Posted by Taia Pangburn on August 05, 2014
When I raised my hand to be the volunteer lead for the Operation Homefront Fill a Lunchbox program for the Colorado Springs office cluster, I had no idea that 400 to 500 military families in our immediate area were in need of food. I was surprised to learn that 36 percent of the requests received by Operation Homefront, (a nonprofit organization that provides emergency services to our servicemen, women and their families) are requests for food. Coming from a military family myself, I do understand the need for support of these families.
Children don’t have the choice to move, they follow their parents wherever they are stationed, leaving relatives and friends behind. Moving can be hard and re-establishing support groups and close relationships can often be more challenging. And although military communities look out for one another, I remember feeling very isolated and lonely as a military kid. I got involved because I want local military families and children know that we are here for them when they need us, in the form of lunchboxes filled with healthy snacks.
This is the first year for the Operation Homefront Fill a Lunchbox initiative. While all the metrics are not in yet, 25 Booz Allen offices participated, and more than 445 colleagues donated healthy snacks for children from military families. Over 170 Booz Allen volunteers helped to fill lunchboxes with the donated goods, and nearly 1,000 lunchboxes, filled to the brim, will be donated for distribution to Operation Homefront chapters across the country.
It’s a natural fit for Booz Allen to support Operation Homefront. We work alongside active military each day and are proud to have a large number of former and retired military as colleagues and friends. Programs like Fill a Lunchbox demonstrate our support to the military community and our genuine concern for the people around us.
Colleagues in my office are already looking forward to supporting this program again next year to strengthen our communities and to build camaraderie with each other. Based on the success of the program, I feel confident we’ll help even more families next year, and for years to come.
Colleagues in my office are already looking forward to supporting this program again next year to strengthen our communities and to build camaraderie with each other. Based on the success of the program, I feel confident we’ll help even more families next year, and for years to come.
