Posts Tagged ‘Michelle Obama’

Celebrate Our Freedom by Better Serving Our Military!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Military men and women are returning home after spending months overseas. While being deployed, they have been isolated from loved ones and a life they once knew. Returning home after a service deployment can often be difficult for both the individual and their loved ones. Often, men and women return a little different than how their loved ones knew them previously.

These men and women need our help to make their transition back to daily life more manageable! You can help these men and women by volunteering as little or as much time as you can give!

Sound appealing, but you are not sure how to get involved? Check out these great military resources below to give back to those who have given us so much!

  • Community Blueprint: The Community Blueprint Network brings together community leaders, individuals, government agencies and nonprofits to bring collaborative, integrated solutions to address the most common challenges facing veterans and military families, from unemployment to education to behavioral health, housing, and reintegration. Volunteers, including veterans themselves, are the power behind the Blueprint. The Community Blueprint is the only national, scalable approach developed by a coalition of over 55 veteran and military-serving organizations nonprofits and government agencies focused on serving our nation’s military men and women and their families. To learn more check out our Community Blueprint web page!
  • Mom’s Time Away, Kids Get to Play: Military spouses and children often suffer from high levels of anxiety. A great way to help support families with returning or still deployed spouses and parents is to offer daycare services for young children. Military spouses are often forced to take over the burden of the household and daily needs associated with childcare. Allow military spouses to run errands or have time to their selves by offering free daycare services to their children. Your services will be greatly appreciated! Check out our playbook to learn more!
  • Joining Forces: Created by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden Joining forces engages all sectors of society to meet our military’s needs. Joining Forces highlights the issues of employment, education, and wellness to better serve our returning military and families. To learn more about their resources and to learn how you can get involved check out their .
  • Blue Star Families: Empowers military families through connecting them to elected officials and top nonprofits through social networking. They have launched extensive research projects with findings geared toward better serving military families. They have also launched service projects to better serve our military communities. Check out their website to get more information.
  • Give an Hour: Strives to provide free mental healthcare to military servicemen and families affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They ask therapists to give an hour of free therapy once a week to those who need it. Individuals who receive their services have an opportunity to give an hour back to their communities in return. To learn how you can get involved check out their website.
  • Got Your 6: An awareness campaign led by the entertainment industry. Got Your 6 means to literally have another person’s back. They bring attention to the areas of jobs, education, housing, health, family, and leadership. To see how you can get involved with your own 6 check out their website.  
  • Volunteer: The best way to just go out and help our military is to interact with them through service. Whether you just hang out with a military veteran, write a card for someone overseas, or visit a war memorial; it is most important to observe the dedication to service that these men and women have given our country!

How are you better serving our military? We would love to hear your comments and stories in the section below!

Change Points: Girl Power

Monday, June 7th, 2010

We are beginning our countdown to the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York City June 28-30, and this is the first of a number of highlights from the upcoming great gathering of nonprofit, government and corporate leaders.  Just to give you a teaser, this year’s conference includes White House leaders such as Cabinet Secretaries Arne Duncan and Shaun Donovan; CEOs such as Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase; social media rock stars , the co-founder of ; Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist, and Joe Rospars, the social media guru behind President Obama’s election campaign.

A special summit on June 28 focuses on Girl Power, inspiring action and celebrating the extraordinary efforts of teenage girls to create meaningful change.  After all, a majority of young girls say that improving their community is their favorite activity, and consistent young volunteers are significantly more likely to be girls than boys. With the help of such special guests as civic entrepreneur Lauren Bush and WE tv President and GM Kim Martin, the “Girls. Power. CHANGE: Girls Summit on Civic Engagement” will focus on how school and work can reinforce the value of service, and how citizens can self-organize and mobilize to address social issues.   In addition, three girls will be awarded $1,000 WE tv Power Grants for their innovative Changemaker ideas.

This is a generation of young girls who grow up understanding their own ability, and responsibility, to change the world around them for the better. They are answering President and Michelle Obama‘s calls  to service, and we celebrate their  commitment, energy, and creativity.  Imagine the power of girls unleashed to create change!

Sincerely,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute