Holiday Meals Program Offers Support for Military Family
Army veteran Joe Boyer enlisted in the Army in 2009 when the recession caused his security system contracts to dry up and he wanted to find stability for his family.
His wife, Jessica, learned about nonprofit Operation Homefront when they first became a military family.
The first event they attended was a Holiday Toy drive. She has also participated in the Back-to-School Brigade® (BTSB) and enjoyed a Star-Spangled Babies® shower when their third child was born. Most recently, the family celebrated July Fourth with the help of the Holiday Meals for Military (HMFM) program in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“They had really cute picnic baskets and silverware sets,” she said. “We also got a gift card, and the kids had a chance to make little bracelets.”
“This is an amazing program that relieves the burden for active and veteran military families.” – Jessica Boyer, military spouse
Thanks to generous donors such as Safeway and Raytheon, the Boyer family was one of 350 served during the event held at John Venezia Park in June. Participants received a $50 gift card from Safeway, along with a summer picnic bag that included a branded Operation Homefront picnic blanket, reusable silverware kits, and a small snack bag with applesauce, trail mix, cheese crackers, fruit snacks, and juice pouches. It also included a sunscreen pouch with travel-size handwipes.
Raytheon provided reusable popcorn containers and the funds for the picnic basket.
Thanks to its generous donors, Operation Homefront has provided more than 680,000 individual holiday meals to service members, veterans, and their families since the HMFM program began in 2010.
Jessica appreciates that donors to Operation Homefront are helping active-duty service members, their families, and veterans.
She and her husband both come from military families. Their fathers each were in the Army.
Joe served seven years before medically retiring as a sergeant in 2015 because of an injury during a deployment to Afghanistan. Jessica is grateful to Operation Homefront donors.
“This is an amazing program that relieves the burden for active and veteran military families,” Jessica said.
