Please register by September 8th. If it’s after 9/8, please email Ben (bgould@bluestarfam.org) directly.
Join Blue Star Families of Chicago for our Blue Star Welcome Week (BSWW) 2023 kickoff event on Saturday, September 23rd from 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM at the world-famous Field Museum!
The family-friendly Field Museum has many interactive exhibits for kids and is one of the largest museums in the world with a collection of nearly 40 million artifacts. The world-renowned items on display include Ancient Egyptian mummies and SUE, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, estimated to be 67 million years old.
The Field Museum explore cultures present and past, find the latest scientific discoveries, and travel the world right here in Chicago.
BSWW aims to honor and welcome military and veteran families (including Guard and Reserve) who have recently moved to our community, especially those who've lived here for less than one year.
Each family will receive one Welcome Gift Basket from Blue Star Families.
*Military/veteran families who’ve been here for longer than 1 year can still sign up! We’re just going to prioritize new families due to limited spots.
**Limited spots are available. Those who are offered a spot will be contacted by Ben directly.
To significantly reduce the cost of parking, please download the free apps ParkWhiz & SpotHero or consider taking public transportation (if possible).
More about Blue Star Welcome Week:
Every year, 600,000 active-duty and transitioning military families move to new communities. Our MFLS Survey showed that less than 1/3rd of active-duty family respondents feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community, which is why we established BSWW, to honor and welcome these families, especially those who've moved to new communities within the last year.
To date, BSWW has included 79 events, across 22 states, with over 130 partner organizations, that had a total of nearly 5,000 attendees. We’ve had governors and mayors establish Blue Star Welcome Week in dozens of cities and states throughout the country.
To learn more, go to https://welcomeweek.bluestarfam.org/
More about the Field Museum:
The Field Museum collection grew out of items on display in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair), which drew 27 million people. The Field Museum, known then as the Field Columbian Museum opened in 1894, and moved to its current location on Chicago’s iconic Lake Michigan shore in 1921, where it attracts 2 million visitors annually.
Today, the collection contains nearly 40 million objects, making it one of the world’s largest museums. The world-renowned items on display include Egyptian mummies, the lions of Tsavo, and SUE, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, estimated to be 67 million years old.
To learn more, go to: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/
BSWW Welcome Committee (WC): is made up of military and veteran family members who would like to welcome new military and veteran families in their area and help support them get adjusted to their new community. This could include reaching out to welcome them, being there to answer any questions they might have, meeting them for coffee, showing them around, having your families meet, checking up on them periodically, etc. Each Welcome Committee members will be given a gift from Blue Star Families. If you’d like to be part of the Welcome Committee, please indicate that when prompted in the questions below. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please contact Ben (bgould@bluestarfam.org).