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Donate Halloween Candy, and more, to Troops This Season

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It’s that time of year again. The temperatures are cooler, pumpkins are making an appearance in grocery stores and pictures of children in pumpkin patches are filling your social media feed. It’s Halloween time! Many families have traditions surrounding Halloween time. A tradition that can be done no matter where you live is donating candy to the troops.

Donate Halloween Candy

  • Treats for Troops – Treats for Troops is run by Soldier’s Angels. Local businesses opt to participate in the program and some even offer buyback prizes. Check out your local dental office or gym to see if they are offering this. Anyone who donates will receive a tax-deductible receipt for the donation. Kids earning treats, less sugared treats, and passing on a treat to those who could use a pick-me-up all while earning a tax-deduction – that is a win all around.  

Want to go further and take candy bags for the troops? Make it a family activity, or perhaps gather friends in a safe setting to make treat bags with assorted treats inside. Once the bags are complete, send candy bags to

Soldiers’ Angels Candy

2895 NE Loop 410, Suite 107

San Antonio, TX 72818

  • Operation Gratitude  – Individuals, businesses or groups can register to donate candy. Once registered, you will receive an email with the details on where to send the treats. Donors are matched with local military units, first responders, veteran organizations or can ship to the candy processing center in Los Angeles.

Military units, hospitals, first responder units, and veteran organizations can request candy donations from the same organization

  • Halloween Candy Buy Back  – Dental offices often to participate in this program, offering coupons for goods or services for a candy donation. The candy donations are then provided to non-profit veteran organizations across the country.
  • Operation Shoebox – Operation Shoebox needs donations all year long for the care packages they send to troops. You can also adopt a troop specifically to send packages directly. If you are wanting to send donations to the organization directly, they can be sent to:

Attn: Receiving

8360 East Highway 25

Belleview, FL 34420

And More!

Send much-desired caffeine to the troops

  • Alpha Coffee: The veteran-owned business knows exactly what troops want no matter where they are stationed. You can send a box of coffee for $50.00 to deployed troops.
  • Blackout Coffee: Through Operation Blackout, you can select someone you know deployed to send coffee to. Troops can also request a coffee donation while overseas for their unit.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts: When you submit a name of a deployed unit to them, they will send some Original blend coffee.
  • Black Rifle Coffee: The SOF-owned coffee joint with a sense of humor has a donation request form that deployed troops can request a caffeine jolt.

What are your go-to ways to share sweets and treats with the troops?

Make that Pumpkin Spice Latte at Home

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Ah, the season of orange and black, pumpkins and apples. It is time for that all-so-popular caffeinated drink of pumpkin spice latte. Pick up your ingredients at the local commissary and have one at the ready all the time with this recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Latte for 2

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of milk
  • 2 TBL pumpkin puree
  • 1- 3 TBL brown sugar (or whatever sweetener you prefer: white sugar, stevia, honey, maple syrup, etc)
  • 1 Tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 TBL vanilla extract
  • ½ c – 1 c hot coffee/espresso

Heat up milk, pumpkin puree, and sweetener of choice in a saucepan. Do not let it come to a boil or the milk can become curdled and burned. Remove from heat and stir in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and hot coffee.

Want to be extra? Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of additional pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Spice Creamer

When you are overseas, holiday items often come a little bit slower. And then once they arrive, you better snatch it up because once they are gone – they are gone!

This led to making my own creamer at home for when I wanted to fulfill that fall flavor. The original recipe was from Food Network, but I found it to be too sweet so I edited it a bit.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of half and half
  • ¼ cup pumpkin puree
  • 3 TBL maple syrup (you can go heavy-handed on this if you prefer more sweetness)
  • 1 Tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

When we switched to dairy-free as a household for a time, I swapped out the half and half for almond milk. You could also use oat milk or soy milk with the variety of options out there for dairy-free. I have also totally swapped out the milk and vanilla for unsweetened vanilla almond milk and found the flavor to be delish.

Like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, heat the ingredients for the creamer together on the stove to really blend the sugar and ensure the pumpkin pie spice is throughout the creamer. Let cool slightly before storing in a mason jar and storing it in the fridge.

While you may not be overseas where supply chains have the additional transit time, now you can add a touch of fall to any coffee or even tea!

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Spice Latte

This one is really truly easy – swap out your favorite dairy-free milk for regular milk. Oat milk adds an earthy tone which is perfect for any fall drink. Unsweetened almond or soymilk works well as well, allowing for easy flavoring. Unsweetened vanilla almond or soymilk can add a touch of sweetness, without adding vanilla extract which saves time and money! Coconut milk could also be used if that is your favorite.

Will you try a pumpkin spice latte at home? Tell us how it was!

Orange you ready for fall now! 😉

Temporary BAH Hike Offered to Help Those Dealing with Rising Housing Prices

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This past summer’s PCS peak season was one for the record books. The lack of moving companies available for moving items and the short-staffed companies leaving families in the lurch to pack their own things or find a UHaul was compounded with an all-time housing price high. In response to the rising housing prices, a temporarily elevated BAH has been offered to 56 areas per the recently released memo from the Secretary of Defense.

The housing market around the United States has outpaced the previous housing price bubble. Both rental rates and purchase rates escalated in the spring of 2021, right in time for military movers. The demand for available homes slowly increased the already higher prices. Stories of military families standing in 10-people deep lines just to see rentals off base while waiting months in hotels because on-base housing was also not available were commonplace. Meanwhile, families were spending hundreds of dollars on rental applications to be one of 20+ families being considered. The demand for homes increased rental prices, forcing some families to spend hundreds of dollars above Basic Allowance For Housing (BAH) for a home.

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is designed to cover 95% of a service member’s housing costs – this includes housing rental and utility costs. The increase in rental and purchase prices has driven monthly rental and mortgage costs wildly higher than this. The several hundred dollars over BAH means families are paying over their allotment for the rental alone and does not account for utilities. In some areas like Southern California, electricity alone can cost several hundred dollars due to their tiered pricing by time. This means some families are spending $500-$1000 over their housing allowance.

To some, spending over the allowance isn’t a stretch, but to some it a financial strain. The financial strain may impact the service member and affect the mission. Per a press release by the DOD, the 5% expected as an out-of-pocket expense to service members was calculated to range from $70 to $158.  This is a bit different than what some families are facing for out-of-pocket costs now. In previous years, BAH was only meant to cover 80% of the average housing and utility costs, but this increased in 2005 to 100% with the slow re-integration of out-of-pocket costs since that time.

What areas are included in the BAH increase?

Each area has been given a percentage increase by locations from 10-20%.

20% Increase Authorized For:

  • Twenty Nine Palms MCB, CA
  • Eglin AFB, FL
  • Boise, ID
  • Mountain Home, AFB, ID
  • Spokane, WA
  • Lemoore NAS, CA

15% Increase Authorize For:

  • Barstow/Fort Irwin, CA
  • Beale AFB, CA
    Sacramento, CA
    Stockton, CA
  • Riverside, CA
  • Bridgeport, CA
  • Fort Pierce, FL
  • Helena, MT
  • Lubbock, TX
  • Hampton/Newport News, VA

10% Increase Authorized for:

  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Fort Huachuca, AZ
  • Yuma, AZ
  • Fresno, AZ
  • San Bernadino, CA
  • El Centro, CA
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • New London, CT
  • Hartford, CT
  • Tampa, FL
  • West Palm Beach, FL
  • Ocala, FL
  • Florida Keys, FL
  • Savannah, GA
  • Springfield/Decatur, IL
  • Portland, ME
  • Saginaw, MI
  • Springfield, MO
  • Malmstrom AFB/Great Fls, MT
  • Morehead City/Cherry Point MCAS, NC
  • Camp Lejeune, NC
  • Wilmington, NC
  • Ashville, NC
  • Fort Monmouth/Earle NWS, NJ
  • Trenton, NJ
  • Albuquerque/Kirtland AFB, NM
  • White Sands Mr/Las Cruces, NM
  • Nellis AFB/Las Vegas, NV
  • Reno/Carson City, NV
  • Providence, RI
  • Waco, TX
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • Quantico/Woodbridge, VA
  • Richmond/Fort Lee, VA
  • Dahlgreen/Fort AP Hill, VA
  • Bremerton, WA
  • Port Angeles, WA

To receive the increased BAH, the service member must apply per their service branch’s application showing that their total housing costs of rent and utilities are over the current authorized BAH rate. The increase will be in effect from 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021. If there is a dependency change during this time period, the service member must reapply to demonstrate that the authorized BAH rate does not cover their expenses.

