(StatePoint) During the holiday season, Americans look forward to spending time with family. But thousands of service members will be spending the holidays deployed overseas – far away from their families and loved ones.
The USO supports service members throughout their deployments. Here is how USO Holidays programming delivers a piece of home to them, along with ideas for how you can get involved:
1. Care Packages: A care package might seem small in light of the challenges of deployment, but for many service members, they’re a reminder that they’re not forgotten by Americans back home. In addition to the contents of a standard USO Care Package, such as snacks or toiletries, USO Holidays Care Packages have festive treats and goodies, such as holiday candies, cozy socks and warm beanies, helping bridge the gap between home and the frontlines. This year, the USO will deliver thousands of holiday packages to service members deployed around the globe.
2. Holiday Traditions: Giving up treasured family traditions can be difficult. That’s why USO Centers and USO Mobile teams host holiday meals for service members and their families, complete with special treats ranging from pumpkin and sweet potato pie to hot cocoa bars. The USO’s annual Cookie Week celebrates the time-honored tradition of baking and decorating cookies, putting service members and military families in the holiday spirit wherever they are located. Other seasonal programming can include tree decorating, arts and crafts, holiday-themed movie nights and ugly sweater competitions.
Through these activities, service members stationed far from home can still make holiday memories. Bringing everyone together on special days fosters camaraderie and positivity, and provides a welcome break from the demands of military life.
3. Connections to Home. Staying connected to family during the holidays can be challenging for service members stationed overseas. The USO Reading Program enables deployed service members to record themselves reading a book to their child. Then, the recording and a copy of the book are sent to that service member’s family.
4. Travel Support. As most people know, holiday travel can be especially taxing. Thousands of service members and trainees from military installations across the country participate in the Holiday Block Leave period, many traveling through some of the busiest airports in the United States to be with their families during the holidays. USO airport centers can alleviate some of that stress by providing a place to relax and unwind before the next leg of their journey.
To learn more about these programs and how to support them, and for ideas on how to reach out to the military community to express your thanks during the holidays and throughout the year, visit USO.org.
The holiday season can be an especially tough time of year for military families. Thankfully, anyone can get involved in the effort to help connect service members to the traditions and people they love back home.
