ASY Homefront Organization of the Week

Washington, D.C.

Tom Thompson (center), winner of the America Supports You homefront group ThanksUSA’s first annual treasure hunt game, stands with Jorge Adeler of Adeler Jewelers (left), scholarship recipient Oriana Futrell and ThanksUSA CEO Bob Okun. Photo by Erin Fogarty

Washington, D.C.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson, director of U.S. Air Force Public Affairs, with players at the Women’s National Basketball Association’s annual All-Star Game, at the Verizon Center.

Daytona Beach, Fla.

John T. Carney, president of Special Operations Warrior Foundation, receives a check for $100,000 from NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Brad Brown from Budweiser. Photo by Debbie Roberts, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch.

New on the ASY Team
America Supports You is proud to welcome seven new homefront organizations to the team this week!

The Gene Vance Jr. Foundation for Catastrophically Injured War Veterans provides outsourced civilian reconstructive surgical expertise and medical care to uniquely injured war veterans free of charge.

The Soldiers Project provides free psychological counseling and education to any service member who served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, and their extended family and loved ones. It also offers free counseling to bereaved families.

Hire a Hero provides an online social network to connect caring volunteers and military-friendly employers with the military community. It also showcases special local events of interest to volunteers and the military community.

Proud Patriots, Inc. sends care packages, cards and letters to servicemembers.

Dog Tags for Kids provides for servicemembers to send dog tags engraved with a message back to their children.

Return to Honor provides three day retreats for service men and women, dealing with reintegration and combat stress. The organization also offers other programs and outreach efforts for servicemembers and returning veterans.

The Coming Home Project offers free support and stress management workshops and retreats, including psychological counseling, for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and their families. The organization also offers care providers training and self-care.

ASY from Coast to Coast and Across the Ocean
Tom Thompson, 55, of Elmont, N.Y., the grand prize winner of the America Supports You homefront group ThanksUSA’s first annual treasure hunt game, recently visited Washington, D.C. to collect a treasure chest worth $100,000. The online game was created a few years ago to help raise money for ThanksUSA’s mission of providing college, technical and vocational scholarships for service members’ children and spouses. Inside Thompson's treasure chest, which was donated by Adeler Jewelers of Great Falls, Va, were relics from around the world such as diamonds and jewels from four continents, rare coins from sunken ships and Civil War era bullets. His prize also included a tour of the White House and other D.C. sites, attending a Washington Nationals game and a stay at the Willard Hotel. The hunt's creators are sisters Rachel and Kelsi Okun of McLean, Va. "We just want people to know that they can make a difference," said Rachel. According to the Okuns, they have raised over $3.5 million for more than 1,000 military children and spouses. Oriana Futrell of Spokane, Wash., was a recipient of one of those scholarships; her husband Dan has served in Baghdad for the past year. "I found that I had received the scholarship after he had arrived in Iraq, and it was great to have that financial support during that very stressful and scary time," said Futrell.

WNBA All-Star game players greet children from the America Supports You homefront group Kids Serve Too at center court during pre-game activities at the Women’s National Basketball Association’s annual All-Star Game.

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in coordination with America Supports You showed its patriotic support for the U.S. military by donating 2,000 free tickets for servicemembers and their families to attend the All-Star Game between the Eastern Conference All-Stars and the Western Conference All-Stars at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on July 15th. Young beneficiaries of America Supports You homefront group Kids Serve Too, which sends thank you cards and letters to the children of deployed service members, also got in on the action. The youths participated in pre-game activities and welcomed the WNBA players as they later took the court. The game included special military highlights. In honor of women serving in the military, the WNBA invited Air Force Brig. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson, a former star player on the Air Force Academy's women's basketball team and a member of the academy's athletic hall of fame, to participate in a ceremonial tip off. "It's fabulous the WNBA would be so generous and invite so many military members and their kids," said Johnson, the director of U.S. Air Force Public Affairs. A Joint Service Color Guard accompanied Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Casey Elliot, a vocalist for the U.S. Navy Band, as she sang the national anthem before the game began. Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne attended the game. Wilda Ferguson, whose Virginia Army National Guard husband, Lt. Col. John Ferguson just returned home after serving a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, attended the game with her husband and their twin 6-year-old daughters. She said she was so grateful for ASY and other kinds of support: "People don't realize just how tough it is to have somebody deployed," Wilda said. Read More

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. raced the special paint theme car at the Daytona International Speedway in honor of servicemembers serving around the globe. Photo by Debbie Roberts, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch.

