Update: Army Relief Fund Defends Large Reserves

Responding to news-media reports on its large cash stockpile, the U.S. military’s biggest charity defended its practices, saying fiscal prudence and long-term strategy justified building a nearly $200-million investment fund, Military.com reports.

In a letter on its Web site and a conference call with reporters, the Army Emergency Relief fund cited its positive reviews from charity watchdog groups and disputed the Associated Press’s assertion that from 2003 to 2007 its reserves were nearly double the amount the fund spend on the needs of soldiers and their families facing financial hardship.

Retired Col. Andrew Cohen, the nonprofit group’s deputy finance director, said that in recent years the organization has refocused from saving to giving, undergoing “a culture change about how to say yes.”