Our mission is to show love and gratitude to our deployed and wounded soldiers by gifting them iPads to help them easily connect to their families and loved ones while deployed or recovering from injuries.
About Us
In 2009, 25 year old Wes Pritchett (a recent West Point grad/Kiowa helicopter pilot) was deployed to Jalalabad…one of the most kinetic provinces in Afghanistan. Desperate to help in the most effective way, his mother Winnie anxiously awaited input from her son about what would truly be the most useful way to support. He reported that many of our deployed warriors serve in remote regions and have very limited access to TV, internet, cell phones, and no way to carry heavy books or computers in their 110-lb rucksacks. It became obvious to her that the typical care package of candy and magazines wasn’t enough. They needed something that allowed them to speak with their families back home, apps that could help them cope with strenuous situations, the ability to share photos with loved ones, watch movies, listen to music, read books, and even learn new skills/continue online educations and stay up to date on their training… what they really needed was an iPad.
We would ship iPads to Chaplains who would travel base-to-base, sharing the iPads with those deployed in the most rural areas. Commanders would raffle off iPads as a moral-boost, gift them to those with special circumstances/needs, to those serving the longest deployments, etc. We would send then to mechanics who could easily upload the repair manuals onto their new technology instead of lugging heavy and cumbersome books to repair tanks and helicopters. The uses and applications were endless!
Winnie and her best friend, Amy, mobilized to create bake sales, local movie nights, community walks and other grassroots efforts to start raising the money to purchase the iPads for our heroes. Many years later, they would be asked by the incredibly generous company “Diageo” to partner with them, and that quickly expanded the amount of support we were able to show the troops!
It wasn’t long after founding iPadsforsoldiers.org that Winnie and Amy also realized how beneficial the iPad was for our wounded warriors, many of whom can actually live in Walter Reed military hospital for years as they learn to navigate life with amputations, get continuous surgeries, and suffer other lengthy recoveries. Aside from boosting their spirits, the iPad and its many apps proved to be a key element in the recovery process for many wounded heroes. Apps geared toward dealing with mental health issues, traumatic brain injuries, keeping track of scheduling, etc. have proven invaluable. The touch screen proves unique in allowing those missing fingers and hands to easily navigate the iPad. And of course the FaceTime feature is also crucial for these wounded heroes to stay in visual touch with their loved ones. The iPads team has traveled sometimes several times a year since inception to surprise our wounded and their families with this gift in person. One of our early recipients, a Master Sergeant who was a double amputee (as well as several fingers and part of his forearm) told us he was not wanting to live when he was first transferred to Walter Reed. He credits the gift of the ipad, where he was able to start watching videos of other double/triple amputees doing incredible things, to turning this mindset around and inspiring him to live. He has gone on to run hundreds of marathons and even “Iron Mans” in the years following his multi-year stay at Walter Reed. Every wounded hero the ipadsforsoldiers.org team visited through all of these years left an imprint of sacrifice and honor on our hearts, and the gift of this iPad was always so meaningful to those who received it.
We are proud to say that our organization is run by an active volunteer based community, meaning we do not deduct any salaries, ever! As of March, 2024, we have gifted our heroes over 10,500 iPads. These donations have impacted thousands of soldiers and it doesn’t stop there. In turn, thousands of family members and friends, as well as doctors and therapists, have greatly benefited.
Your generosity changes our troops lives! During your visit to our site today, please consider making a donation to help US help our heroes. And, please share our mission with your friends. The more help we receive, the more we are able to say “Thank you for your service.”
Forever Grateful,
The iPads For Soldiers Team
Our History
Amy Zambrano is one of the founders of ipadsforsoldiers.org. A married mother of 2, she is a graduate of University of Florida with a Major in Advertising & Marketing and a Minor in Speech Communication. She spent her career working as an Account Supervisor in various advertising agencies across the US, managing accounts for clients such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Sunglass Hut, Mayors Jewelers, and many more. Since leaving the field, she divides her time working in her husband’s Miami-based Orthodontic practice, and her charity work which includes running her own not-for-profit dedicated to helping those in need, “Island Angels”, as well as her passionate work with ipadsforsoldiers.org.
