Southwest Florida Blue Star Mothers and BB&T Team Up to Create “Welcome Home” Package for Returning Soldiers

When a soldier comes home many times they are met without a bare bed, no pillow and not even a tooth bush for the to use upon arrival.

BRADENTON – Imagine how a soldier who was deployed in Afghanistan feels after flying for hours over the vast spans of an ocean. Exhausted from the flight, they finally arrive at a military base in the middle of the night. Relieved to be in a familiar setting and sleeping safely for the first time in months, they quickly locate their bunk anxious for their head to hit a comfy pillow. But the mattress is bare – there are no sheets, no pillow, no blanket, not even a tooth brush for them to use upon arrival.

The local Blue Star Mothers Chapter FL4 is teaming up with volunteers from BB&T to make sure returning warriors have a few comforts of home. Employees from Manatee County BB&T branches volunteered their time during this month to help package-up the welcome home gifts. Over 100 packages will be personally delivered to a military base in Kentucky and distributed by commander wives and families to active duty military personnel as they return from deployment.

The welcome home packages contain basic hygiene items along with sheets, pillow and blanket. The bunks are made up, and packages are placed on the them for the returning soldier to find and use during their first hours and days home. The type of items included are: phone cards, essential hygiene products (tooth brush, tooth paste shaving items, comb/brush), a roll of toilet paper, towel and wash cloth, a few snacks, something to read and a special hand written greeting to let them know that their service is appreciated.

“Basically the greeting says welcome home, thank you for your service and we love you,” said Susan Chandler, president of the Southwest Florida Blue Star Mothers’ chapter. “We also include a PS reminder to call their parents.”

Welcome home packages contain basic hygiene items along with sheets, pillow and blanket. The bunks are made up and packages are placed on the bunk for the returning soldier to find and use during their first hours and days home.

As a mother whose son was awaiting deployment, Chandler desired to reach out to someone in a similar situation who could help her cope with the idea having a child in a warzone. After some research, she found the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc., a non-partisan, non-political, non-profit organization. Members are primarily mothers who now have, or have had, children honorably serving in the military.  It was an organization that Chandler felt she could really embrace – but there were no local chapters.

Chandler’s need for the connection was so strong that she took time out of her real estate career to organize a chapter in southwest Florida. She found a president and recruited members in no time.

“It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did,” said Chandler. “I’m met so many wonderful moms, dads, families and members of the military, that I just can’t even begin to express how special it is to be able to connect with those families.

Local BSMA organizations provide support for active duty service personnel, promote patriotism, assist Veterans organizations, and are available to assist in homeland volunteer efforts when needed.

BSMA FL4 decided to open a bank account at a local BB&T in Sarasota to provide funding for planned activities and projects the group would participate in. That is when Chandler met Amber Gray, a bank employee. Amber always displayed a fondness and appreciation for the charity.

Gray moved up the ranks at her bank, keeping the BSMA and what they stood for in the back of her mind. Every year, BB&T employees volunteer for a local charity as a part of their annual Lighthouse Project  to assist in making a positive impact on the lives of people in need. Gray made sure that this year they would support BSMA’s welcome home packages which in her opinion were a more-than worthy cause.

BB&T employees work hard to prepare welcome home packages for the BSMA FL4 to deliver to Kentucky for soldiers comming home.

“The project we do is a county-wide decision. The board listened to several presentations from local charities, but folks seemed to gravitate to this one because they felt that with all the things our military personnel has to do over the last few years, this was something we could do to pay them back,” said Mike Moschella the area executive director of BB&T.

“People are very surprised when they learn that many soldiers don’t have basic necessities when they arrive home—it makes their arrival seem not very welcoming.”

The final days for packing the Welcome Home Gift Packages will be June 22 and 23, 2011. BB&T employees and local blue-star mothers will join together and load the boxes for transport on June 28th, 2011 starting at 8:00 a.m.

“Often times our military is out of sight out of mind and we only hear about them when something happens, but our young men and women are over there all day every day. They are dedicated to us and we certainly appreciate them, this is just a little token to show our gratitude,” said Chandler.