Armed Services YMCA Begins Annual Fundraising Campaign
Ralph Orlowski, Getty Images
Oklahoma | K-Law 101 Radio Station | April 2012
The Armed Services YMCA 2012 Partner Member Annual Campaign is underway, and they’re looking for your support to help fund their programs and services – all designed to give soldiers peace of mind while they defend our freedom.
The ASYMCA is celebrating 70 years of continuous service to the Lawton-Fort Sill community. They are the leading provider of social and support services for military families. For many years the ASYMCA has provided educational, recreational, social and religious support services to military personnel and their families. Their newest program is the Military Welcome Center at Lawton Municipal Airport, which has it’s grand opening April 23rd.
This year’s Partner Member Campaign has a goal of $82,500. ASYMCA volunteer and Campaign Chairman Willie Byrd says the goal is aggressive, but the need is greater. To donate, contact the Armed Services YMCA at 201 SW 4th Street in Lawton. Call 580) 355-5520, or visit their Facebook page.
Mr. Byrd will be on this weekend’s edition of Community Focus, joining Kate Swanson of the ASYMCA to discuss the fundraising campaign and the services available to soldiers and their families. Community Focus airs Sundays on all 3 of Lawton’s Townsquare Media radio stations – K-LAW 101 at 7am, My 107.3 at 8am and Z-94 at 8:15am.
Military kids take to the great outdoors at Prince William Forest Park
Virgina | insidenova.com | April 3rd, 2012
By: Julia LeDoux
TRIANGLE, Va. - Prince William Forest Park was alive with the sounds of children’s laughter Sunday as hundreds of military kids and their families gathered there to celebrate the month of the military child.
The Sierra Club, Armed Forces Services YMCA, Blue Star Families, National Military Family Association Outdoors Alliance for Kids and the National Park Service kicked off the month with the outdoor celebration that gave the kids and their families a chance to get outside and have some fun by spending the day hiking, fishing, and pitching tents.
“It’s nice, it gives the kids something to do,” said Army wife Daniela Bergmann, who along with her husband brought their three children to the event. Paul Kearney of Trout Unlimited Youth Camp taught Bergmann’s son, Samuel, how to cast a fishing line, to the delight of the 8-year-old.
“This is fun,” Samuel exclaimed as he cast the line.
Park Ranger Laura Cohen said that Prince William Forest Park is the largest park in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, encompassing a 15,000 acre piedmont forest.
“We have reached our goal and that was getting military kids into the outdoors and that was what today was all about,” she continued “Today kicked off April, the month of the military child, so we wanted the national parks to be a place where military kids could come, shake off some of that stress and have a good time.”
Cohen noted that military kids face challenges that non-military kids do not, such as parents who are deployed multiple times and moving to different places every couple of years.
The park was founded “particularly as a place for kids to come and be in the outdoors, that’s why the cabin camps were built here in 1936,” she said. “We’ve got 37 miles of hiking trails for people to come out, take a hike, ride a bike.”
Stacy Bare, Sierra Club Missions Outdoors Military Families and Veterans representative emphasized that military kids serve, too.
“We’re really stoked to be out here today,” he continued. “We had about 400 families preregister and more families came in during the day.”
Families from Quantico Marine Corps base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Meade attended the event, Cohen said.
“The same reason we brought kids outdoors during the Great Depression is the same reason kids come out today, the same reason military kids should come with their families to the outside,” she explained.
Event connects military child with the outdoors
Washington DC | Washington Post | April 2nd, 2012
To kick off the Month of the Military Child, an outdoor celebration for military children and their families will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle.
The free event will include a day of hiking, learning how to cast a fly rod and pitch tents. Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, will speak about the importance of exposing military children to nature.
“Military children serve, too, and we’ve found that connecting these children with the outdoors allows them to not only have fun but gives them and their families a sense of resiliency,” Stacy Bare, Sierra Club Mission Outdoors National Military Representative, said in a statement. “The outdoors heals.”
The event is sponsored by the the Sierra Club, Armed Services YMCA, Blue Star Families, National Military Family Association, Outdoors Alliance for Kids and the National Park Service.
