“We care about what happens to them,” says Robin Kelleher, proud wife of a Marine officer. “I know that sounds simple, but it is the core of everything we do.”

It does not sound the least bit simple to the hundreds of families of fallen and wounded soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have receive help from Kelleher’s “Hope for the Warriors” organization.

“They showed commitment, courage and sacrifice by going to war,” says Kelleher, the group’s president. “Our mission is to make sure they’re not forgotten; that their physical and emotional needs don’t fall through the cracks.”

Kelleher and fellow Marine spouse Shannon Maxwell, whose husband was severely wounded in Iraq, founded Hope for the Warriors (www.hopeforthewarriors.org) at Camp Lejeune, N.C., three years ago to assist military families get beyond the blood and tears of war.

Today, the nonprofit organization has offices in New York City and the Washington, D. C., area as well as Camp Lejeune – with plans to expand to Texas and other locations with heavy concentration of military families.

For the most part, military spouses operate the offices, identifying families and individuals with unmet needs and providing assistance ranging from vacations to specially equipped vans to temporary housing.

There is no shortage of need. More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars thus far. Another 35,000 have returned home seriously wounded, many without arms, legs, sight and hearing.

Hope for the Warriors' aim, said Kelleher, is to help the most needy heal from the scars of war by offering assistance that enhances their quality of life over both the short and long terms.