It doesn’t matter how many times I see the same theme repeated, I’m always touched by the tear-jerking commercials about the sons or daughters who surprise their families by coming home for the holidays. The joy of reuniting with dearly loved family just never gets old for me.
Maybe I’m especially sensitive because I know that for our deployed troops, that simply won’t happen. As hard as it is, being apart during the holidays is something military families learn to accept. Parents often miss the birth of a child, birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Add to that the stresses of an economic recession, and the challenges our military families face are even greater than usual.
Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance and morale-boosting programs to our troops, their families and wounded warriors. We provide assistance beyond what the Department of Defense provides, and we do it within 72 hours of a request. Here’s an example of one family served by Operation Homefront: With Dad awaiting his 11th (6-month) deployment and Mom waiting to be reassigned from the Air National Guard to active duty in the Air Force, they couldn’t afford heating oil. Bad enough for any family during winter, but for this Air Force family from North Pole, Alaska, where temps bottom out at 18 degrees below zero, this was a true crisis. With the help of generous donors, Operation Homefront filled the oil tank to warm them for the winter. When a family has to choose between heating oil and gifts for the kids, you can imagine their holiday would have been pretty dismal. We help cover some of the necessities so the lower-ranking military can use their scarce resources to meet other family needs.
We’ll have a big announcement here tomorrow about all the things we’re going to do through a special partnership with Walmart.
We encourage you all to indulge in the spirit of the season and find a way to share your gifts with our military families. Whether it’s time, talent or a financial contribution, we all benefit from your kindness and compassion.
To learn more about Operation Homefront and how you can become involved, please visit www.operationhomefront.net.
To donate to Operation Homefront please click here.