2022 Highlights of Hope

December 1, 2022

December is the Month of Giving— so we wanted to kick off the 2022 Advent Calendar by highlighting just a few individuals who go way beyond giving just for one month… they give every day of the year! Those individuals are Angel volunteers and they are dedicated to supporting the military and Veteran community each and every day through Soldiers’ Angels!

Are you already one of our Angel volunteers? If not, click the button below to learn more about our many volunteer opportunities.

December 2, 2022

Did you know that today is National Mutt Day? Also known as National Mixed Breed Dog Day. And while Military Working Dogs are more often pure breeds rather than mixed breeds, we figured it was still the perfect day to highlight the impact you had on these lucky dogs! You helped ensure that No Soldier Goes Unloved— even those with four legs and a tail!

Click View Campaigns to see how you can get involved in this and other great Soldiers’ Angels collection campaigns in 2023!

December 3, 2022

Soldiers’ Angels volunteers or “Angels” send tens of thousands of care packages to deployed Service Members each and every year! These morale-boosting boxes provide snacks, hygiene items, and other goodies from home that make the Service Members feel remembered, supported, and uplifted. 

But despite the support from our incredible volunteers, we cannot keep up with the demand!! We have over 400 Service Members waiting for support…

Watch the video above or click the button below to see what you can do to support these Service Members!! Let’s come together and get them ALL supported before the holidays!!

December 4, 2022

Today is National Cookie Day! And we think most of you will agree that there is nothing like the taste of home baked cookies!! Can you imagine how good they must taste after you’ve been deployed far from home for several months?

That’s what makes the Soldiers’ Angels Angel Bakers Team so special. These talented volunteers make tasty homemade baked goods, including LOTS of cookies, and ship them to deployed Service Members in care packages. 

One Angel in particular has been counting her cookies since she first began volunteering on the Angel Baker Team… and back in April she hit a major milestone— her 30,000th cookie!!

Angel Christina joined Soldiers’ Angels in 2017 and has been diligently baking, packing, shipping, and counting her cookies ever since. You may remember Christina from an article we shared in 2021 when she reached her 20,000th cookie, but if not, click the button to learn about her journey baking for the deployed. We know, we know… the article is technically from last year… but the story is still the same, just 10,000 cookies later!

We’re so grateful for all of our talented Angel Bakers and the delicious treats they create for our deployed Service Members! 

December 5, 2022

One of the most incredible things about Soldiers’ Angels is that not only do we support Service Members while they are deployed, but often they find Soldiers’ Angels once they return and seek out a way to contribute so that others can feel the support they felt. It’s truly a full circle of support. 

In this year’s list of Tribute to Our Heroes video blogs, we were honored to interview three Veterans who now find purpose through volunteering or giving back to Soldiers’ Angels in some way: Pat Jopling, Kevin Mead, and Darrin Domko. In fact, one of those three was so overwhelmed by the support he received from Soldiers’ Angels while he was deployed, he got the Soldiers’ Angels logo tattooed on his leg!

Click through to hear their incredible stories from being supported to providing the support.

December 6, 2022

Soldiers’ Angels volunteers provide a wide range of support to deployed Service Members— letters, cards, baked goods, care packages, and more. Those volunteers understand and accept that they may not ever hear back from the Service Members they support.

But every now and again, a Service Member goes out of their way to say thank you for the support they received. An angel may be having an ordinary day until a trip to their mailbox reveals a thank you card, a certificate of gratitude, or even a flag flown in their honor… and then, in that moment, the roles are reversed and the Service Member becomes the angel to the volunteer.

These are just a few of the many stories of those role reversals.

If you’re interested in becoming an angel for a deployed Service Member, click the button to join now and begin making an impact!

December 7, 2022

WE DID IT!!!

Not only did we reach our goal of 40,000 stocking pledges for Holiday Stockings for Heroes— we exceeded it!!

FINAL PLEDGE COUNT: 44,588!!

Thank you all for helping us spread the holiday spirit to deployed Service Members and Veterans!

BUT… we still need your help! The USPS deadline to ship Military Mail and have it reach deployed in time for Christmas is this FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th!!

And we still need more support for the cost of shipping the stockings! Can you help by sponsoring the shipping of one or more stuffed holiday stockings? Click now to make a last-minute donation!!

