Year In Pictures - A Father's Reward

Yes this man is holding a Hope & Courage Award from Hope For The Warriors®.  Yes, he is on stage with Gary Sinise and John Vigiano, two incredible men.  But there is no doubt in my mind what the true award is for this moment.  Every one of us should be so lucky to have our young daughter look at us with such admiration and love.  And if I remember correctly, she went on stage with him in her bare feet.  This was one of my favorite moments of the Got Heart, Give Hope Gala this year. 

Photo provided courtesy of Paul Oberle.

Year In Pictures

Each year, Life Magazine highlights their "Year In Pictures" and it is always one of my favorite reviews of the year.  With that in mind, for the next few days, I will post a photo each day.  I have different reasons for posting these photos--some amuse me, others inspire me.  I hope that you enjoy the memories surrounding these photos as much as I do.

There are two photographers in particular that I will be posting many photos from.  John Althouse is a freelance photographer in Jacksonville, NC and does a great job covering many of our races and events.  Paul Oberle is a photographer for the Department of Defense.  He also happens to be the boyfriend of our Team Hope For The Warriors® Director.

We are so lucky to have two talented people help our organization.  You will also see photos taken by me or other amateurs.  I hope that these lower quality images are still inspiring to you.

And now for a photo that has nothing to do with Hope For The Warriors® but still inspires me.

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry shakes Obama's hand after receiving the Medal of Honor.

Full article found here.

Simulator Helps Families Understand PTSD

This news report highlights a new simulator program to help families understand PTSD.  Many of our service members return from war, struggling with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.  These hidden wounds affect the entire family--spouses, children, parents, and more.

The simulator is the first of its kind and the goal is to prepare families to manage their new life with a wounded service member.

The creator of the simulator shares--"These families are very nervous, scared in fact, about saying the wrong thing or not saying anything at all."

At this point, we do not know how successful this program will be in helping individuals understand and manage PTSD within their family.  The Lopez family, highlighted in this segment, is hopeful that this program will give them tools to begin the healing process.

Friday's Photo

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

John and Manny at their first triathlon.

And a special addition this Friday, a short thank you video from Manny.  A longer PSA is in the works right now too.

Charity Navigator Rates--Military Families Review

It is amazing that in the last few weeks of this blog, I have not yet written about Charity Navigator.  Charity Navigator is a nonprofit organization that evaluates charities in the areas of fiscal responsibility and accountability.  Under their mission statement, they write:

"Charity Navigator works to guide intelligent giving. We help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on over five thousand charities and by evaluating the financial health of each of these charities. We ensure our evaluations are widely used by making them easy to understand and available to the public free of charge. By guiding intelligent giving, we aim to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace, in which givers and the charities they support work in tandem to overcome our nation's most persistent challenges."

When Hope For The Warriors® earned a Four-Star Rating on the site, we were ecstatic.  Their rating proved what we already knew--that donated dollars go to the miltary families that we support, not to expensive salaries and marketing plans.

The site also invites people to review nonprofits and today I went to the site to see if any new reviews had been added.  As I write this blog, we have 53 reviews.  They have been written by board members, volunteers, sponsors and professionals.  But the reviews that mean the most to me are those written by service members and family members that we have supported.  The words on the screen stand as proof that the work we do at Hope For The Warriors® makes a difference to military families everywhere.  When I have a difficult day, I will go to that site, and read these reviews.

Here are just some of the reviews:

"I am a combat wounded Marine, and I have had my life turned upside down. I had everything that I knew and planned for taken from me. The devastating effect that has on your morale is epic. Hope For The Warriors® gave me a reprieve from the daily struggle that is living with a combat injury, and more than that, they showed me how much people care about us. The country will forever be scarred by how the Vietnam Veterans were received, but it says something that we learned from that mistake. It also reinforces to us combat wounded that we are not forgotten. Which means more than most will ever understand. I contacted a few of the people that helped me over a year later and they still remembered me. That sort of personal connection is hardly even heard of in other 'industries' and I feel it really says something about the level that Hope For The Warriors® actually cares about the vets they serve."  

"I was lucky enough to be able to attend fleet week with the Hope For The Warriors® and was extremely pleased. This was my first trip that I had taken with any organization since my injury and I am glad that I was able to work with the Hope For The Warriors® staff. Throughout the stay they far exceed my expectations and were very well organized. Every single aspect of this trip was thought out in extreme detail to ensure that every person was able to enjoy their time no matter what we were doing. I would highly recommend this organization to people that are wanting to donate as well as to people that have been injured and are wanting to go on a very fun trip. It helps all of us injured service members get reintegrated back into society after our long medical needs. "

"I can't even focus on a starting point to express my grattitude to Hope For The Warriors®. This organization has that sparkle and magic that instantly creates that family bond with servicemembers who often have an empty hole or void from within. They have not only taken care of me, my entire family has been pulled up under their wing of hope. Any event that I was priviledged enoough to be a part of Hope For The Warriors® far exceeded any expectations. They give you that special moment that the average family would not be able to afford or do the logistical leg work to make it happen."                       

Read the entire profile here.

 

Hope For The Holidays

Christmas is an amazing time of year for children.  Even when children get past the age of believing, there is always hope and excitement surrounding this day. 

For parents, the feelings can be very different.  The shopping and searching for that perfect gift can be very stressful.  As we shop, we wonder--am I buying too little or too much? Will my kids like their gifts?  Will these gifts mean something to them a few months from now?

When a family is having financial difficulties, Christmas can be even more stressful.  Then the parents start to wonder--how can I pay for this or how are we going to put anything under the tree?

Many of our military families are already struggling during a time of transition and uncertainty.  We want to ensure that the holiday season is a celebration for the entire family, not a source of stress.

This year, Hope For The Warriors® has created the Holiday Giving Initiative.  We are matching up families that need assistance with families or companies that would like to donate to make this holiday time special.  We have 13 families in need that we are still trying to match with a donor.

We are running out of time!  We have set a deadline of December 16 so that we can get the Visa gift cards to these families and give them enough time to purchase gifts for their children.  If you would like to help, please let us know today!

To learn more, email Leslie Hunt.  To donate, visit our donation page and include "Holiday Giving Initiative" in the comments.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Tunnel to Towers and Team Hope For The Warriors®

For ten years now, the Tunnel to Towers Race has been held in New York City at the end of September.  It repeats the steps that firefighter Stephen Siller ran on 9/11. He rushed from the entrance of the Brooklyn Tunnel, on foot and in full gear, to the towers in hopes to join his fellow firefighters.  He made it to the towers and died with so many other heroes that day.

The Siller family has carried on his name and they are without a doubt, an incredible family.  They are generous and energetic--proud of their brother and proud of our service members.  And they really know how to take care of those service members.

Team Hope For The Warriors® joins in this event each year at the start of the race.  Before the race begins, one of our wounded service members is donated a handcycle from the Siller Family.  That handcycle will enable that warrior to embrace their competitive spirit and once again by defined by their accomplishments, not their injuries.

Another major project of The Siller Foundation is building homes for severely wounded service members.  They have plans to build several homes in 2012 for service members who are multiple amputees--most have three or four amputations.  Hope For The Warriors® has partnered with the Siller Foundation to furnish each one of the homes.

I write about this today because a fellow blogger, Roger Stradley, highlighted our organization in his blog yesterday.  To read more about the Siller Foundation and their work, visit his blog.

A Member of our Team at the start of the Tunnel to Towers Race
Photo provided courtesy of Paul Oberle.