Amy Zambrano
Jeramy Pritchett was born in East Los Angeles in 1972. From 1982 to 1990 he resided in a small town outside of Indianapolis. After that he moved to Deerfield Beach, Florida where he currently resides. He is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University. The founder of Blindfold Magazine and Florida Property Inspectors. He and his wife, Darcie, have owned Eden Day Spa in Boca Raton for over 27 years. He believes America is the greatest nation on earth and is a proud supporter of our troops.
Jeramy Pritchett
Nicole is an activist and award winning filmmaker with an emphasis on documentaries. Nicole’s documentary work often looks into dark corners, finding the light, covering taboo topics while addressing the themes of justice, transformation, and redemption.
Nicole is currently directing a documentary feature titled MICRODOSE and directing an Untitled 5-part documentary series for the award winning production company, Rakontur. Her first feature documentary, I AM (2010) won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Telluride Mt Film Festival and was featured on the OPRAH Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres Show. Nicole is also known for her work on the award winning documentary, HAPPY that takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. For five years, Nicole co-headed Shady Acres Entertainment led by Comedy Director Tom Shadyac best known for Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Nutty Professor, etc.
In 2019 Nicole co-produced the feature documentary, Magic City Hustle, which premiered at the Miami Film Festival winning the Knights Foundation Award. Currently Nicole is producing the sequel for the Netflix Hit Dawgfight (no animals are fighting), and produced the A&E documentary, SAVAGE (May 2021) and worked on the HBO doc #537 Votes, a political heist documentary aimed at inspiring people to vote (Oct 2020). Nicole was one of the producers on the Original Netflix Series, Cocaine Cowboys (August 2021) and the PM on Hulu’s most watched documentary, God Forbid (Nov 2022). Nicole was also the producer on the controversial film, UNPRECEDENTED (July 2022) which featured exclusive interviews with former President Donald Trump and his family during the Capitol Riots. In 2023 Nicole produced two episodes of the NBC Emmy nominated show Leguizamo Does America (March 2023) and was the showrunner (EP) for John Leguizamo’s new 3-part documentary series for PBS
Nicole Grace Pritchett
Wesley Pritchett served as a Captain in the United States Army from 2008-2016 after receiving his commission from the United States Military Academy at West Point. While active, he served in the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade and the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, with deployments to Afghanistan and the Republic of Korea serving as an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Pilot, Aviation Maintenance Officer and Troop Commander. His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, an Air Medal w/ Valor, 5x Air Medals and the Army Commendation Medal w/ Valor. Following his time in the Army, he received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018. He currently works in the financial technology industry for Affirm, Inc, working within their technology department.
Wesley Pritchett
A founder of ipadsforsoldiers.org, Wes Pritchett is CEO at Investor Capital Partners… a privately held, multi-strategy investment firm based in Miami, FL that pursues investment opportunities globally, across various disciplines and market sectors. He is also Director of ITA Global Trust Company, the parent company of Investors Trust Assurance, SPC, ITA International Holdings LLC (“ITA”) which formed ITA Global Trust Company Ltd., providing corporate trust services primarily for residents of the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions.
Wes Pritchett
In addition to being the founder of ipadsforsoldiers.org, Winnie Pritchett is the founder of “Investors Capital Partners”, a privately held, multi-strategy investment firm based in Miami, FL that pursues investment opportunities globally, across various disciplines and market sectors. The firm aims to preserve capital while achieving above average risk-adjusted returns and minimal volatility. The firm is currently focused on taking advantage of dislocations and inefficiencies in the domestic publicly-traded equity markets, credit markets, and global real estate market. We are involved in new issue corporate bonds, syndicate, and preferreds. Mother of 3 and Nona of two beautiful grandsons.
Winnie Pritchett
At ipadsforsoldiers.org, it is a family (and best friend!) operation! Since 2009 the Pritchetts and Winnie’s best friend Amy Zambrano have worked tirelessly to continue the mission of supporting our troops. Let us introduce you to our team, whose shared passion for our military has propelled us from a tiny grass-roots charity to an organization that has incredible corporate partners who have enabled us to send over 10,500 ipads to our troops…and counting!
Meet Our Team
Help us to continue to support these brave women and men who have sacrificed so much on behalf of us all by making a tax-deductible donation to our organization. We take no salaries, etc, and do all of the work out of love for our military alone. Every dollar helps us to show our troops, including our wounded, that we appreciate them and that they have not been forgotten.