December 8, 2022

Our Angel volunteers love to go above and beyond for our Service Members and Veterans! They make it their mission to ensure those they support are remembered, uplifted, and loved— no matter what unique situation they may be experiencing— like this active duty Service Member and new mom:

“I’m active duty Navy stationed overseas and was having my first baby. I wasn’t going to have a baby shower because I just checked in and didn’t really know anyone. I was kind of bummed out about this. However, I received so many cards from Soldiers’ Angels and some gifts as well that it felt like a long-distance baby shower. I loved it! The baby loved it!!! I can’t thank you enough for all the well wishes and sweet cards. I really appreciate it. It made my day to check the mail and have a card. Thanks so much for caring and taking the time to send a note. We loved everything! Especially the homemade scrapbook and blankets. They were so cute It was so exciting to get cards in the mail every day and was really great to see so many people we never met send us congrats, It really made me feel appreciated. This is such a great program!” – Jazzemein

Sending a card may seem like a small gesture, but sometimes that small gesture can make all the difference in the world! Interested in sending cards? Click through to learn more.

December 9, 2022

Our supporters never cease to amaze us!! Not only do they spend their time, talents, and money providing a wide variety of support services to Service Members, Veterans, and military families— but when we find ourselves in situations that require support for the organization, they show up like an army ready to go to battle! 

This year, that army of supporters came through in a BIG way! A local San Antonio car dealership began a social media contest to give away $300K to 3 San Antonio-area nonprofits. Several local supporters nominated Soldiers’ Angels to be in the contest. Once nominated, we spread the word to all of our supporters to encourage them to vote daily and help us win $100,000. And vote they did!! Because of our supporters, Soldiers’ Angels was 1 of the 3 winning nonprofits and was awarded $100K!

Join our e-newsletter list and stay in the know about our latest opportunities! Every bit of support helps our Service Members and Veterans, even if it’s just a daily click of a mouse!

December 10, 2022

In August 2022, Atlanta United FC partnered with Soldiers’ Angels to not only host the Veteran Food Distribution in Atlanta— but to expand the event to multiple sites! That month’s expansion was a result of Atlanta United’s commitment to reach more Veterans throughout the region. The event served a total of 250 Veterans at 3 different sites in Atlanta!

Click through to learn how you and/or your company/organization can make a tremendous impact on the lives of thousands of Veterans in need through Soldiers’ Angels Veteran Food Distributions.

December 11, 2022

We love hearing stories like Angel Tamara’s!

Many of our Angel volunteers are military moms, spouses, or family members themselves. When they join Soldiers’ Angels, they pick up many tips and tricks that help them be prepared for if/when their own family member deploys, just like Tamara:

“I have been a part of Soldiers’ Angels for three years. I have gained so much from my experience. However, right now I am appreciating it more than ever. My son is on his first deployment and the other new moms have so many shipping questions for care packages. Thanks to Soldiers’ Angels I have the answers, plus I shipped my son a package like it was nothing because I have learned so much over the years.” – Angel Tamara

Click through to learn more about volunteering with Soldiers’ Angels.

December 12, 2022

On August 30, 2021, the last soldier left Afghanistan. The weeks and months that followed brought with them a waive of humanitarian need. Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees were moved from military installation to military installation before finally being resettled across the United States.

While Soldiers’ Angels doesn’t typically provide support to refugees, the situation surrounding Afghanistan brought with it a very unique circumstance— military installations were now in need of toys, clothing, hygiene items, and more to support their refugee guests. With our existing connections to the military community, we were one of the few organizations that had the ability to answer their call. 

As those refugees slowly trickeld off of military installations and into some semblance of normalcy in their designated cities, Soldiers’ Angels continued to support them with mattresses, household items, hygiene items, and more. Thousands of refugees, many of them right here in San Antonio, have been supported.

In August of 2022, we recognized One Year of Support for the Afghan Refugees. Click through to read more about all of the efforts.