For information, contact Kristina Ortez de Jones at 505-206-9629 or Kristina.Ortez@sierraclub.org.
— Compiled by Sarah Lane
Washington Times | Shaft Notes
Washington, D.C. | Washington Times | March 27, 2012
The Sarge was honored to attend the Armed Services YMCA’s Angels of the Battlefield Awards for 2012. Silver Star recipient Chief Petty Officer Amlicar Rodriguez, a Navy Corpsman, is one of 10 who were honored. The annual event highlights the individual men and women on the front lines who are saving lives and have demonstrated extraordinary courage.
The Armed Services YMCA works with the military services to select Corpsmen, Medics and Pararescuemen from the Army, Army Reserve, Navy, Navy Reserve, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air National Guard and ArmyGuard, who accepted the awards on behalf of their fellow Corpsmen and Medics for their dedication and commitment to service.
• Staff Sgt. Jack Williams, a bronze star recipient for exceptional meritorious service in Afghanistan and 2012 Angels of the Battlefield recipient, said, “It is an honor to be selected to represent the entire medical corps. And the Armed Services YMCA does such great work for military families at their branches; I wish we had one where I am currently stationed, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.”
• Sgt. Terry Derr accepted the Angels of the Battlefield Award on behalf of Army Medics around the world. Sgt. Derr has served a total of 20 years, with a total of seven deployments. Sgt. Derr was awarded the Air Service Medal for flying into dangerous a sandstorm to save the lives of two soldiers injured by an IED, while serving as a flight medic in Salerno, Afghanistan. Sgt. Derr, originally from Watson, Pa., is currently stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
• Chief Petty Officer Amilcar Rodriguez accepted an award on behalf of the Navy Corpsmen supporting the United States Marine Corps around the world. Chief Petty Officer Rodriguez has served 13 years, with a total of five deployments.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class Owen Pitrone accepted the Angels of the Battlefield Award on behalf of Navy Corpsmen around the world. Petty Officer 2nd Class Pitrone has served seven years, with a total four deployments. He has been awarded a Joint Service Medal for his time in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for exceptional service while at Bethesda and Bastion Role 3 UK Hospital in Afghanistan.
• Staff Sgt. Jack Williams accepted the award on behalf of Air Force medics around the world. Staff Sgt. Williams has served a total of six years, with two deployments. He has been awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Afghanistan, as well as the Air Force Combat Action Badge, the Army Combat Medical Badge, the Army Order of the Gold Spur, the Air Force Commendation Medal and as a CSAF Portraits in Courage.
• Staff Sgt. Gino Kahaunaele accepted on behalf of Air Force Pararescuemen around the world. While acting as the primary rescue specialist for a joint task force unit in theater, Staff Sgt. Kahaunaele was shot in the shoulder at close range with an AK-47 during a direct firefight against an enemy of the United States. He continued to aid and triage the wounded while wounded himself. After an insurgent threw a grenade, wounding additional women, children and team members, Staff Sgt. Kahaunaele was hit by fragments severing several major arteries. He took immediate, inventive action to stop the bleeding and save his own life. He continues rehabilitation with the support of his grateful unit and family.
• Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Richardson accepted on behalf of the United States Coast Guard Corpsmen around the world. Petty Officer 1st Class Richardson has served a total of 14 years, with five deployments. He has been awarded the United States Coast Guard Commendation Medal, four United States Coast Guard Achievement Medals, and has been selected as the Enlisted Person of the Year twice — by Sector Delaware Bay, and the CGC Harriet Lane, respectively.
• Staff Sgt. Nicolas Crouse accepted on behalf of the Air National Guard Medics around the world. Staff Sgt. Crouse has served a total of six years and has deployed to Afghanistan. He has been awarded an Army Commendation for his time as primary medic for the First Joint Force, Multi-National Police Operational Mentor Liaison Team in Afghanistan, the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal of Distinction and the Air Force Achievement Medal. Staff Sgt. Crouse has had a family member serve in every major U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War.
• Sgt. Major Pamela Duggan accepted on behalf of the Army Reserve Medics around the world.
