Blogs

For this Navy guy, a Military Spouse is what truly drives the ship

By Jeffrey Chin posted 15 days ago
For this Navy guy, a Military Spouse is What Truly Drives the Ship I remember vividly the sound of my 12 year old daughter wretching violently after I told her that I would be deploying to Afghanistan for the better part of a year. Already dealing with a wide range of emotions, I knew there wasn't much I could do at that point to soften the news to my daughter, or the rest of my family and friends. What gave me solace, and more than a little confidence that things would be okay, was the fact that my wife Beth was such a rock and source of strength for us all. Make no mistake, military life can be fraught with challenges and burdens, as well as unique joys ...

The Other Sacrifice

By Andrea Coakley posted 19 days ago
Blue Star Families Blog #2: May is the Month of the Military Spouse The Other Sacrifice Rosemarie Tracy, RN, BSN Many military spouses miss career goals as they follow their service member. Here are tips for riding it out. First, the facts: The DOD 2021 Survey of Active-Duty Spouses found that spouse employment remained consistent since 2019. However, the percentage of spouses employed in their area of education or training rose significantly over the same period. The survey also found that the unemployment rate among spouses, 21%, remained unchanged since 2015. According to the survey, spouses spend an average of 19 weeks looking for work, and 16% ...

Exciting EVENTS coming up! May 20 and May 21

By Jeffrey Chin posted 25 days ago
New England Members! Just a quick reminder that we have two very exciting events coming up - enter for your chance to win spots at our special Military Appreciation Day at Worcester Red Sox (game tickets and food vouchers available for those selected!) on Sat May 20 (4pm game), and The Special FAMILY FIREPOWER event at the USS Constitution Museum on Sunday May 21 (1pm-3pm). -> Worcester Red Sox Game - Military Appreciation Day at Polar Park - Enter for your chance here . -> FAMILY FIREPOWER Event at USS Constitution Museum - Enter for your chance here .

New partnership with Army Smart - a free tutoring service

By Jeffrey Chin posted 04-25-2023
**NEW SERVICE ALERT** Looking for help academically? Blue Star Families of New England has partnered with ArmySmart, a new tutoring service for military members and their families. Brief description of Army Smart, from their website ( https://www.armysmart.org/ ): Army Smart connects service members, veterans, and their families with experienced tutors from military backgrounds. If you are active duty, a reservist, or a veteran from any branch of the military who is struggling with a college-level class we can provide you with free weekly tutoring sessions to help you succeed. Check it out!

Child Care Remains a Top Issue for Military Families

By Faith Janes posted 04-11-2023
by Michelle Brito, Army Spouse My husband started his new Army job last fall, and we just hit the six-month mark. It’s been a whirlwind! I’ve had the amazing opportunity to visit several of the installations that fall under his command, and I’ve gotten to see what makes each location unique. A central and significant part of each visit has been sitting down with spouses of soldiers of all ranks and specialties. I have a roundtable discussion with these spouses, and they tell me about the issues and challenges they face on a regular basis. I’ve learned about challenges specific to installations. I’ve also seen that there are some issues that are pervasive, ...

Military Food Insecurity and the Ongoing Response

By Faith Janes posted 04-06-2023
Acknowledgment and response to food insecurity for military families is growing across the country. In recent months, Blue Star Families Chapter Directors Andie Coakley (New York Tri-State) and Suzy Malloy (Tampa) were featured on local news networks where they shared the many efforts our organization is taking to support military-connected communities through the Nourish the Service Program. The program is Blue Star Families’ nationwide response to continued reporting by Military Family Lifestyle Survey respondents on the concerns and issues their families face around food insecurity. New findings on food insecurity from this ...

VIDEO: Women's History Month Panel

By Faith Janes posted 04-03-2023
This Women’s History Month, Blue Star Families was thrilled to partner with the Secretary of the Air Force to facilitate a panel celebrating the long and storied history of women in the military. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet co-moderated a panel of diverse service women, looking at what compelled them to serve, and their experiences once they were in. Highlighting recent quality-of-life changes from the Department of the Air Force, this panel is a great insight into how military life has changed for the better, and what improvements can still be made. We'd love to hear from you, too! Please ...

Grow Where You Go, Baltimore

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. The start of our program year highlights the community connection and collaboration that is critical to the Chapter and the members and neighborhood we support. We are grateful to the Tower Cares Foundation who provided a $5,000 donation to ensure that we were able to impact several families and single service members during the holiday season! In January, we celebrated the Baltimore and Chesapeake Region volunteers by ...

Grow Where You Go, Chicago

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. Thank you to those of you who joined us for our first quarter events, including Play Attention at Kohl Children’s Museum for Military Day, Blue Star Families' tour of the Bronzeville Children's Museum, our Women's History Month Relax and Paint event, and today's Spring Fling and Egg Hunt! Many of our events were made possible by the National Museum of the American Sailor. Thank you so much to the American Legion Auxiliary for ...

