Most of us here at Operation Homefront don’t know how to take “no” for an answer. One of those people is John McDonagh (pictured below), the president of Operation Homefront’s Washington State chapter. He told me a story about a family who came to Operation Homefront in need of a new engine for their van. The engine was blown out while the family was returning home after having a second wheelchair lift installed to accommodate one of their children. John knew this wasn’t a repair that Operation Homefront would be able to handle in house. But, instead of telling this client “no”, he started making phone calls to different agencies of retired service members. They called their friends and so on and so on. Well, here we are five weeks later and that family just picked up their fully repaired van, free of charge, paid for by many acts of kindness.
Operation Homefront’s Washington State chapter is one of several that hosted a wonderful shopping event in partnership with Walmart. On Dec. 6th, in Washington, five very grateful families with a total of 23 children among them were each given a Walmart gift card worth $1,000. The day began with a special Operation Homefront - designated parking area where Walmart employees guided them to a refreshment area filled with coffee and donuts. Each family was escorted throughout the store by a Walmart employee who could answer any questions about the different items. Walmart welcomed the Operation Homefront shoppers with open arms making a wonderful shopping experience for everyone.
Brenda Davis (pictured above) had an opportunity to select many needed items for her family of four. Her husband is on his second deployment and has been gone since May. The family tries to keep busy with activities such as wrestling, cub scouts, JROTC and church activities, but the holidays are hard. “All of those decorations and commercials with families, it makes me miss him that much more. It is definitely nice to have a big corporation like Walmart do something like this – my family and the other families were all very appreciative of it. It is not a small amount of money that’s for sure, and with several children and especially teenagers, it is nice to have (a chance to get) something for Christmas that they really want. Everyone thinks that when you are in the military you make a lot of money, but that just isn’t true. If it hadn’t been for the Walmart gift card and Operation Homefront, my family would have had a slim Christmas – that’s for sure. I just want to thank Walmart and Operation Homefront for providing a service like that for us. It was a real blessing.”
Thank you, Walmart, for your generously donated gift cards to more than 1,500 military families in 30 cities across the United States. These gift cards ensure a better holiday for these military families who already give so much themselves.