MAY 3, 2021 – In 1904 a group of naval officers, their wives and a few friends founded the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) after they recognized the need for medical and pay assistance for the troops. Instead of “passing the hat” to collect money, Marines and Sailors now had a resource to relieve their financial burdens. The NMCRS initially generated funds from the proceeds of a previous Army-Navy football game, providing assistance to widows and families of enlisted men.
Today, the NMCRS has evolved into a support system of resources for service members and their families beyond medical and pay assistance. The NMCRS is a non-profit organization that provides financial and educational assistance to active duty Marines and Sailors and their families as well as reservists that have been activated for more than thirty days. The organization also provides Quick Assist loans, COVID-19 assistance, visiting nurses, Budget for Baby®, emergency travel and disaster relief.
1st Lt. Naquan Staton, the I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group NMCRS representative, says the society gives Marines, Sailors and their families a wide variety of educational opportunities. These include preparing a budget for an upcoming child, allocating funds for purchasing a house, or creating a plan to buy a car.
“Anyone experiencing financial hardship such as a car breaking down, missing pay, or for a lot of folks having a loved one that is ill or has become terminally ill, can go to the NMCRS and receive assistance,” said Staton.
The NMCRS provides a variety of different loans that are paid back through paycheck installments with zero percent interest. The most often used is the Quick Assist Loan. This loan needs no appointment and generally takes twenty minutes to receive. Additional loans are also available that can range up to fifteen-hundred dollars but these require a longer application process.
In the year 2020 Camp Pendleton raised nearly two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The cumulative aid that was given out the same year was estimated to be six times the amount donated. Roughly one-million five-hundred thousand dollars in aid were used by Marines and Sailors.
If you are interested in donating, talk to your command’s NMCRS representative or go to https://nmcrs.careasy.org/HOME.html.
Story by Cpl. Thomas Spencer
I MEF Information Group