History

In 2006, a small group of Marines - Retired, Active Duty, and Reservists - met in Huntsville, Alabama. These Veterans had a deep desire to continue being of service to their Country after having honorably served in the military. They formulated a plan to be of service to the Tennessee Valley/Northern Alabama community, which resulted in the Semper Fi Community Task Force (SFCTF).

Semper Fi Community Task Force (SFCTF) Inc. was incorporated on 15 May 2007 to maintain a resource pool and coordinate the efforts of future, current, and former U.S. Marines to assist with local community needs.

Initial activities included support for a local Marine Corps Reserve unit, supporting programs sanctioned by Headquarters - Marine Corps such as Marine for Life, and assistance to wounded, ill, and injured Marines, Sailors, and their families throughout phases of their recovery.

SFCTF's sponsored and sanctioned activities included, but were not limited to Marine for Life, Heroes’ Week, and Heroes’ Outdoor Adventures.

Today, we run five (5) robust, All-Service All-Volunteer programs:

Heroes’ Week
Outdoor Adventures
Semper Fi Racing
Veteran Outreach
Youth Engagement

All-Service, All-Volunteer, All-In to Give Back

Since the SFCTF was established, we have expanded our membership and services to all branches of the military and first responders, and their families.

Today, SFCTF, also known as “the Task Force,” has grown into a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization composed of dedicated volunteers from all services, their families, and community friends. We are a 100% volunteer organization, which allows us to consistently maintain over 90% give-back rates each year.

Task Force members apply the core values of courage, honor, and commitment to their community through volunteerism. Members give back to the community through a long list of endeavors which includes, but is not limited to tornado/disaster recovery, youth mentoring, support to JROTC and Young Marines programs, family readiness support to local Reserve units, limited financial aid, job placement for Veterans including resume writing and distribution, and in certain cases, Veteran home repairs. Our members also donate their time and talents to other service organizations such as local churches, civic organizations, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the United Way.

Community

The SFCTF also acts as a conduit for companies, civic organizations, community groups, local churches, and individual citizens who want to use their resources to support our Heroes and active duty military families. We are very active within the North Alabama/Tennessee Valley Community, sharing time and talent in an effort to more closely communicate with our military, first responders, their families, Gold Star families, and those in the larger community who support them.

Heroes’ Week

Each year, in November, we are honored to host Heroes’ Week, our signature program designed to recognize and appreciate our Heroes and their caregivers.

Approximately 15-30 Heroes representing all service branches from all over the United States, and some local law enforcement representatives, are invited, along with their spouses and caregivers, for a week of relaxation and recognition. Often, these Heroes and their families do not receive the welcome home that so many of our military are given after deployment because they were in hospitals, recovering from injuries received in the line of duty while their units completed the deployment and returned to a Heroes’ welcome.

Heroes’ Week gives our Tennessee Valley/Northern Alabama communities the chance to show their deep appreciation and recognition of these service members, their spouses, and their caregivers.

Our guests are honored at multiple events each day throughout the week, including the:

Huntsville/Madison County Veterans Day Parade
U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Ball
Lake Guntersville yacht cruise and dinner
numerous lunches and dinners hosted by community groups and businesses.

The week also gives our guests a chance to take a break from the stresses of recovery and rehabilitation. We also focus on the primary caregivers who attend with their Heroes, with much-needed appreciation and attention for their own service and sacrifices offered in support of our nation.

Couples often remark on how therapeutic the week has been for their relationships.
Our guests generally leave with a new, unique new group of special friends they never would have met without Heroes’ Week: both those who faced similar circumstances and those from our local community who simply offered a “thank you,” listened to a story, or engaged in any number of gestures, small or large, to shower our guests with love, support, and appreciation.

SFCTF and its volunteers have built long-lasting relationships with many of these Heroes & their spouses, some of whom have even relocated to the Tennessee Valley. As a result of the positive interaction they experienced, they share their positive, often life-altering experiences with their peers, assuring them that the people of our Nation really do care for them.

For more information and photos, visit our program-specific page, here: Heroes’ Week.

Outdoor Adventures

A smaller group of Heroes comes back to Huntsville two weeks after Heroes’ Week for an Outdoor Adventures event, sponsored by SFCTF, local land owners, and vendors. These hunts are specifically designed for the disabled and offer the opportunity for the troops to get back in the woods and enjoy a hobby that they loved before their injury. It is therapeutic for the troops and for their hosts. Outdoor Adventures also runs multiple similar events throughout each year.

For more information and photos, visit our program-specific page, here: Outdoor Adventures.

Semper Fi Racing

Another unique program within the Task Force is Semper Fi Racing.

The Semper Fi Community Task Force Racing (Semper Fi Racing) Team was established in 2016 and provides the children of fallen or severely injured Heroes the opportunity to participate in the sport of Quarter Midget racing. Volunteers associated with the Huntsville Quarter Midget Association (www.hqma.org) and generous donors enable these children to participate in a fun sport that builds self-confidence, sharpens awareness and motor skills, and exposes them to the principles of engineering and physics that go into the race cars. The primary goal of Semper Fi Racing is to demonstrate to these families that we are forever indebted to them for their sacrifice and to remind them that they are not alone.

Semper Fi Racing provides a unique educational experience that teaches STEM, stress management, time management, and other skills, in a safe, fun, welcoming environment.

For more information and photos, visit our program-specific page, here: Semper Fi Racing.

Veteran Outreach

The SFCTF acts in partnership with similarly minded local organizations and citizens to pool resources in support of local service members, Veterans, first responders, and their families in times of acute financial crisis. Our Veteran Outreach program provides for necessary financial support for basic needs — food, shelter, utilities, and more, while also supporting local community projects that directly assist Veterans.

We provide one-time financial payments to service providers in order to cover unexpected expenses for local Veterans, first responders, and their families to cover basic needs – food, shelter, utilities, and more – during acute financial crises.
Applicants are vetted prior to any payment being made on their behalf, including direct personal contact with the providers by our Veteran Outreach Chair, Craig Baker.
- Veterans must provide a DD214 proving they were honorably discharged from service prior to approval.

For more information and photos, visit our program-specific page, here: Veteran Outreach.

Youth Engagement

Since its inception, the Semper Fi Community Task Force has had a very proactive Youth Mentoring program. Our members actively participate in mentoring, training, and service roles for local youth.

The Task Force specifically supports two Young Marines detachments in Huntsville and Madison. We provide funding support to each Detachment for training activities, equipment purchases, field trips, and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball events. We also provide service project opportunities for each Detachment during Heroes’ Week activities and at our annual Task Force meeting.

We recently began developing a new program within Youth Engagement that is designed to encourage local high school students to be proactive in their schools and throughout their community.

Each year, we honor outstanding students at each participating school with the Robert “Bob” Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship and Award, recognizing their outreach achievements within the year. Please read below for more information on this fabulous new program.

The Task Force also helped establish and continues to support the maintenance of Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field.

The Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field was dedicated at Legacy Elementary School in Monrovia, Alabama, on March 13, 2013, in the loving memory of Matthew Dahl, son of Marge and Mike Dahl. Matthew was killed by a hit-and-run driver on May 28, 2011, three days after his sixth birthday. Matthew loved baseball! His dad, Mike, is a retired Marine and one of the founding members of the Semper Fi Community Task Force.
It has been the great honor of the Task Force to support the building of the Matt Dahl Ball Field, along with Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong and local businesses and organizations.
Under our Youth Engagement program, we continue to support the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the field. In this small way, we are able to help Mike and Marge share Matthew’s love of baseball with hundreds of school children, as well as the school’s youth baseball and softball teams year-round.

For more information and photos, visit our program-specific page, here: Youth Engagement.

Semper Fi Community Task Force of North Alabama

All Service. All Volunteer. All-In to Give Back.

The Robert "Bob" Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship and Award Fund

General Donations