Tuesday, December 2, 2014

December 1


Our activity for the first day of Advent is to donate $25 to adopt a veteran at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, MS for the holidays. A local woman who volunteers frequently at the Armed Forces Retirement Home is coordinating giving baskets of holiday gifts to 62 veterans currently residing there. This was her post on the Keesler Spouses Facebook page:

"With my Mary Kay business, I am working with the Armed Forces Retirement Home to adopt their Veterans and give them a Christmas present. A donation of $25 would purchase a complete basket for 1 Veteran. The donations will be going to the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Biloxi, MS. I volunteer here quite frequently and have met some amazing veterans. A few that stick out are a dancing gentleman who flew in over 30 combat missions as a Tail Gunner in WWII and a sweet 90 year old who helped paved the way for Women in the Air Force. Baskets include a hand lotion, foot lotion, lip balm, comfy socks, candies, a teddy bear/blanket, and a holiday card plus all of the wrapping material! Please consider adopting someone who has served our great Nation and will not be receiving many visitors this holiday season. We will be hand delivering the baskets to each Veteran December 30th. If you have anything else you'd like to donate every bit helps giving these Veterans an amazing holiday season!"

Nick has had to go a few times to the Armed Forces Retirement Home to draft wills or do other legal aid for the retirees there. The home is one of two of a kind -- the other being in DC.  It is a large, comprehensive institution with numerous activities and very posh facilities.  It is specifically designed for retirees who served at least a majority of their time as enlisted members.



We were hoping to do something else with the Home, like volunteering to play board games with the veterans living there, but because it is run by the government they have an extensive volunteering application and background check process you must go through before volunteering there. Not so conducive to last minute volunteering planners like us! But maybe we will be able to go with the coordinator on December 30, when she delivers the baskets to the veterans.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." 
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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