It has not been announced that this temporary increase will continue beyond 31 December 2021 at this time. There are many areas on the list that are not named that still demonstrate high rental prices coupled with competition, like Southern California.

Is your area getting a BAH temporary increase?

Marines Can Crunches from PFT

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The Marine Corps service branch is known for its physical fitness. In fact, Eleanor Roosevelt famously said about Marines that “The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!”

As other services update their physical fitness tests, it is now the Marine Corps turn. It’s change in the physical fitness test may surprise you.

The MARADMIN release in August of 2021 stated that planks will now be a mandatory component of the physical fitness test, replacing the old exercise of crunches. This replacement will be in full effect in 2023. The alternative of planks for crunches has been in place since 2019 when then Commandant Neller approved it to be so, although not many Marines have chosen this option over the crunches. Plank scoring adjustments will be made and go in effect in 2022. The minimum time to hold a plank will be one minute and 10 seconds, with the maximum points given for a plank held for 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

The reason for the change is simple – this is a move in injury reduction. While crunches are known to help develop a strong core (abdominal muscles), they are awful for the lower back often causing low back pain or increasing previously occurring low back pain. In addition, crunches require another person holding the feet down which can lead to potential injury to the lower leg. Maj. Lindsey Slyman, the programs and assessments section head, Human Performance Branch, Policy and Standards Division, Training and Education Command told a military newspaper that while there was no specific research on what the injury risk reduction would be “we do know that the crunches place stress on the spinal column, neck, and cervical spine due to the repetitive loading and increased use of hip flexors.”

Beyond risk reduction, the physiological evaluation of core strength is better tested with a plank than with crunches. The plank requires muscle activation of the lateral and central abdominal muscles, and given that they are required to be activated for a longer period of time, they provide a better test of endurance and strength of the core muscles.

For active Marines, getting ready for the plank addition to the PFT should happen now. Start slow and in small increments. Doing a plank for 30 seconds for a week straight will increase the strength and ability to increase the time the following week to maybe 45-60 seconds. If staying in a plank position is difficult, try alternating between elbows and up to hands to see if this will help pass the time in addition. The key with any plank is to keep the back flat to avoid any lumbar strain.  Check out YouTube if you need help determining how to maintain the appropriate posture, or ask your buddies at work.

Remember a Marine over the age of 60 held a plank long enough to break the Guinness World Record holding it for 8 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds. Three minutes should be a piece of cake in comparison!

When You Have to Celebrate the Holidays at a TLF

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Ah, the fall and winter season. Fall is when the pumpkin memes begin and everything becomes pumpkin flavored. Not the typical time of year when orders hit. BUT orders do hit. People do move in the “off-season”. It may be off-season for moving, but there isn’t anything to prevent the holidays from coming.

While you may not be looking forward to celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, or the winter holidays in a hotel, there are ways to celebrate it. It may look different, but it will still be the holidays.

Halloween

  1. Decorating: The craft store will be your friend with decorating. Paper is cheap! Draw pumpkins and have everyone “carve” a pumpkin. Hang them up on the wall with tape.
  2. Costumes: When you are living out of suitcases in a TLF, Pinterest will be your friend for costume ideas using the clothes you already have. Construction paper wings can turn a dress into a fairy costume, or a construction hat changes Pjs into a firefighter costume. It will take some creativity with the help of the Pinterest search engine, but it will certainly make some memories!
  3. Treats: Some TLFs have ovens, but if you don’t have one check your local grocery store for DIY cookie decorating kits. You might not need a giant bulk-store level bag of candy, but you can grab a couple of individual pieces of your favorite candy for the family from the store as well.
  4. Trick-or-Treating: Oftentimes the hotel staff in a TLF will plan something fun for kids staying in for Halloween. If they aren’t, consider a scavenger hunt for your kids. Set up a craft or treat stations throughout the hotel, leaving clues with where the next one will be.
  5. Music and Lights: If you are new to the area, you may not know about the local pumpkin patch. Perhaps you only have one car and are unable to go out for a drive. Or the reality is that your toddler won’t be awake past 8 so doing some time for the older kids or yourself won’t work for your current phase of life. Check out Youtube for videos from theme parks for fun “talking pumpkins” or lighted trails.  There are ghost hosts that can walk you through haunted rides to give your hotel room a spooky feel. All with the easy removal of said music or lights by turning off the television or computer. So feel free to turn up Thriller Nights.

