I recently learned from one of my co-workers that both of her sons were being deployed to unstable regions of the world. She was the first person to welcome me to ILSA and trained me for my initial position here. Since then, she has become very dear friend of mine. When I learned about her boys, it really struck me. As a mom to three wonderful children, I can’t imagine what she endures daily, wondering if her children are okay. I had a conversation with her about care packages. She told me, “You would be surprised how many of our soldiers receive nothing from home.”
Someone Cares
That statement broke my heart. These men and women risk their lives daily to protect our freedom. The thought that they do that without any reminders from home, without knowing someone cares, is completely unacceptable to me. I decided we would adopt both of the boys’ entire companies. I researched what items they were allowed to have, quickly made a list, and emailed it to my co-workers. Items rolled in. We are very excited about sending the care packages, along with some hand written notes. (Yes, people still actually write notes!)
So many times, people see a problem as so large that they think they couldn’t possibly make an impact. They become overwhelmed and don’t act at all. Any small act of kindness is better than no act at all. We are constantly bombarded with negativity. Wouldn’t it be nice to combat that with even the smallest act of kindness?
How to Help
I encourage you to serve those that are in service to you. Below are a few ideas on how you can help:
- Pact for Animals is a website devoted to fostering military service members pets while they are on deployment.
- Soldier’s Angels is a full comprehensive website full of creative ways to show love from adopting a soldier to becoming an Angel baker, sending fresh baked good to our troops.
- Blue Star Families connects you to local families in your area that are serving in the military.