Air Force Spouse, Mom of 7 Grateful for Support During School Year
Kristen Ward was not sure what the future would hold as a military spouse when her husband, Malachi, joined the Air Force in 2019. Malachi thought being enlisted would be a stable way to take care of his growing family.
Kristen and Malachi are both from small towns in Ohio and are now stationed in New Jersey at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst where Malachi is a staff sergeant. They have five boys and two girls ages 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and a newborn.
This year, the family had five children in school on the base. School supplies have become increasingly expensive, especially as teachers request more and more classroom supplies be purchased by the family.
“It helped us out so much. I wish I could hug them all. With seven kids, when you have to get them all their supplies it gets quite expensive.” – Kristen Ward, Air Force veteran spouse
“For those in third grade and up, each (student) needed five or six of each supply, and in kindergarten it was 30 of each,” Kristen said. “I spent $30 on crayons for just one of my kids.”
Kristen learned about Operation Homefront’s Back-to-School Brigade® program through a Facebook post. Since its inception in 2008, BTSB has delivered nearly 600,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to military children.
Her family attended a Back-to-School Brigade drive-thru event in Cookstown, New Jersey. It was their first time at an Operation Homefront event.
“I had all the kids in the car with me, and it was a pleasant surprise it was a drive-thru,” Kristen said. “I thought I would be there a lot longer.”
Her older kids got to pick out their own backpacks, which they enjoyed.
Kristen signed up to receive notifications for future Operation Homefront family support programs. She is grateful to Operation Homefront donors who make military families a priority.
“It helped us out so much,” she said. “I wish I could hug them all. With seven kids, when you have to get them all their supplies it gets quite expensive.”