• Technical Sgt. Chante‘ Richardson accepted the Angels of the Battlefield Award on behalf of the Air Force Reserve Medics around the world. Technical Sgt. Richardson has served a total of eight years and has deployed to Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey. She has also been awarded two Achievement Medals. Technical Sgt. Richardson is originally from Oxon Hill, Md., and is currently stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Md. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Molecular Medicine at the University of Virginia.
Meet Amilcar Rodriguez: Saving Lives on the Frontline
Huffington Post | March 26th, 2012
Meet Amilcar Rodriguez. Chief Petty Officer Rodriguez, a Navy Corpsman, is one of nine “Angels of the Battlefield” Awardees for 2012. The event highlights the individual men and women on the frontlines of places like Afghanistan, who are saving lives and demonstrated extraordinary courage.
While most Americans can list the five branches of the military (go ahead and do it in your head), most do not realize the scope of military medical personnel on the battlefield and worldwide, charged with saving lives, encouraging healthy living and serving on humanitarian missions. Every year the Armed Services YMCA works with the military services to select Corpsmen, Medics and Pararescuemen from the Army, Army Reserve, Navy, Navy Reserve, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air National Guard and Army Guard, who accepted the awards on behalf of their fellow Corpsmen, Medics and Pararescuemen for their dedication and commitment to service.
Amilcar enlisted at age 18 and has served thirteen years. From 2004 to 2009 he had four back to back deployments to a war zone; deploying to Al Anbar Province in Iraq twice, as well as Afghanistan’s Helmand Province and Herat Province.
Amilcar was awarded the Silver Star for Combat Operations in Afghanistan for tending to a wounded teammate and trying to assist and move other causalities under fire and while being wounded.
He is now stationed at Fort Bragg with his wife Kelly and their son, who is one year old. Serving in the U.S. military is a family tradition for Rodriguez; his father, grandfather, brothers and uncles all served in the United States Army.
Deployments can be hard, especially being separated from his wife and son, but he feels privileged, “I have the privilege of serving and representing the greatest and strongest nation in the world, and serving amongst the finest men I have and will ever know.”
Nonprofit organizations like the Armed Services YMCA, Operation Homefront and the USO help military families cope and thrive with free programs year round.
There are over 20,000 active duty and reserve medical personnel serving around the globe. And while Rodriguez is being honored as a 2012 Angels of the Battlefield Award Recipient for the U.S. Navy, along with the Army Commendation Medal and the Silver Star, Rodriguez says, “having the responsibility for your team’s health and welfare is reward enough.”
Click here to see the Huffington Blog Post
Kia Motors America and LPGA Star Michelle Wie Donate $50,000 to Camp Pendleton’s Armed Services YMCA Operation Hero Program
CARLSBAD, CA | CBS 8 News | March 21st 2012.
On the eve of the third annual Kia Classic Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) golf tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa, Kia Motors America (KMA) and two-time LPGA winner Michelle Wie paired up today to donate $50,000 to Operation Hero, one of the keystone programs of the nearby Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA). The funds, which are intended to help Operation Hero maintain staff and provide equipment and supplies to more than 375 kindergarten and elementary students at Camp Pendleton, commemorate Michelle Wie’s graduation from Stanford University. Operation Hero provides free mentoring and tutoring to at-risk elementary-aged children of military families living at Camp Pendleton, which is home to more than 100,000 men and women of the armed forces and their families.
“As a Southern California-based company and one of the fastest growing auto brands in the U.S., Kia Motors is deeply committed to supporting the local communities in which we do business,” said Tom Loveless, vice president, sales, KMA. “Operation Hope delivers much needed services and assistance to the children of our military service men and women and it is our privilege to make a contribution in partnership with Michelle Wie and celebrate her college graduation in a special and meaningful way.”
“Our after school program, Operation Hero, is our most critical program for the young military children attending the five elementary schools on Camp Pendleton,” said George Brown, Executive Director, Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA. “While reducing their stress levels, the program provides the children skills to be successful socially and academically at both home and school.”
