Founders Message

Some may say that the casualty of war is part of the "job" and that the choice was made during the enlistment process. The choice was made, to protect and defend our Country and the rights of all citizens who call the United States of America "home".

However, were it not for the courage of our brave service men and women and veterans of past we would not be in a position to voice our feelings as freedom would allow.

All the liberties enjoyed during every moment of our lives are "gifted" and guaranteed by these brave service men and women. Our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents as well as ourselves have been given a true "gift" of love and courage, while these military families have sacrificed their future happiness and suffered a loss so tremendous that no one will ever fill the empty void that is forever left behind

What happens when our military families yellow ribbons come down off their trees and mailboxes and are replaced by flags lowered to half-staff?

The lives of many spouses, children, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and all other family members of service men and women lost to the casualty of war are changed dramatically within moments of that dreaded notification that their loved one will not be coming home. One miniscule moment of happiness is replaced by many more days of sadness and the hope that all would be fine as their loved one would be returning to them safe and sound is forever lost and filled with an empty void.

There is so much emphasis placed on our political beliefs ~ who does what, who is doing what...what was done and then again we all have our opinions of what should have been done. Do you think our service member overseas is concerned about politics? They are concerned about their loved ones and with good reason. Their loved ones, many under the age of 18 miss, love and worry daily whether their father or mother will return home and whether they are safe.

Many of our celebrities and leaders may not know or share the stories of our military and their families, but if you were to consider this - how many holidays, celebrations, weddings, birthdays, and unfortunately births of your own have you missed? How many celebrations, holidays, birthdays and then unfortunate losses in your own family can you withstand for twelve (12) months at a time? Consider this, a young man enlists in the Army or Marines - he is in boot camp and training when he meets the girl of his dreams. They marry before deployment, he finds out that his wife is expecting and the anguish begins. This young man loses his life - neglects to change the beneficiary of his life insurance policy and his wife, son or daughter then must move off base, try to get themselves together after the burial and then move on. Their grief is so great that they cannot move forward. There is no life insurance benefits for his family; his wife has been attending college with the help of her husband's income and must now stop, their child is in need of the essential basics of life, has lost his father and the family is now living a life of poverty.

No matter what comforts of home we send to our troops -we can never replace the days and months lost with their families during their deployments. We can never replace the gift of life, however, we can help and comfort the children and spouses of our fallen and wounded service members by easing their financial hardships and honoring the life of our American Heroes. These children need our help and they need to know that we will stand by them.This is the American way and it's time we stand up and prepare ourselves for reality. God Bless and comfort our families during their times of grief.

I always am asked why? Why did my youngest son decide to enlist in the Army, why did my nephew, my father, uncles and grandfathers and yours? Did they do so for the money, for the benefits, in order to get some help with their education, for discipline, for honor, for our country, for their own family or were they drafted? Does it matter that each and everyone of us are able to peruse this site and others because of them? It matters to me and it matters to my family. Each of us have our own reasons and make our own choices in life; some good some bad. I did it because it broke my heart each and every time I packaged items to send to troops overseas just thinking about them, the danger they were in and their families back home; every day and night as I watched the news and wondered where my own son was, when and if ever we would hear from him again, each night as I laid awake and asked God to protect him, his comrades and all our service members and their own families, each night as I watched his Dad look out our own living room window only to realize seven months after his deployment that he was looking in fear for the men in uniform to approach our front door and each evening as we watched as another casualty was shown. I did it then and I'll continue to do so for the families of our brave service men and women for they would want someone to be there for their own. My son came home, he may even go back and the fear of losing him will return. I can only hope and pray that I can be more prepared if there is another time for him, but I don't believe any of us are ever prepared ~ who was prepared on September 11th? Were you?

These children are young, they are hurting and full of grief. Read about and look at young, Christian and you'll know why. When you get the chance watch this video by 15 year old, Lizzie Palmer, also and hopefully you too will know why. Photo by Aaron Thompson

Read here about my friend, SPC Gregory Stovall who served overseas with my son and made his own sacrifice when their convoy was hit. I had the opportunity to meet and spend some quality time with Gregory who spoke of how he was anxious to get back to Baghdad with his guys. That day they lost Sgt. Francisco Martinez. What more can I say?

