The 84th Army Emergency Relief (AER) Campaign began officially at Fort McCoy on Feb. 25 with the 2026 campaign kick-off breakfast at McCoy’s Community Center at the installation.
The AER campaign runs from March 1 to June 14 this year, according to the AER webpage, www.armyemergencyrelief.org. AER helps provide emergency financial funds for food, rent, funeral expenses, emergency medical expenses, and other needs.
Contributions to AER help active-duty Soldiers (single and married) and their families, retirees and their family members, and surviving spouses or orphans of Soldiers who died while on active duty or after they retired.
The breakfast included dozens of Fort McCoy community members. The breakfast was organized by the Fort McCoy Army Community Service (ACS) Office with the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. Command Sgt. Maj. James Riddle, Fort McCoy Garrison command sergeant major; Maj. Zachary Daugherty, commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy; and Army Community Service Director Sylvia Lopez, all were in attendance. Numerous other guests were also present.
Army Community Services Specialist Mike Larsen said in 2025, the Fort McCoy AER program assisted 29 clients and disbursed $112,151 in loans, grants, and combos.
Larsen added that the AER Campaign in 2025 received $8,062 in active-duty contributions and provided a total of $45,404 in contributions from all sources.
“Our annual goal is for Fort McCoy to receive $10,000 in active-duty contributions,” Larsen said. “And one of the campaign’s goals to is to inform 100 percent of active-duty personnel on AER benefits.”
In a previous news article, Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez, garrison commander, said AER is more than a campaign that collects money.
“AER is a program that provides services to many families,” Baez said. “Most … leaders … have had an experience where you have taken a Soldier to get either an AER loan or a grant. Some of the examples of situations that Soldiers can utilize AER are for any type of financial hardship related to (when) they cannot pay their utilities, they cannot pay their rent, or they have a debt in the family.”
Baez, in the same article, emphasized the importance of informing troops about these resources available to them.
“I want to make sure that leaders at all levels understand the importance of the campaign, and our goal … is that we contact every single Soldier,” Baez said. “We are going to also reach out to retirees and family members and spouses and children of deceased Soldiers who can participate in this campaign. This campaign is to show how AER offers services for Soldiers, also for retirees, and we know that a lot of times military retirees could live under the scale, so we need to make sure that everybody understands … some of the things that the programs offer.
Larsen is ACS’ lead campaign coordinator. He noted how AER helps many people in many categories, including through financial assistance as well as scholarships.
“Last year we had 18 scholarships provided,” Larsen said. “I’d like to see that number grow. Scholarships are applied for through the AER website (https://www.armyemergencyrelief.org).
Folgers also noted that AER has provided more than $2 billion overall in assistance since 1942, and more than $1 billion since 9/11.
In addition to government civilian employees and Soldiers, retired Army personnel also can donate to the AER campaign. At Fort McCoy, contact Larsen at ACS for more information on how to donate and how to get support from AER. People can also get more information by visiting the AER website at www.armyemergencyrelief.org.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”