thedrifter
05-06-03, 07:04 AM
May 05, 2003
Foundation helps families of deployed troops
Associated Press
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — At least one private initiative has added to public and corporate efforts to help North Carolina military families upended when one parent deploys for active duty.
Bambi MacRae and Alyson Barnard of Wilmington, N.C., have started a fund-raising campaign to help military spouses at Camp Lejeune pay for child-care services.
“I feel that Sept. 11 touched the patriotism in me,” Barnard said. “When the war started, I just felt so helpless. I wanted to do something. I wanted to do something nurturing. I just can’t get over the sacrifices the military and their families make for us.”
MacRae called base family services and was told of the need for child-care money. She personally addressed envelopes to 600 friends, asking them to contribute to the Yellow Ribbon Foundation she and Barnard founded.
Letters were sent out less than two weeks ago, and already the foundation has received about $2,500. The goal is $100,000.
That’s the amount pledged last month by the North Carolina Bankers Association to help the families of about 50,000 troops based in the state who are overseas.
The group’s gift will be shared by the state’s five major military installations: Camp Lejeune; Fort Bragg; Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station; and Seymour Johnson and Pope Air Force bases.
Base family support officials say many families need extra child-care help because spouses who remain at home often hold down jobs. Even as the military family makes more money with combat pay, child-care expenses quickly eat up the extra cash.
That’s what Molly Goodman, 27, faced when her husband, a Marine sergeant, left for Iraq in early February. She had to quit her evening job because her husband, Sgt. Shawn Goodman, wasn’t around to care for their three children. She realized that if she kept working, most of her pay would be spent on child care.
While Molly Goodman said she cherishes the time with 2-year-old Blaine, 6-year-old Lydia and 9-year-old Kailey, she has had to turn to neighbors for help when she runs some errands.
“There’s been times I really needed a break,” Goodman said. “But there are some days when you really need that break and you hate to ask your neighbors. It would be nice to just drop them off without having to ask.”
The pressures of being a parent with a spouse in a battle zone can be overwhelming, said Tanya Johnson, a social counselor with Marine Corps Community Services.
“It’s really important that these women get some time for themselves,” said Johnson, whose husband, Navy Hospitalman First Class Terrance Johnson, is in Iraq. “Spouses are in between a rock and hard place. We feel guilty a little bit. It’s hard to make the kids feel special when it’s just you.”
Since he has been gone, she has used base programs to free up time for herself. On Saturday evenings, she drops off her children, Tera, 11, and Terrance II, 8, with other military children.
Maxine Cannon’s daughter, Nadjakeen, 7, also goes to some of the Saturday evening programs. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Paul Cannon, has been gone since mid-January.
The free evening helps Cannon keep the family strong and easing her husband’s mind by letting him know things are well at home.
“To me you have to have a certain amount of strength. After all, he’s the one at war,” she said.
The bankers association also offers a toll-free, 24-hour advice line for spouses and businesses facing financial hardships due to deployment. The association hopes to steer their calls to banking services that can help.
Gov. Mike Easley last month announced a Web site designed to let North Carolinians know how to make donations or volunteer with military families.
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger
Foundation helps families of deployed troops
Associated Press
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — At least one private initiative has added to public and corporate efforts to help North Carolina military families upended when one parent deploys for active duty.
Bambi MacRae and Alyson Barnard of Wilmington, N.C., have started a fund-raising campaign to help military spouses at Camp Lejeune pay for child-care services.
“I feel that Sept. 11 touched the patriotism in me,” Barnard said. “When the war started, I just felt so helpless. I wanted to do something. I wanted to do something nurturing. I just can’t get over the sacrifices the military and their families make for us.”
MacRae called base family services and was told of the need for child-care money. She personally addressed envelopes to 600 friends, asking them to contribute to the Yellow Ribbon Foundation she and Barnard founded.
Letters were sent out less than two weeks ago, and already the foundation has received about $2,500. The goal is $100,000.
That’s the amount pledged last month by the North Carolina Bankers Association to help the families of about 50,000 troops based in the state who are overseas.
The group’s gift will be shared by the state’s five major military installations: Camp Lejeune; Fort Bragg; Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station; and Seymour Johnson and Pope Air Force bases.
Base family support officials say many families need extra child-care help because spouses who remain at home often hold down jobs. Even as the military family makes more money with combat pay, child-care expenses quickly eat up the extra cash.
That’s what Molly Goodman, 27, faced when her husband, a Marine sergeant, left for Iraq in early February. She had to quit her evening job because her husband, Sgt. Shawn Goodman, wasn’t around to care for their three children. She realized that if she kept working, most of her pay would be spent on child care.
While Molly Goodman said she cherishes the time with 2-year-old Blaine, 6-year-old Lydia and 9-year-old Kailey, she has had to turn to neighbors for help when she runs some errands.
“There’s been times I really needed a break,” Goodman said. “But there are some days when you really need that break and you hate to ask your neighbors. It would be nice to just drop them off without having to ask.”
The pressures of being a parent with a spouse in a battle zone can be overwhelming, said Tanya Johnson, a social counselor with Marine Corps Community Services.
“It’s really important that these women get some time for themselves,” said Johnson, whose husband, Navy Hospitalman First Class Terrance Johnson, is in Iraq. “Spouses are in between a rock and hard place. We feel guilty a little bit. It’s hard to make the kids feel special when it’s just you.”
Since he has been gone, she has used base programs to free up time for herself. On Saturday evenings, she drops off her children, Tera, 11, and Terrance II, 8, with other military children.
Maxine Cannon’s daughter, Nadjakeen, 7, also goes to some of the Saturday evening programs. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Paul Cannon, has been gone since mid-January.
The free evening helps Cannon keep the family strong and easing her husband’s mind by letting him know things are well at home.
“To me you have to have a certain amount of strength. After all, he’s the one at war,” she said.
The bankers association also offers a toll-free, 24-hour advice line for spouses and businesses facing financial hardships due to deployment. The association hopes to steer their calls to banking services that can help.
Gov. Mike Easley last month announced a Web site designed to let North Carolinians know how to make donations or volunteer with military families.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger