West has leveraged military experience to field some of the most professional technical teams in the sector. We enable highly trained veterans to use unique skills honed by combat to make the world a safer place. At the same time, we provide the opportunity to be part of a team, often missed by people leaving active duty.

Golden West will continue hiring veterans as a key element of our worldwide missions. Their experience, discipline and skills would be valued in any application, and we encourage others to hire a veteran too!

07/21/2026

Today, on International Drowning Prevention Day, we are reminded that child drowning is not inevitable. It is preventable.

Every year, more than 2,000 children in Vietnam lose their lives to drowning. Swim for Life Vietnam exists to change that.

Through survival swimming lessons, water safety education, community awareness, and rescue and CPR training, we help children gain the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills they need to stay safer around water.

Working across Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and beyond, Swim for Life Vietnam continues to support schools, teachers, families, and communities in the shared mission to prevent child drowning.

This work depends on support.

Your donation can help more children learn to swim, more schools receive water safety education, and more communities build the capacity to protect young lives.

Help us prevent child drowning in .

Donate today: https://bit.ly/4vJScVv

Support drowning prevention in Vietnam. Donate to Swim For Life Vietnam and help provide life-saving swimming lessons for children

07/16/2026

Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites are among the most devastating and preventable risks linked to poorly managed ammunition stockpiles.

Between 1979 and 2024, 674 UEMS incidents were recorded globally. In Southeast Asia, 43 incidents resulted in 1,284 casualties, leaving families, communities, infrastructure, and local economies to carry the consequences.

Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is working to reduce this risk through Weapons and Ammunition Management (WAM) programs focused on training, mentoring, technical support, and sustainable national capacity.

By helping partner nations strengthen the safe, secure, and accountable management of weapons and ammunition, we help protect lives and support safer communities.

Learn more: https://goldenwesthf.org/