The donation comes prior to Michelle Wie’s participation in the third annual Kia Classic, from March 19-25 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., in which a strong field of the LPGA players from around the world will compete for a $1.7 million purse with the winner taking home a first-place check for $255,000 and one of the first range-topping Optima Limited sedans[1] to roll off the production line at Kia’s U.S. manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia.
Kia’s Unprecedented Growth
Kia Motors is the one of the world’s fastest moving global automotive brands; from 2009-2011 Kia launched more new vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker, and under the guidance of chief design officer Peter Schreyer earned a reputation as an industry leader in automotive styling. Kia Motors America’s full line of fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive cars and CUVs has earned critical acclaim and dramatically increased consumer awareness, perception and consideration for the brand. In 2011, KMA recorded its 17th consecutive year of market share growth, thanks in part to the largest increase of any major brand in perceived quality[2] and the industry’s highest brand loyalty ranking[3]. Kia’s U.S.-based manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia – KMMG – is responsible for the creation of more than 10,000 plant and supplier jobs and builds the company’s two best-selling vehicles in the U.S. – the Sorento CUV and Optima midsize sedan[4]. Kia’s value and technology-laden 2012 model year lineup also includes the Sportage compact CUV, Soul urban passenger vehicle, Optima Hybrid, Forte compact sedan, Forte 5-door compact hatchback, Forte Koup two-door coupe, all-new Rio and Rio5-door sub-compacts and Sedona minivan.
About Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA
The Armed Services YMCA at Camp Pendleton has served the military community since 1943 with programs and services enhancing their lives with a focus towards the junior enlisted ranks by reducing deployment stress, improving their quality of life, strengthening families, and making military life easier for over 58,000 active duty and family members each year.
About Kia Motors America
Kia Motors America is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 755 dealers throughout the United States and serves as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA.” In 2011, KMA recorded its best-ever annual sales total and became one of the fastest growing car companies in the U.S. Kia is poised to continue its momentum and will continue to build the brand through design innovation, quality, value, advanced safety features and new technologies.
Information about Kia Motors America and its full vehicle line-up is available at its website – www.kia.com . For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com .
GET READY FOR MORE MICHELLE WIE
Fox News | March 22nd, 2012
Michelle Wie has been in the public eye for more years than most people realize. She first appeared in an LPGA Tour event in 2002.
Yep, 2002! And she was only in grade school way back when.
Fast forward to the iPhone and Twitter generation and Wie is graduating from Stanford. She finished her final exams last week and will graduate in June.
What does this mean for the LPGA Tour? Wie will be playing more golf.
“I kind of feel like a weight is lifted off my shoulder and I can really use the extra time to focus more on my game. I think that it was something I’m so proud of what I’ve done,” Wie said of finishing her school work at Stanford. “But after I’ve seen all my friends graduate last year and being the last one to graduate, I was kind of ready for it.”
Wie currently stands 20th in the world, and you’d have to think she’ll start to climb even higher now that she can focus solely on golf.
With her degree requirements completed, Wie is already giving back so others have the same chance.
According to the LPGA Tour, “Wie and Kia Motors announced Wednesday that they are donating $50,000 to Operation Hero, a non-profit program run by the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA, which provides free tutoring and counseling to more than 375 children that live on base.”
The 22-year-old Wie is quickly proving she is wise beyond her years.
Sixth Annual Armed Services YMCA Angels of the Battlefield Gala
Washington, D.C | The Hill | March 15th, 2012
The Sixth Annual Armed Services YMCA Annual Angels of the Battlefield Gala was held last week at the Ronald Reagan Building. The event recognizes individual men and women on the front lines who are saving lives.
Click here to see photos.
— report by Kate Oczypok and photographs courtesy of the Armed Services YMCA
Fort Bragg sailor to be honored for life-saving effort
North Carolina | Fayetteville Observer | March 13th, 2012
A Fort Bragg sailor will be among those honored Wednesday at a special gala for service members who render life-saving aid.The annual Angels in the Battlefield Awards will be presented in Washington, D.C.
Chief Petty Officer Amilvar Rodriguez will be one of nine active duty troops honored.