Read Newsweek 3/21/05 edition about the children affected

What the end of 2006 has brought:

Total revenues were $234, 196, our revenue to management/administrative ratio was 4.8% this year. With the help of our wonderful sponsoring partners and the public we awarded eight educational scholarships and five financial grants in the first three quarters 2006. Unfortunately no applicants applied during the last quarter so please share our organization with those you feel may have a need.

We continue to see a wide interest of support and have many firms, schools, churches, other non-profits and many more individuals to thank this year. Many of them who have held their own fundraisers, some were surprises and others came to us and asked how they could help. We offer our gratitude to everyone involved for you and we enjoy sharing our mission as we partner together to make a difference in our service member families. For any of our contributors that are interested in sharing our program with those in your area, please contact us for there are many volunteer possibilities throughout the States. Our relationships with our families continue to grow as do our passions to help them during their time of need. Here are some of our corporate and business sponsors: Star Touring & Riding, Chapter 469, ACE Duraflo Pipe Restoration, Jim Raby, Green Beans Coffee, Chardonnay Golf Club, Old River Truck Sales, Real Tax Business Success, Feed Your Soul, Clark Pinnacle, Ravinia Club, DLA Piper employees, Marriott Corporation employees, employees of Congressman K. Michael Conway, Harold & Janet Knight Family Fund, Cornerstone Government Affairs, TSS Marketing, The Craven Family Foundation, and others; Ohio University Alpha Phi Omega members, and K. McCoy Insurance Agency. There are too many to list here and some that ask to remain private. Again, a large amount of fundraisers this past year! Tony Hunter who ran in the Bull Run 50 Mile marathon, Michael, a young scout who wanted to do something special for other children, North Eastern High School's (Clarksville, TN) "Eagles on the Homefront's" "5 Miles For Familes of the Fallen", Ohio University 5k, Kennesaw State Poker Tournament, "Leather, Linen, Chrome, Crystal & Comedy Bike Ride", St. Alphonsus School's Dress Down Day, East Coloma 4th Grade Auction, Fallen Heros Charity Event, Clark Pinnacle Golf Classic, Operation Mend A Heart, Endurance 100 "Ride For Life", Pool 4 School, Op Appreciate Freedom, Pro Tax Boot Camp, CSP Holiday Caroling Event, K McCoy Inc. Insurance Agency Holiday Fundraiser and Operation Send A Hug by members of the First Congregational Church of Swanzey, NH. Now I know some may be missing and apologize that we can't list them all here, but I think each and every person knows how much we appreciate them.

I must talk a little bit about Operation Send A Hug. There are times when we are asked to do something that is not part of our mission and we have yet to say no for when it comes to our families we'll do what we can to help. This is what happened with Operation Send A Hug, members of the FCC wanted to hand stuff teddy bears for our surviving children and were having a difficult time finding an organization that could get these lovingly, soft, cuddly little bears to the children...well, we don't know how to say no and how could we? When our first shipment of teddies came in and the first box was opened, tears began to flow. The love and compassion that came out of that first box is something that no one could imagine...these wonderful teddies are being hand delivered on a regular basis to our surviving children and brings them joy when grief is at it's most overwhelming point, during the service of their father or mother. We just had our very first, First Grade Class hand stuff their own teddies on Sami's "Beary Special Day" during the week of Memorial Day 2007. These young 6 and 7 year olds very lovingly stuffed teddies for another child that was sad and wrote their own loving notes for their friends. Many of these teddies will be shipped thousands of miles away in the hopes of bringing a smile and a big hug from one child to another. Thank you FCC members and friends for sending your hugs our way!

We also had a lot of inquiries as other families wanted to provide gifts to our families this past holiday season. By carefully matching children with other children, families with families and individuals with families and spouses we were able to listen and help with the true meaning of giving as presents were sent to families, many who could not afford to fulfill even the smallest gifts for their children. The Adopt A Family program went off without a hitch and many of the families began relationships with others that care about their well-being.

So many people ask me why? If you could see my smile and feel the smiles of those we serve, then you would certainly know the answer. The best thing you can give in life is part of yourself and when you give part of yourself to others it fulfills so many dreams that may have just been that. I give thanks to all our service members and their families for without them we would not be able to reach our dreams.

What the end of 2005 has brought:

Total revenues from events and donations for the year ending 2005 were $110,213.00

As we continue with our mission to provide emotional and financial support to our military families affected by a loss we find that more and more members of the public are opening their hearts by reaching out to find ways to support our troops and their families. Not only was there an increase in individual and corporate donations, but there was also an interest as others chose to raise donations from members within their community specifically to help our fallen service member families. Posh Nite-Club, Golf Courses in Texas, Earl's 26.2 mile marathon mission, Operation Enduring Obligation, Mayflower Foundation's Summer Gala, the Loonbird Charity Event, ATN's Charity Event, Real Hoboken's Event and others planned, surprised and joined in celebrating the American Hero and their families. Some of these contributors asked if they could raise funds to help families from within their State and found it much more rewarding knowing they could do so through our organization.

We began to receive our first applications in 2005 and awarded two College Scholarships.

The children of our fallen troops are affected as they try to maintain employment, continue with their education and struggle to keep up college loans. We strive to help those in need and work towards alleviating their hardships by providing scholarships that will help maintain their goals and keep their parent's dream alive. Even the smallest amount helps and this is the least we can do to help our surviving military children. It is also a way to honor the memory of their father or mother, the true American Hero!

Many of our military spouses have been working hard to gain their degrees, however, find that after their husband or wife is gone not only are they dealing with their loss, but find that their dreams are more difficult to achieve. We hope to be able to continue with our College Scholarship program and encourage those in need to apply.

In 2005 our first applications for financial assistance were received as well and with your help we helped five struggling families.

Some of our families are without heat, have major home repairs, cannot afford to attend memorial services for their spouses, need help with dental or medical expenses, move off base and can't afford moving expenses, first and last months rent and many chose to move back home with their parents in order to save the funds necessary to provide safe and adequate housing for their children. We would like to help every family that applies, however, must continue to help those that display a true financial hardship and those whose hardships directly affect their children. As our funds grow so will our programs!

Thank you to all who make all our programs possible and who continue to share their kindness with the families of our military! We are honored to be able to honor their loved one's sacrifices and do so on behalf of our wonderful contributors!

Lastly, we are proud to report that our revenues to expense ratio for the year ending 2005 was 3%.

What the end of 2004 has brought:

Total revenues from events and donations for the year ending 2004 were $50,173.39

With the beginning of a New Year and change of seasons, I am happy to announce that the last month of 2004 brought forth much love and support from many families and some of the businesses within our Nation. We received two large donations of $15,000 and $5,000 from separate businesses the end of December and we received many Christmas donations from families whose decision or childrens decision was to provide help to the children and families of our fallen military.

Two young boys raised funds by selling their grandfather's honey to others. Ella who is only 3 years old asked that the Christmas gift that would be spent on her present go to another child, as well as 12 year old Kaylee, 15 year old Maven and many other young children.

These words were written from some of the families:

"We decided as a family to donate money to an organization that would help support our soldiers and their families. I have a wonderful father and I love him very much, I cannot imagine going through life without him. My small yet heartfelt donation is in no way a sacrifice for me, but an honor and privilege to help those who will go through life without their fathers. I am grateful for the country we live in for the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and the freedom of others."

Families from Arizona, California, Florida, the District of Columbia, Maine, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Colorado, Virginia and North Carolina. Many hearts came together to pay tribute to our wonderful service men and women, and to honor their sacrifices that enable us to remain free. We are a wonderful nation and when we band together we can make a difference to our military families.

Thank all of you for your "gifts" this Holiday season and for those that may take offense, I am sorry that I cannot apologize for the families that donated their Christmas gift monies to other families in more need. Many families in this nation have celebrated Christ and Christmas for many years, and no one can take that from us, just as there are those that celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanza we should all celebrate in our traditional manners and in peace.

Merry Christmas to all of our Troops

and May God Bless and Keep You All Safe!

Rebecca Campbell, Founder