Founded by Taya Kyle in November 2014, the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (CKFF) strives to support military and first responder marriages, which, in turn, supports whole family units. Taya started the organization to honor her husband, “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, who passed away in February 2013. Prior to his death, Chris had already begun drafting his ideas for CKFF, intending to create a family support network that could strengthen family bonds and foster healthy relationships for generations to come.
A mission to serve
Divorce rates within the military and first responders are very high. When Chris and Taya were in the SEALS, it was around 97 percent. But Chris and Taya were part of the 3 percent who made it.
After Chris’s untimely death, Taya undertook a mission of her own: to honor Chris’s legacy by bringing his nonprofit vision to life.
The first step was to hire a consulting agency that could take CKFF through the filing process to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It was through that agency Taya met Samantha Kalfas, who would go on to become CKFF’s first full-time employee and the company’s head of partnerships and finance. Samantha says she was immediately drawn to CKFF’s mission and the people it serves. With a masters in health science and a masters in speech pathology, Samantha says she never expected to end up where she is now, but she absolutely loves it. “There’s no one out there doing what we’re doing and supporting the mission we’re supporting,” she says.