Rodriguez is stationed at Fort Bragg, where he serves as a trauma instructor at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center.
The awards are presented by the Armed Services YMCA.
Rodriguez is a 13-year veteran who has deployed five times.
He’s received both the Army Commendation Medal and the Silver Star for combat operations in Afghanistan.
COMFORTING, ONE QUILT AT A TIME
San Diego Union Tribune | March 11th, 2012
Name: Janette McGarvie.
Age: 73.
Job: Retired.
Neighborhood: Has lived in East County for more than 40 years. Currently in the Blossom Valley area.
Family: Husband, Jim, two sons and two grandchildren.
Q: How did you start making quilts for charity?
A: Several years ago, I heard a presentation by Gary Becks and Wendell Cutting about their organization Rescue Task Force. They responded to disasters around the world offering aid and comfort.
At that time, I was making baby quilts and donated several of them. In 2005, they went to Afghanistan to help refugees that were living in tents. The young women who were raped by the Taliban were living in a tent area and having their babies without medical help. They tried to get the mothers to come to the military medical facility, but the mothers were afraid.
A young mother who had her baby and was very ill did come into the facility. She was given one of my quilts and a matching tote bag of medicine for her and the baby. The very next day, 18 young pregnant girls were lined up outside the door.
Later in 2005, Gary and Wendell went to Honduras, where an outbreak of Dengue fever had left 27 children orphaned. They built and furnished an orphanage and asked if I could make each child a quilt for Christmas. In the years that followed, they distributed 100 or more quilts to help boost hopes and remind people that they are not alone in their struggles — not only in Honduras, but in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan, Burma, Tijuana, Peru and New Orleans for Katrina victims.
Q: What have been your most gratifying moments?
A: My most gratifying moments are when I receive pictures from all these areas showing the mothers’ and children’s smiles. That’s my motivation.
Q: And when did you begin quilting for wounded troops?
A: In 2007, Rescue Task Force was involved with a program called Project Not Forgotten. Their goal was to give each returning injured hero a backpack filled with personal items and a cellphone to call home. Gary asked if I could make a lap quilt for those in wheelchairs. Thus began a new project for me.
They have delivered backpacks with a quilt to Walter Reed, the Army Burn Center in Austin, Texas, and to the San Diego Naval Medical Center.
The backpack program is now under the direction of Nice Guys of San Diego, and the backpacks are distributed through the Armed Services YMCA at the local naval hospital. The YMCA was told to expect about 200 injured between April 2011 and April 2012. This news was a little overwhelming, so I appealed to my quilt friends at the Stitching Sister Quilt Guild for help.
Q: How is the effort at this point?
A: With help from friends, the Warm Company (which donated the batting) and discounts from Yardage Town on Broadway in El Cajon, I am able to deliver many more quilts.
Every quilt is unique, reflecting the material that has been donated.
One volunteer at the YMCA was stopped by a young lady who said her husband was recently transferred from Walter Reed. He was very depressed and did not want to go to rehabilitation and receive prosthetics for his missing legs. She put his quilt on his lap and wheeled down to rehab. The next day she went to get him and the nurse said he was “out wheeling around the hospital sharing his quilt.” He spoke with other Marines about their experiences with prostheses and changed his mind. His wife said the first day he moved into their apartment, he hung his quilt on the wall and called it his “lifesaver.”
Q: How do you find the time for charity work?
A: I have often heard the expression, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” I guess I find time for all my interests by being organized. I love to work in my yard, travel, volunteer at the Commemorative Air Force and the San Diego Off-Road Coalition, camp in Ocotillo Wells, and quilt.
Q: What is your advice to people wanting to make San Diego a better place?
A: Find something you are passionate about and volunteer. For me, I’m a patriot with a passion for quilting.
Original Story Link
May is Military Appreciation Month! Our partners at Easy Canvas Prints are donating 25% of revenues generated back to the ASYMCA and 3 other worthy organizations! Plus an additional 25% off your order and free shipping!
Now through May 31, 2012. Canvas prints are perfect for
Mother's Day & Father's Day!