Thanks to the efforts of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and NASCAR fans, Budweiser was able to donate $100,000 to America Supports You homefront group, Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF). The foundation provides college educations to the children of fallen Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps special operations personnel. So far this year Budweiser has raced two uniquely themed cars in honor of servicemembers. Over Memorial Day weekend, Earnhardt Jr. raced Budweiser’s brown and beige “Desert Camo” car during the Coca-Cola 600. Recently to recognize Independence Day and honor all those who serve, Earnhardt Jr. drove the red, white and blue “Stars & Stripes” car at the Pepsi 400. Budweiser donated the proceeds from the sale of the collectible diecasts made of the two special cars to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. “Through the generosity of Budweiser and the support of NASCAR fans, children of fallen special operations personnel will be reminded that there are caring Americans who recognize the sacrifices that their parents have made and that they want them to succeed in life with a college education,” said John T. Carney, Jr., President/CEO, Special Operations Warrior Foundation. More than 700 children currently benefit from the efforts of the SOWF. Read More

Mary Pierce, from Las Cruces, N.M., is helping to spread the America Supports You message by caring for her daughter Senior Airman Jennifer Cianfrocca’s entire unit at Camp Cunningham, the 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. The squadron has elected Pierce “Best Squadron Mom” for all that she has done for them, including sending up to four boxes a week to ensure that the A-10 pilots and their team have enough Cajun Trail Mix to hold them over until the next shipment. “We recently awarded Pierce the ‘Best Squadron Mom’ award because her incredible efforts have been great for our morale, especially for our first-time deployers,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Kevin Anderson, 354th EFS commander. “These reminders of home make the deployment easier and the fact people are thinking of you while you’re away is a good feeling." Pierce, an American with Disabilities Act coordinator for Dona Ana County, New Mexico spends her own money on the packages that she sends to Afghanistan. However, co-workers sometimes also contribute money or goodies for her to send overseas. “I consider it a privilege to support the Bulldogs,” Pierce said. “They are the best of the best. They are brave, courageous and so very dedicated to their mission. Jennifer made an excellent choice when she joined the Air Force. I am so very proud of her.”
Read More

Update: America Supports You homefront group Operation Gratitude is sure to make both one lucky servicemember and civilian smile: both will receive a 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited. The homefront group was presented with the symbolic keys to a 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited by a Tri-State Jeep Dealers Association representative last week during a Military Appreciation Day pre-game ceremony at Shea Stadium in Queens, N.Y. The keys went directly into the homefront group’s 250,000th care package, and the Jeep, donated by the carmaker in celebration of the group’s milestone, will be driven home by an unknown servicemember upon his or her return to the states. “We are proud and humbled to contribute to a great organization like Operation Gratitude that does so much good in support of our troops,” said Eric Neilsen, president of the New York Dealers Association. To extend support for Operation Gratitude, the New York Mets baseball team, New York’s CW11/WPIX television station, a part of Tribune Broadcasting and Jeep launched a letter-writing campaign that kicked off last week, and will run through Sept. 17. When the campaign ends, one writer’s letter will be randomly chosen and sent to Operation Gratitude's 250,000th package recipient. The letter-writer will also be awarded a 2007 Jeep Patriot. Both the package recipient and the winning letter-writer will be announced during a Sept. 30 pre-game ceremony at Shea Stadium in Queens, N.Y. Read More

Freedom Walk News
Beacon of Hope Outreach Center recently announced that well-known speaker Cheryl McGuinness will be the keynote speaker for its second annual Operation Hope/America Supports You Freedom Walk in September at Fort Carson Army Post in Colorado Springs. Cheryl McGuinness’ late husband Tom McGuinness perished on September 11, 2001, when the plane that he was piloting, American Airlines Flight 11, was hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the first World Trade Center. She will share how the event shattered her world and launched her into the national spotlight. Also at the Freedom Walk will be country singers Aaron Lines and Tammy Cochran.

Featured on the ASY Web Site Last Week
Silver Star Families of America
“Each program, I feel, (assures) the wounded veterans that people really do care about them and that (the caring) didn’t just stop when they came home… we’re hoping it will encourage them.”
- Janie Orman, Vice President, Silver Star Families of America

Operation Troop Aid
“Operation Troop Aid is ... striving to make a positive difference and inspire our armed forces by letting them know Americans stand with them… What better way to express our freedom than to reach out to the ones who provide it?"
-Mark Woods, President, Operation Troop Aid