Jack Daniel's and the Armed Services YMCA Hampton Roads teamed up again this year to reunite military families throughout the holiday season. The demands of military life and the financial strain of the holidays can make a trip home for the holidays seem unachievable. Operation Ride Home exists to make those trips possible for active duty military members and their families.
Since the programs inception in 2011, over 6000 military service members have been given a ride home for the holidays. Operation Ride Home provides financial assistance to eligible active duty junior-enlisted military and their families to travel from their duty station, back home to spend time with their loved ones. Reconnecting military families during this special time of year is what Operation Ride Home is all about. Through this incredible partnership, Jack Daniels and the Armed Services YMCA are working together to strengthen our military family.
The program's success can be measured in numbers. During the 2019 holiday season in Hampton Roads, we approved 129 applications for rides home, reuniting a total of 269 family members. 180 adults and 89 military kids got to spend time with family because of this program. Jack Daniel's contributed a total of $53,305 to fund rides home... wherever home may be. From Oregon to Puerto Rico, our military family was able to make the dream of a holiday spent together a reality.
But the real success of this program isn't measured by the numbers. The true impact of this program is seen in the faces of the families who spent some time surrounded by loved ones and their words of gratitude.
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| Thank you for helping my wife and me get home to visit our families for Christmas! We were thrilled at the opportunity provided as well as the exceptional professionalism at all levels of this program. I will be recommending this program to my Marines for years to come! Semper Fidelis, Sgt Josh Wagner, USMC |
Thank you to Jack Daniels and all companies that helped support me and my family with Operation Ride Home. I'm thankful for helping make this holiday special for me and my family. Being in the military is hard when you can't see your family, so support like this goes a long way. This is the second time in my 10 years of service when I got to have the whole family under 1 roof for the holidays. Thank you for all you do and Happy Holidays from my family to yours. |
Thank you again for the opportunity to go home to Arizona for the Holidays and be with our family! We’re extremely thankful for Jack Daniels operation ride home ! -The Torres Family |
