Operation North State (ONS) is a 501 c3 non-profit (ALL VOLUNTEER) organization which currently provides recreational outings (fishing, golf, cycling, state park visits, attending events, snow tubing, go-karting) to wounded warriors / DVets. For 2024, ONS expects to host fifty-one (51) “unique” projects within North Carolina. Additionally, in 2024, ONS will host nearly two-hundred one-on-one fishing and golf outings for wounded warriors / DVets throughout the state. We have dozens of veterans that attend our events from North Carolina’s neighboring states too.
In 2024, ONS will feature its 15th Annual NCCARES Christmas Box Project - utilizing NC's People, Places, Products and Pride to deliver 1500 NCCARES Christmas Boxes to North Carolina’s shut-in veterans. And ONS' EIGHT (8) Top Shelf Fishin' Festivals held throughout the state are second-to-none. The Fishin’ Festivals host NC's Wound Warriors / DVets and if required their respective caregivers. And, several wounded warriors / DVets attend from neighboring states too.
All these projects are featured and overviewed at Facebook: Operation North State in the Photo Albums.
BACKGROUND
Operation North State’s founder, Terry Snyder, has promoted North Carolina’s People, Places, Products and Pride since 1995 when he opened Kicks & Grins - one of the first, if not the first, North Carolina product store. Mr. Snyder of Winston-Salem, NC (the Founder of Operation North State) serves as the organization’s Chairman and is a Proud Volunteer! Mr. Snyder has served on various non-profit boards on multiple occasions. In addition, he has 30 years of sales/marketing experience in banking software and services and the real estate industries. Mr. Snyder has served for fifteen years as the head of Operation North State. Snyder's current "day job" other than overseeing ONS is he owns Kicks & Grins Replacement Flags and is “Poppy” to grandsons Camden and Jackson. Mr. Snyder was awarded the State of North Carolina's "The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award" in 2014.
Charlie Smith from Raleigh is Operation North State's Chief Military Advisor. In 2011, Mr. Smith retired from the State of North Carolina after more than 40 years of service which included serving 22 years as the Director of the NC Division of Veterans Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs Department of Administration. Mr. Smith was awarded the State of North Carolina's "The Order of the Long Leaf Pine" TWICE by Governors Jim Martin and Beverly Perdue.
Snyder and Smith are "Proud Volunteers"; Operation North State is an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization. ONS is honored to receive financial, product, services and volunteer support from thousands of folks from around the state and North Carolina's premier companies, brands and service organizations – the extended ONS Family – “ONSers”.