What We Do...
Blue Star Family Platoon is all about connections.
Our initial campaign is to raise funds to provide Blue Star Banners to these deserving families. This beautiful and valuable old tradition dates back to WWI -- the stars on the banner represent a family member who is serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
With one of these service flags in their front window or hanging on their door, this family is saying "We are proud of our son, our daughter, our father, our mother. We want the community to know that our family is making a sacrifice for freedom in this
world."
Other families of brave soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen will see these banners, resulting in valuable supporting relationships.
We provide these banners free of charge to the families we meet at various military family support groups and events as well as through an online presence (our website and social media platforms).
Additionally, working as connectors and facilitators primarily in the Chicagoland area, we plan to continue our work of bringing these warriors and their families together for
support and the provision of services they may need when they have left active military service.
Imagine...
Imagine a place where veterans and their families can come together to relax and share experiences, joys and sorrows, complaints about the VA as well as victories in their daily struggles with PTSD.
Short term, we need to find these military and veteran families by giving them Blue Star Banners to hang in their windows.
We follow up by sharing resources with them: yoga therapy, art therapy, counseling for family members, music therapy, creative writing groups, job search skills and workshops.
It's about healing through connections -- to each other and to the resources they need. Support and caring can only come about if they find each other.
This is ultimately a non-profit public relations start-up to benefit military and veteran families.
That's what we are doing. That's what we will always do.
Here's the Plan...
We have been attending Marine family support meetings for fifteen months, presenting the families with Blue Star Banners to honor their beloved family member who is serving in America's armed forces.
We plan to expand my association with these parent groups as well as collaborating with service providers to connect the families with the resources.
As the days go along, we find ourselves doing some really great public relations work for organizations in our area, including Easter Seals, Chicago Park District, the Richard Casper Foundation and the Illinois Military Family Initiative. These folks are
all doing great stuff for veterans and military families, but not getting much exposure for their events.
We know how to work the networks and get the publicity they need so that their services get noticed and used by the vets and families who need them.
And Then There's Social Media...
We have an online presence currently through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I'm VERY excited about a blog I write about
military families and veterans! It's called Mother Goose Salutes.
We would like to have a website as well where we can bring news, upcoming events, feature stories about heroes and places to congregate and meet other families. We envision this as a space where it all comes together in one place.
There is a plethora of private service providers available to military and veteran families -- unfortunately, not all of these services are known to the very ones who could benefit from them.
Having an SEO optimized website will help to make those connections. We are currently involved in many local meetings and events where veterans and military family support is the MAIN OBJECTIVE. We want more publicity for these events so that local citizens
can be aware of our brave veterans as well as ways in which they can support their families.
The BIG picture, down the road, is to help establish "spaces" where veterans, their families and military families can gather together. We often dream of reinventing the old traditional veteran meeting places to make them more user-friendly to our modern
war veterans.
We imagine spaces for the story-telling, for the arts, for recreation, for various therapeutic activities and counseling. Spaces where families can find support and also the information they need to achieve day-to-day victories in their lives.
Our Blue Star Family Platoon starts small, but dreams big. That's just the American way. Thank you for believing in us!