Thanksgiving

  1. Decorating: Paper, paper, paper. Copy paper – construction paper – craft paper – these are all your friends. Paper is cheap and simple – you can dress it up or dress it down. Make placemats with them, cut letters for banners and even make name cards with them. Use what nature you have around you. If you are able to, collect pine cones for decoration for the table. Or mix it up entirely if you have moved to the beach and collect shells. Yes, there are standard fall colors – but when you are doing the holidays in a TLF, you can make it what you want.
  2. Prepared Food: Making the holiday meal is enjoyed by some, not so much by others. With the limitations of cooking space and dishes, it might be time to hit up the local grocery store for prepared dishes. There may even be some local favorites that you haven’t heard of before. If you are in a foreign country where they may not celebrate American holidays, consider this an opportunity to try the local fare.
  3. Consider Grilled: If you are TLF has a grill available, consider grilling. If you really want a turkey breast, consider grilling the turkey breast. If there are only a couple of grills at the hotel, talk to other families to see if they are interested in chipping in with a whole turkey if you really want. That way everyone is aware while you are manning the grill for several hours.

Hanukah, Kwanzaa and Christmas

  1. Fireplace: Candles are not allowed and fireplaces are not the norm in hotels, but you can stream a fireplace on Netflix! The streaming channel had several different types to choose from including an urban one to make it feel festive and distinctive.
  2. Music: Thank goodness for the digital age – holiday music of your choice is at your fingertips. And music stations abound on the cable in the hotel. Rock around your paper Christmas tree to whatever holiday music you enjoy.
  3. Dinner: Each hotel is varied on what the kitchen or kitchenette has available for cooking. Hit up the local grocery store for holiday favorites.
  4. Linens: So you don’t have your favorite holiday linens because they are in storage, or still in a box waiting to get to you – time to use paper as your linens! Get a roll of craft paper and let the kids go to town with stickers and crayons. Or consider adding your own designs to it. It isn’t every year that a family celebrates the holidays in a hotel after all.
  5. Holiday movies: Thankfully, most hotels have ports allowing for connections with Roku stick or have internet connections allowing for streaming. Stream your favorite holiday films from Netflix or Amazon and you won’t even miss your DVD collection!

Overall, the time in a TLF over the holidays is a time to make new traditions. It isn’t “normal” to have a holiday in a hotel, but it is different and can be fun! Make new memories of your holiday time with whatever it is you make it. Maybe you will decide to keep some traditions for the future – who needs a real holiday tree when you can make one with paper and decorate it with stickers anyway? It’s more space-efficient and cost-effective!

COLA Increases for 2022

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COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustment, which is an annual inflation-based allowance will be determined by the government in preparation for the Fiscal Year 2022. The fiscal year ends on September 30th. COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is measured by the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor measures the average change over time on the prices paid for certain categories, like select utility, automotive fuel, and food items as part of the CPI. The CPI is separated by geographic regions and done as one nation. Overall in 2021, the costs for goods and services have increased 5.4% in comparison to the previous year.

What does this mean for pay?

The CPI is used to determine federal employee retirement and social security pay. An increase in CPI means that military retirees and veterans who receive disability compensation will see an increase in their monthly amounts beginning in Fiscal Year 2022. The average monthly increase will be around $160 for military retirees and around $100 for veterans receiving disability compensation.

The increase is there to cover the increasing costs of living, but the increase can help cover healthcare costs as retirees pay for their healthcare.

How many military retirees and veterans receiving disability compensation are there?

Per the Department of Defense, there are 1.87 million military retirees and 5.1 million veterans who receive disability compensation.

When will the determination be made?

Since CPI is calculated using the entire previous year’s data, the completion of CPI calculations will not be completed until September 30th. Once the final calculation is completed with all 12 months of data, the final CPI will be released on the Department of Labor website. As of August 2021, the COLA was 5.4% and unless there is a drastic drop in costs, the CPI is expected to be around this number.  The COLA for the fiscal year 2022 that runs from October 2021 to September 2022 will be released in early October 2021.

Stay tuned for any updates on pay here as well.

Mental Health Resources for Service Members – Active and Retired – and their Families

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Mental health is part of your physical health. Being tired and run down can be from stress and worry, just as much as it is a physical ailment. In times of stress, getting in touch with mental health services is needed. In times of less stress, preventative maintenance through setting up your network or knowing where to go is useful. These are resources provided through verified resources to aide and support. Save this. Use them. Share them.

Through Tricare

Tricare has partnered with Telemynd for online counseling and mental health services – check out your local clinic or Tricare site for local links. No referral or authorization is needed for TRICARE Prime members and there are no copays or cost-shares for telemedicine care at time of this writing. You don’t have to have “a big issue” to work through to talk to them. The service is there to help address stressors, emotional distress, work or family issues, depression, anxiety and grief-related counseling. Telemynd has both counselors to provide therapy and psychiatrist to manage mental health disorders. Each state is different on the regulations for providers to be within state, so request a form through the Humana Military section of the Telemynd website to find providers you can connect to.

Base Resources

Military Family and Life Counselors (MFLC)  are at most bases and are able to talk to family members, including children if they are licensed as such, and active-duty members. Most schools on base have MFLC, as well as Child Development Centers. If you are connected to a school that has one, reach out to the base school liaison to see if they are aware of where the MFLCs are on base. This is a no-cost tool.

Phone Numbers

If you are not near a base, unable to leave your home, or simply want to talk – there are many phone numbers to call. There are specific numbers for veterans, one for women veterans and one for military-affiliated caregivers. All are ready to talk and trained to support each unique circumstance.

Veterans Crisis line: 1-800-273-8255, press 1

Veterans Crisis Text Line- send a text to: 838255

Veteran Call Center: 1-877-927-8387

Women Veteran’s Call Center: 1-855-829-6636

Caregiver Support phone line: 1-855-260-3274

Wounded Warrior Resource Center: 1-800-342-9647

National Call Center for Homeless Veterans: 1-877-424-3838

Military One Source

Military One Source is available in many ways. There is a website where you can research their counseling options, and they have two phone numbers.

CONUS phone number: 800-342-9647

OCONUS phone number: 800-342-9647 or 703-253-7599

Military One Source only has counselors at the time of this writing, so while they are trained and ready to support with any concern, they cannot provide any prescriptions for medications as needed.

Resources

Looking for resources to check out, people to reach out to and programming? There are many organizations available.

The Veterans Affairs has an entire website resource dedicated to mental health wellbeing – www.mentalhealth.va.gov

Hope for the Warriors is a nonprofit that specifically focuses on service members and their families involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom – www.hopeforthewarriors.org

The Semper Fi And America’s Fund has programming for supporting service member and families, helping with transition and integrative wellness – www.thefund.org (Semper Fi Fund)

The FOCUS program is there to help with stress, it’s actually in the name – FOCUS stands for Families OverComing Under Stress. The programs work with military children, families and couples with programming and individual counseling. Look for one near you here-  www.focusproject.org  The organization works on emotional regulation, communication, problem-solving, goal-setting and managing trauma and stress reminders, so is for preventative maintenance as well as intervention in times of crisis.

Find local validated resources that support recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration for service members, veterans and their family members by looking here: www.nrd.gov

When you are feeling low, it is hard to know where to turn. These resources are here for anyone to reference or turn to. Military members, their family members and their children deal with strong and varied emotions, and you are not alone.

Tips for Making Your Rental Feel More Like Home

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PCS season means military families have been uprooted again and are in new homes across the world. The homes come in various sizes of small apartments in Germany to four story townhouses in Alexandria. The varying sizes and layouts of the homes provide another opportunity to make the new house a home. When it is a rental, you have to consider what changes can be temporary and easily removed, or ask for permission from the landlord to make the changes more permanent. Here are some ideas.

Removable Wallpaper

Wallpaper that can be repositioned easily is a total win. It adds a temporary change that is easily removed while adding personalization. This is a total win in the kitchen if you do not have a backsplash – just peel it off when you go to leave and viola! – clean walls! Want to make an accent wall? Try it with wallpaper! Again, it is removed easily because of the type of wallpaper it is. This may not work on textured walls as well, so keep that in mind as you plan your changes.

Wall Stickers

Especially for children’s rooms or an accent area, wall stickers are great because they are like removable wallpaper – they can be repositioned easily, and are often small enough that it will stick to textured walls. They can add personality quickly, easily, and for a relatively affordable price all with the ability to change it up again when desired.

Curtains

Adding curtains adds privacy, savings on heat and air conditioning, and makes a house feel more like home. Now, not all windows are the same size and with moving into homes of varying sizes, the window sizes will change too. Try to use what curtains you had before if you can – if the window is smaller than your curtains, consider hanging up a curtain rod higher to give the look of a taller window. This isn’t always easier said than done, but it is certainly better for the budget to use what you have.

Outdoor Garden

Whether you have a patio, deck, or yard, having an outdoor space without the clutter of boxes or pictures laying against the wall helps in helping to make a house a home. Buying plants can add up over the visits to the home improvement store, so finding a Buy Nothing or Freecycle group is a great way to get cuttings of plants like succulents or herbs like Rosemary where plants can be regrown from the cuttings. A bonus that gardening is a known stress reliever is the perfect treatment for the post-PCS season.

Change up Kitchen Knobs

An affordable changeover in the kitchen is swapping out the kitchen knobs. If the knobs are broken or covered in years of grime that won’t come clean, it is sometimes less time-consuming to change out the kitchen knobs. It can brighten a place easily.

Remove Cabinet Doors

If you aren’t a fan of the cabinet doors in your rental, consider removing them altogether and storing them. Open cabinets and shelving are a trend right now. You can even add removable wallpaper to the back of the shelves to add more personalization.

Indoor Plants

Just like having a place to “escape” to outside, adding an indoor plant adds greenery, air, and light to the space. An indoor tree in the entryway makes it feel more welcoming.

Change up the Shower Heads

The standard shower heads in most rental homes are the basic contractor shower head. Adding a removable shower head makes for both a more enjoyable shower and an easier way to clean the shower.

Change up Light Covers

Apartment complexes and on-base housing alike have the same lighting fixtures. Mixing up the lighting with different light covers adds ambiance and personalization. If you totally remove the light fixture, make sure to save the old one in a spot you will remember so you can swap it out again before you move.

Change up the Light Bulbs

The standard light bulbs aren’t just bright and, in your face, but also draining on the electricity bill. Switch to LED bulbs that will make your pocketbook happier and prevent brassy lighting.

Under Cabinet Lighting

There are lighting strips that can be mounted by adhesive strips, which can be removed easily with the next move. These are typically battery operated so do not require any wiring or drilling, and can be easily turned on with a motion sensor or pressing. The lighting change adds ambient lighting and makes chopping or reading from a recipe book a lot easier.

What are your favorite ways to personalize your new rental?

Resources to Support Afghan Refugees

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In times of the unknown, military families stick up for each other. We understand the challenges of military life. We have seen our spouses come and go, leaving boots in the hallway, heard their worries and cares. When the announcement was made that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was happening, there was a flurry of emotions from service members and family members alike. For twenty years, many service members have deployed time and time again to Iraq and Afghanistan, building relationships with the people there. It is those relationships that brought about the desire to help the Afghan people and assist them while they leave their country as refugees.  

If you are feeling lost and looking for a way to volunteer, here is a resource list. There are many location-specific opportunities to donate and volunteer, as well as general volunteering. These are organizations that have recently been organized or are shifting their purpose to assist in this new climate. Not every one of these resources was able to verify through CharityNavigator.org but this might be due to their newness and the paperwork to be listed as a 501c3 may still not be completed at the time of this writing.

There are many tasks ahead to assist with refugees including remote administrative, computer tasks, assisting with finding temporary housing, and foster parenting to name a few. Check out helptheafghans.org/volunteer-now to find opportunities

Soldiersangels.org is looking for in-kind donations and care packages.

Catholic Charities is working with refugees across the United States. Check out what their needs are within the Refugees section of their website at catholicchartitiesusa.org. They have posted local chapter needs on their websites as well.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service support refugees in their entrance into the United States. Check out the “Refugee Resettlement” tab on lirsconnect.org.

The UN Refugee Agency has supplies and people located where the refugees are and have shared their needs.

The Semper Fi & American’s Fund is collecting funds to assist Afghan Interpreters and their needs. Check out semperfifund.org to learn more about what you can do to help.

International Rescue Committee, UNICEF Afghanistan, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement have resources for where to donate and what to donate for the varying needs of the Refugees across the world.

California

The Afghan Support Project at Pars Equality Center is looking for those who can help with legal assistance.

Rescue Lives is looking for assistance with placing refugees in the LA Metro area.

Jewish Family and Community Services Easy Bay offers services to refugees in support, immigration legal services and resettlement.

DC Metro Area

The Lutheran Social Services is assisting in securing housing for families, setting up homes, providing meals and items in addition to help enroll children in school and getting families settled. They need help with donations, volunteer and advocate. The LSSNCA has three resettlement sites in the area at the time of this writing at Hyattsville, MD, Fairfax, VA and Dale City, VA.

Pennsylvania

The Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia is looking for donations and volunteers to help set up homes and provide meals to refugees coming to the Philadelphia area. Check out nscphila.org to learn more of what they are looking for including partner organizations that are looking for donations as well.

Texas

Refugee Services of Texas is assisting Afghan refugees coming to the Texas area. They have direct donation lists and Amazon wish lists for incoming families on their website at rstx.org

Virginia

International Neighbors is helping settle refugee families in the Charlottesville, Virginia area to settle in the local area. They are looking for donations and volunteers.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families has a link on their website for ways for local Wisconsin families to get involved in helping families settle in Wisconsin.

As resources are shared, this list will be updated. Share any resources below.

All Active Duty Spouses Can Complete the DOD Survey for 2021

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There is an old adage among service members, “If the [enter service branch here] wanted you to have a family, they would issue you one.” This phrase comes from the idea and feeling that military families are low priorities. Each service branch is different in what program offerings of support are offered to military families. The Department of Defense (DOD) is the broad organization over all the service branches – the Department of the Navy which includes the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force which includes the United States Space Force, the United States Coast Guard, and the National Guard Bureau. The DOD announced the launch of its biennial Active Duty Spouse survey in July of 2021.

Committed to Families

Per a press release from the DOD, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy Patricia Montes Barron stated that “We are committed to taking care of our military spouses, and these surveys will allow us to engage in deeper dialogue with them and help us prioritize solutions that meet their most pressing needs.  We’re proud of the progress we have made on important spouse issues, especially around stress, relationship support, and employment. We now there is more to do, and these survey results will help guide our next steps.”

Survey Results Make a Difference

While it can be difficult to see or feel the tangible changes that the survey results provide, there are real differences that can be made by answering the survey truthfully. One such impact has come in spouse licensure changes. There are now programs allowing for coverage of new licensure for spouses with each move. This program came directly from the 2019 survey which “brought attention to the increasing lengths of time for spouses to find a job after a permanent change of station move” said Director of the Center Retention and Readiness in the Office of People Analytics Dr. Paul Rosenfel.

Spouses can do the Survey Here

Some spouses were randomly selected for the survey, to provide a scientifically significant sample. This year, all active-duty spouses are invited to complete the survey via the Department of Defense Office of People Analytics survey portal here.

Survey Results

The previous year’s survey results and other infographics are available on Military One Source. Once the 2021 survey is completed, the results will be available on Military One Source as well.

Do Your Part

If you are a military spouse, make your voice heard by going to the survey and completing it honestly. Share the survey link with your friends and within your community. Consider sending it to Fleet and Family Services, or your service branch’s specific Family Services area, to see if they can share the link. The more spouses who answer will increase the volume of the voices heard.