RENO – Images of 52 faces are burned into Perry Di Loreto's memory.

Since 2003, Di Loreto and the board of directors for the Nevada Patriot Fund have donated more than $400,000 to the families of those 52 men who are fallen soldiers from Nevada.

“To date we have executed on the mission of the Nevada Patriot Fund,” Di Loreto said. “We pay death benefits to the survivors. We have done that way too may times.”

Wednesday night, the Nevada Patriot Fund finalized its merger with the Nevada Military Support Alliance. Both groups have given money and personal support to every family in Nevada that has lost a loved one serving overseas.

While the Nevada Patriot Fund dealt mainly in money, the Nevada Military Support Alliance added personal support to the monetary help.

Since the Nevada Patriot Fund's founding in 2003 and the Nevada Military Support Alliance's genesis in 2008, the organizations have raised more than $1 million and have given out more than $400,000.

However, according to Di Loreto, the merger will allow the groups to expand their services beyond just the financial.

“The purpose, the reason we merged is because we wanted to start doing more than that,” he said. “There are other needs, living needs, that people (active in the military) have. … We want to provide the types of support that fall through the cracks.”

Some of these new services could include helping access military educational benefits, travel, health benefits and more.

“We have to do two things after we reorganize,” Di Loreto said. “Identify the needs and be responsive.”

Brig. Gen. Bill Burks, the adjutant general for the state of Nevada, said in a written statement that while the military has various support services for soldiers and their families, there are gaps that can be filled by Nevada Military Support Alliance.

“When soldiers return from a war zone there is an incredible amount of stress for both them and their families as they find their place back into general society,” Burks said. “While the military has support systems, we need to recognize that soldiers really are just an extension of our community. They work, live and play in all the same places the general public does. It’s important that we provide the help these soldiers need not just because they deserve it, but because it’s important for the overall improvement of our state and communities.”

The larger organization will now take on the name of the Nevada Military Support Alliance.

The new organization will also take on the board of directors from the Nevada Patriot Fund, meaning a board of 11 plus a 40-member advisory board.

“We are in a much better position. We have an expanded board of directors, an expanded presence throughout the state,” Di Loreto said.

Now that the organization has expanded and is exploring increased services, the next step is to generate resources to meet those needs, he added.

Both organizations are nonprofits that sprung out of governor’s office advisory groups.

The Nevada Patriot Fund was created in 2003 by Gov. Kenny Guinn and several Nevada business leaders. Its purpose was was to provide financial assistance to families of Nevada military personnel who were killed in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Nevada Military Support Alliance, a civilian-led effort to provide various support services to members of the military and to military organizations within the state, was one of the primary recommendations made by the Nevada Military Blue Ribbon Panel, a group created by Gov. Jim Gibbons in 2008 to review new mission options and other aspects of the Nevada Military Department. That panel was chaired by Burks.

Both groups raise money strictly from donations. According to Di Loreto, some are as small as $5, others are as large as $50,000.

Each September, a group of leather-clad motorcycle riders get on their bikes and don their American flag regalia for the “Never Forget 9/11” motorcycle run. This year, the group raised $17,000 for the Nevada Patriots Fund.

“Our men and women in uniform give so much of themselves for our country, we need to be sure they are taken care of,” Di Loreto said. “There are plenty of areas where members of our military and our military community need support and it’s our responsibility as Americans to ensure that support is provided.”

Di Loreto is now the chairman of the newly created Nevada Military Alliance.

To donate, visit www.nvmilitarysupport.org