08/26/04
Thousands of troops, families benefit from Newman's Own Largesse
By Karen JowersWounded and deployed troops and their families are among thousands who will benefit from $57,000 in grants to private organizations that serve the military community.
The Angels of Mercy, a group serving injured troops and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, received the top $10,000 grant Aug. 24 from the Newman’s Own Awards program.
The Angels of Mercy take phone cards, comfort pillows, clothing, and other items to wounded and injured troops at least once a week, and provide home-cooked meals and an attentive ear to their families.
Fifteen other award-winning organizations received grants of $1,000 to $5,000. The program, which has awarded $232,000 in grants since it began five years ago, is sponsored by Newman’s Own, the Fisher House Foundation, and the Military Times Media Group.
There were 64 entries in this year’s competition.
The Angels of Mercy effort has become a way of life for Marian Chirichella, president of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 270, and co-founder of the group with her husband. As they visit the troops, “we are the face of America, and express the gratitude all Americans feel for what these brave young men and women have given up for you and me,” Chirichella said. “As long as young people are returning wounded and injured, we’ll be there to help.”
Two organizations emphasizing help for special-needs families received $5,000 grants:
• Camp Flashhh, sponsored by the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA in California, gives special-needs families the chance to escape their daily routine for new adventures.
• The Lindsay Project, at Fort Lewis, Wash., trains volunteer liaisons in each troop unit to reach out to families with special needs, with an emphasis on deploying units.
This was the brainchild of Summer Krook, an Army wife, who was inspired by a special needs child, Lindsay Tyree, 15, and her Army family. Krook, working with the Fort Lewis exceptional family member coordinator and a community organization, trains liaisons in family readiness groups to connect with special-needs families.
“It’s people like Summer with a big heart who can change people’s lives,” said Tyree, who attended the awards ceremony. “It makes me feel I’m not ‘special needs’ — I’m just another person.”
Receiving $4,000 grants were:
• Operation Interdependence, a Fallbrook, Calif., organization that streamlines the delivery of packages to deployed service members, repackaging individual care packages into platoon-sized boxes to relieve stress on the mail distribution system.
• Handy Man Hotline Materials, run by the Connecticut National Guard Family Program, which reduces stress on families by helping diagnose and repair household problems, or referring them to competent businesses at no cost for labor. Funds are used to purchase materials for repairs.
• USA Cares, a Radcliff, Ky., organization that offers support to service members and families of all branches, worldwide. They don’t give money to individuals, but work with other local organizations to help troops and families in need, whether to pay a utility bill or a repair bill, or provide gift cards for groceries.
• Camp Wonderland, sponsored by the Missouri National Guard Wonderland Foundation, focuses on physically and mentally challenged family members of Missouri Guard members.
Receiving a $3,000 grant was:
• Operation Gratitude, California National Guard-affiliated nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that sends care packages and letters of support to troops deployed overseas.
Receiving $2,000 grants were:
• Glory Boots and Pay It Forward, both programs of the Mothers of Military Support of the 81st Armor Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash., which became a distributor of desert boots with sewn soles and ankle support that are sent to deployed unit members and a conduit for the public to purchase gift cards that given anonymously to families of deployed service members.
• United Through Reading, a program sponsored by the Family Literacy Foundation of San Diego that facilitates supportive relationships for children through families and friends reading aloud to them.
• Adoptaplatoon, a Kingston, N.H., nonprofit organization that promotes morale-lifting mail, care packages and other support measures to deployed service members via “platoon moms” and thousands of volunteers.
Receiving $1,000 grants were:
• Operation Hero, a program of the San Diego Armed Services YMCA, a free, eight-week, after-school enrichment program for children of service members to help them succeed in school and develop self-esteem through counseling from trained social workers and individualized homework assistance.
• Family Support Center — School Supplies, a program of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Mt. Hood, Ore., which works with the children of the activated members of the 939th Air Refueling Wing and 304th Rescue Squadron based in the Portland area.
• Missoula Children’s Theater, the nation’s largest children’s theater program, and the William T. Sampson Elementary School Parent Teachers Organization from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which sought a grant to help pay for a team of actors and directors to develop and produce a full-scale musical with 40 to 50 military children in the cast.
• Cannon Enlisted Spouses Club, a group of enlisted spouses who share common Air Force bonds like deployments, family separations and adjusting to new bases, promote fellowship and serve as a resource for others at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.
• Andrews Home Educators, a nonprofit support group made up of home-school families affiliated with Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
In addition to the monetary awards, the judges selected three organizations for honorable mention, including:
• Cadet for a Day, sponsored by volunteers from the 34th Operations Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Road Dawg Support, sponsored by the Family Readiness Group of the 846th Transportation Company, a North Carolina Army Reserve unit.
• Looking In, Reaching Out, USA Girl Scouts — Overseas Pacific.