Grow Where You Go, Dayton

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. In January, the Dayton and Southwestern Ohio Chapter held the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project. This year we dedicated our efforts to the Blue Star Families Nourish the Service initiative. We collected food and other items to resupply a small food bank located within the Dayton VA Medical Center and also the Greene County FISH Pantry. Thank you to everyone that donated in support of this important initiative. ...

Grow Where You Go, Jacksonville

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. This year started out with a bang, and we have been busier than ever. What have you been missing out on? We partnered with the National Park Service and Timucuan Parks Foundation to host the Outdoor Explorers for All program and have been fishing, hiking, and learning at each event. I think all of us have learned something. For the second year in a row, we got to send 150 of our awesome families to a Jacksonville Icemen game during ...

Grow Where You Go, Missouri

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. This year is off to an epic start, with 18 rockin' events and 400 fabulous attendees — all in just the first quarter! And guess what? The Blue Star Families’ Missouri Chapter is celebrating its 10th anniversary! Thank you to our fantastic volunteers and for your continued support of me as the Chapter Director for the last eight years. A huge shout out to the fabulous Free Women's Center of Pulaski County. We're thrilled to be ...

Grow Where You Go, National Capital Region

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. The National Capital Region Chapter kicked off 2023 with the launch of a brand new groundbreaking program: Blue Star Support Circles: Upstream Solutions to Crisis, which addresses Veteran and service member suicide by putting critical resources into the hands of family members and trusted friends. At the same time, it delivers support to Veterans when and where they need it most. This facilitated, nonclinical, peer-based program brings ...

Grow Where You Go, New England

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. As a reminder, we have been and will continue to offer both in-person and online programming for you to help support you in a variety of ways. Through our S.A.F.E. Connections program, you can participate in our monthly Coffee Connect events at Starbucks, attend a webinar online (such as the recent Money Matters webinar about cybersecurity and online fraud protection, or Blue Star Careers/Spouseforce presentations), or connect with one ...

Grow Where You Go, New York

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. We continue to expand our Starbucks Coffee Connects footprint, now holding monthly coffee connects in Brooklyn, Kingston, Newburgh (AM and PM), and Staten Island. Starting April 3rd, we will now be in Bayonne, New Jersey also! This past January the Nourish the Service Food Closet in Staten Island reached its one year anniversary of operation. To date, we have served 2,301 families, representing 5,907 family members. This food ...

Grow Where You Go, San Diego

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. Our Chapter kicked off this year by getting outdoors! We partnered with the National Parks Service and experienced whale watching, learned about tide pools, and the history of military bunkers at Cabrillo National Park. Want to visit this park and others? Get more details about your FREE America the Beautiful National Parks Pass here: https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm . April is the Month of the Military Child ...

Grow Where You Go, Tampa

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. What a start to the year! Over 400 military-connected families received toys, Disney books, Lance snacks, Double Good Popcorn, air purifiers, turkeys, produce, Bombas socks, a $20 DECA Commissary gift card, dog and cat food, and laundry detergent during one of the largest Nourish the Service events held in Tampa to date. We appreciate the MacDill Air Force Base community for allowing us to serve its families, and Channel 13 and Channel ...

Grow Where You Go, Tennessee

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
It’s springtime in the community! Whether you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. It's hard to believe that we are already done with the first quarter of the year. In the last three months, we continued to welcome families at the “First Friday Reading Round-Up” at the Wade Bourne Nature Center. But that’s not all! We also hosted a volunteer recruitment event, cleaned up Blue Star Families' adopted highway, served at the Tennessee State Veterans Home in observance of MLK Day of Service, and served at many Fort Campbell ...

Grow Where You Go, Utah

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
We’re wishing for springtime in the community! Despite the weather, if you’ve been here a while, are new to the area, or arrive soon, it’s a great time to get out. Our Chapter is always working to help you grow, no matter where you go. It has been a very busy first quarter of the year here in Utah Chapter. We've had fun with the Utah Grizzlies hockey team, we've handed out kits to inpatient Veterans at the Salt Lake City VA, and we have distributed Blue Star Books to some of our Purple Star School partners! Get ready for some great activities in the coming months, too. April is the Month of the Military Child and Utah ...

How to Get Your MilKids in the Kitchen

By Faith Janes posted 03-29-2023
If there’s one thing we’re certain about, it’s that military kids can excel at anything. With an estimated 1.2 million military kids around the globe, and their collective experiences and ability to thrive in a variety of environments, they make the perfect sous chef in any kitchen. It’s time to pull out the cookie cutters and mini aprons and add cooking to your milkids’ list of skills. Here to show you how is our Blue Star Perks Partners at the Dr. Yum Project. Let’s get cooking 🍳 Getting Teens in the Kitchen : There are SO many benefits! Here’s a great playlist of videos to help folks cook on their own for the first ...