In honor of Military Appreciation Month, GMC and veteran support program Building for America’s Bravest are working to raise awareness and resources to build life-changing smart homes for severely injured service members.
And that involves a skydive. More on that in a minute.
Detroit-based General Motors has supported the U.S. Military for more than a century, offering veteran support programs, employment programs, and automotive military discounts. Of course, GM also has a long history in supporting the military through their vehicles and expertise, as well.
One of their well-known brands, GMC, is helping build smart homes for severely injured military members. To raise awareness, they created a short documentary and a 360 degree video of severely injured veterans jumping out of a plane, which we’ve added above. On Facebook, the video has had more three million views. If you’re on a phone, you’ll be able to rotate your phone to be able to see different angles; and on a computer, you can use the little arrows at the top left of the screen.
GMC has committed to contribute up to $2 million by the end of 2016 and is asking people across the country to “enlist to unlist” the more than 200 severely injured service men and women currently waiting for smart homes.
The smart homes are important for injured veterans. The smart homes, coordinated by the Built for America’s Bravest program, have features such as automated doors and lighting, wider doors and special showers to accommodate wheelchairs, cabinets and counters that can be raised and lowered, and central heating and air condition systems that can be controlled by iPads.
The campaign is a continuation of the #enlistme initiative started in 2015. GMC has enlisted the support of actor Josh Duhamel as campaign ambassador, in an effort to increase awareness and raise funds to make significant differences in the lives of these courageous service members.
“I grew up near a military base in North Dakota. My aunt was in the military and completed a number of tours overseas and my grandfather was a proud veteran. I feel it’s my duty as an American, and as a supporter of our veterans, to do as much as I can to bring awareness to the work of Building for America’s Bravest. I have owned a GMC truck since 2004, so when GMC asked me to step up and work with them, it was a no-brainer. I hope you will join me in enlisting to support this incredible cause,” said Duhamel.
Duhamel has starred in Transformers movies, for a few seasons of the soap opera All My Children, as well as many other movie and television roles. He also happens to be married to singer and actress Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas.
The pieces were produced in part with the help of local agency Leo Burnett.