Support our Military Families – Walmart’s Holiday Salute to Military Families

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Tuesday, December 3rd, is Giving Tuesday.  Walmart has partnered with Operation Homefront and Fisher House to support military families throughout the country.  With the Holiday Salute to Military Families, Walmart aims to honor and support the service members and veterans that keep our country safe, as well as the military families who act as our heroes at home.  Would you like to help, too? Join in our Holiday Salute to Military Families

I remember a couple of Christmases when I was young and my dad was deployed to Vietnam.  Back then the only way to communicate was by letter or reel-to-reel tapes.  Those Christmas was wonderful (thank you, Mom, for making sure they were still magical), but it just wasn’t the same without my Dad there.

When I was on active duty in the Air Force, I missed many Christmases with my family.  I missed my family and phone calls were an expensive treat from overseas.  Talking to family over the holidays made all the difference in making the separation bearable.

Six years ago, my husband deployed to Kuwait and was gone over Christmas.  My children were 4, 8 and 10 then.  We were able to email and that was an improvement, but Christmas still wasn’t the same without Daddy there.  Santa had a lot of work to do all by “himself” with no other elves to help!  The kids (and I) were so happy when Daddy returned (just look at the expression on my little guy’s face!).

Did you know that almost 50% of military members are parents?  That means many spouses and children remain at home while the service member is deployed. Without the courage and dedication of these families, the service member wouldn’t be able to do their job, but families often find the separation particularly stressful financially and emotionally around the holidays.

Walmart’s Holiday Salute to Military Families will provide $2 million in grants to military families with the greatest needs this year by supplying toys, meals and lodging assistance. And funds will also help hundreds of active duty service members come home for the holidays to be reunited with loved ones.

Operation Homefront Operation Homefront and Fisher House Fisher House are working with Walmart to support military families.  You can join with them in supporting our military families.  To learn more about what you can do, visit  http://fisherhouse.org/Walmart and http://operationhomefront.net/walmart .

There are many us at home with our families while our nation’s service members are away from their families this year.  Let’s take a few minutes to thank our service members and their families.  Please take a minute to  share stories about your own military heroes and thank them and their families for their service (and be sure to tag them in your social media).  Please also consider giving, especially on Giving Tuesday, to help military families in need.

Here’s to my heroes – Thank you to my Dad, my brother, my husband, both of my uncles, my 4 cousins, all those I’ve served with and all that have served before and after me.  Thank you and thanks to your families.