CHECKPOINT ONE FOUNDATION
At The Checkpoint One Foundation, our mission is to repay a debt of gratitude, and to honor a brave group of people who have risked and sacrificed for, with, and alongside our men and women in uniform.
The Checkpoint One Foundation is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization benefiting the courageous people of Iraq and Afghanistan who have voluntarily assumed great risk to life and limb by assisting United States Armed Forces in combat theaters of operation. These individuals, generally interpreters and local advisers, face regular persecution, directed violence and threats of violence as a result of their loyalty to, and sacrifices for, our endeavors abroad. Indeed, many have paid the ultimate price for their alignment with our cause.
The Foundation endeavors to provide refuge and safety to individuals and families whose bravery has made it impossible for them to now live safely in their homeland.
ORGANIZATION HISTORY
The Checkpoint One Foundation was founded in 2007 by Jason Faler, an Arabic-speaking Army National Guard officer and Iraq War Veteran, who witnessed first-hand the consequences of insurgent threats and brutal assassinations levied against interpreters who served shoulder to shoulder with our nation’s fighting men and women. Upon Mr. Faler’s return from Iraq, a number of his interpreters, facing unspeakable threats and fearing for their lives, begged for help in finding safety. The Checkpoint One Foundation was founded as a result, and has to date assisted nearly 100 Iraqi and Afghan interpreters and family members in various ways.
“…This is what separates us as a nation and a people from the rest of the world—our ability to recognize when our choices, our actions, just or unjust, have had an impact and consequences on others, and our endeavor to right that.”
Jason Faler
Founder, The Checkpoint One Foundation
As quoted in The St. Petersburg Times
WHAT’S IN A NAME
“Checkpoint One” leading into and out of the International Zone in Baghdad (pictured above) is perhaps more commonly known as the “Assassin’s Gate.” Since the fall of the Saddam Hussein Regime in 2003, multiple Iraqi interpreters and other Local Nationals have been assassinated outside of this gate by insurgent elements as retribution for assisting American and Coalition Forces.
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