Blue Star Moms Serve Military During the Holidays
Blue Star Mothers groups go out of their way to serve military personnel stationed overseas, especially during the holidays.
By JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Published: 11/26/2011 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 11/26/2011 8:28 AM
But making care packages for the troops also serves as a support for those families who miss their deployed relatives during the holidays.
"We're here to take care of the troops, but it's the great sisterhood that we have here to support each other through all of this," said Kimberly Graham, president of the Tri-County Blue Star Mothers in Owasso.
Service members who do receive packages from the area Blue Star Mothers chapters can expect a little extra this month - their way to show the troops they're remembered during this time of the year.
"We put everything we would normally put in boxes in addition to cards and little bags," said Kay Sleeper, president of the Tulsa chapter of the Blue Star Mothers, "just to show them that we're supporting them through the holidays."
The Tri-County Blue Star Mothers chapter was sending out about 65 boxes a month in August. Now, it sends about 130, Graham said. Most go to members of the Oklahoma National Guard deployed to Afghanistan or to other families in units with Oklahoma ties.
Sleeper said the Tulsa chapter hopes to send about 2,000 boxes this holiday season. Several other area chapters also send hundreds of care packages a month.
Graham said the boxes can contain anything to give the troops comforts from home that they may be missing - some things people here may take for granted, such as basic toiletry and hygiene items.
"For them, those are all huge comfort items they can have, so they are deeply appreciative of what we can give them. It's like Christmas every month for them when they get a box," Graham said. "If they're deployed and they're on hostile soil, we want to make sure they're taken care of."
Sending all those boxes takes hours of sorting, labeling and packing, Graham said. It's time the moms and loved ones can spend remembering their own family member who is deployed and supporting one another through those deployments.
One of the mothers had a son who completed basic training and Airborne School in the Army last year, which is what Graham's son, Jake, just finished this fall, she said.
"So what she's gone through in the last year is what I'm going through," Graham said.
Now, that mother's soldier is deployed in Afghanistan, while Graham's son prepares for a deployment later this month.
"So I'm supporting her through this very scary deployment for her, and she's been able to give me the support," Graham said.
Packing those boxes serves that dual purpose. The mothers and families get the support, and the troops get that connection to home. That's what drives Graham; despite fighting pneumonia, she spent most of her Saturday last week getting the care packages ready.
"It was a long day on Saturday," Graham said. "And they got on to me because I was sick and said 'Why are you here?'
"Well, our soldiers work. If they can do it, I'll do it. Until they come home."
SpiritBank is a drop-off location for Blue Star Moms. Please take supplies to any of the following branch locations:
Sapulpa Branch on East Taft
1315 East Taft Street
(918) 227-3000
Tulsa - 18th & Baltimore Branch
1800 South Baltimore Avenue
(918) 295-7227
Tulsa - 51st & Harvard Branch
4815 South Harvard Avenue
(918) 742-4442
Tulsa - 96th & Memorial Branch
9618 South Memorial
(918) 298-9618
Oklahoma City Branch
11217 North May Avenue
(405) 302-2000
Stroud Branch
723 West 4th Street
(918) 968-3522
Cushing Branch
300 North Harrison Avenue
(918) 225-3434
SpiritMortgage – SpiritBank Event Center
10441 S. Regal Boulevard
Tulsa, OK 74133
Bristow Branch
601 North Main Street
(918) 367-3311
Stillwater Branch
417 South Perkins Road
(405) 377-2754 ?