December 13, 2022

The Soldiers’ Angels team works hard every day to make a difference in the lives of Service Members, Veterans, and their families. But they also look for other opportunities to give back and provide support. July 2022 marked the 1 year anniversary of the passing of Dr. Jennifer Cernoch, the former Vice President of Development at Soldiers’ Angels. When we put our heads together to think of a way to honor Jennifer’s memory, the idea of giving back by hosting a blood drive seemed to be the perfect solution as Jennifer received several transfusions during her treatment. On August 26, Soldiers’ Angels hosted the Bloodmobile from the South Texas Blood Bank in the parking lot of our office. Staff members, volunteers, Veterans, Service Members, as well as members of Jennifer’s family gathered throughout the day to donate blood in honor of Jennifer. We proudly completed our goal of donated units of blood that day and we hope that our contributions helped many— maybe even some who were undergoing the same treatment Jennifer did just one year before.

December 14, 2022

Soldiers’ Angels volunteers love to DEPLOY their creativity by decorating the care packages they send to deployed Service Members! (Did you see what we did there? Deploy… deployed… 😂) Take a look at just a few of the impressive care packages that were shared with deployed Service Members throughout 2022. Let these artistic boxes inspire you to put your creativity to the test by joining Soldiers’ Angels and sending your own creative care packages to deployed!

(Please note: Decorating care packages is NOT a requirement to be on the Deployed Adoptions Team and send care packages to deployed! It’s a personal touch some of our volunteers choose to do because they enjoy it. The most important element about sending care packages is the supplies included inside!)

December 15, 2022

Thanks to an incredible long-time partnership with Books-A-Million, Soldiers’ Angels was once again able to provide thousands of bags of coffee to deployed Service Members and Veterans during Coffee for the Troops Summer 2022. These are just some of the smiles created by that campaign!

And now, this bi-annual campaign has once again returned! Books-A-Million has thousands of donated bags of delicious Joe Muggs coffee ready to share with our heroes in uniform, past and present.

Can you help us cover the cost of shipping this coffee accross the country and around the world? A donation of just $25 will ship enough coffee to make 496 cups! That’s a lot of Joe!

Click the button to donate now!

December 16, 2022

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, we weren’t too sure what this year would look like for the return of Hops for Heroes. Boy, were we amazed when we ended up having 16 craft breweries register and participate in the campaign! The most breweries ever to participate!

This incredible program brings craft breweries together to brew one recipe, Homefront IPA. They host a release party some time between Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and then the net proceeds from the sale of Homefront IPA are donated back to Soldiers’ Angels.

After such a successful year, we’re hoping to more than double the number of participating breweries in 2023.

If you have a favorite local craft brewery, please be sure to share this awesome opportunity with them. Registration for 2023 is now open!

December 17, 2022

Several weeks ago, a deployed Chaplain reached out to the Soldiers’ Angels Chaplain Support Team with a special request: Ugly Christmas Sweaters and lots of them! He was planning a holiday party for the Service Members he supported and hoped that something fun & silly might bring a smile to their faces.

The Angels on the Chaplain Support Team didn’t even think twice! They gathered boxes of sweaters and got them in the mail as quickly as possible to the Chaplain. The Angels knew that this mission was about more than providing some party clothes— this was about sending something that would boost morale during a time of the year that is particularly difficult on those that are deployed.

After we received word from the Chaplain that the sweaters were flowing in and some of the Service Members that had seen them were VERY excited, we decided to take the ugly sweaters to the next level… One of the annual traditions at Soldiers’ Angels is to have a staff Ugly Sweater Contest and ask our Facebook followers to vote for the winner. But what if this year we made the contest be our staff against the deployed Service Members? Stateside vs. Deployed!

The Chaplain agreed and yesterday— on National Ugly Sweater Day, just hours after the deployed Service Members celebrated their holiday party in their sweaters— we were able to share our first-ever (and first of what will hopefully become an annual tradition) “Stateside vs. Deployed Ugly Sweater Contest!”

Go vote this weekend!! Voting in the contest will be open on our Facebook page from now until Monday, December 19th. Click the button below to visit Facebook and start voting! On each photo, click LIKE to vote for Stateside (Soldiers’ Angels Staff & volunteers) or LOVE to vote for deployed. The group with the most reactions will win a special prize.

December 18, 2022

In early November 2022, over 700 Navy Federal employees from coast to coast came together to make a big impact for Service Members and Veterans supported by Soldiers’ Angels! During their corporate event, the group produced over 500 blankets, 1,300 paracord bracelets, and 100 hand-made holiday ornaments! These items will go a long way in supporting deployed Service Members and Veterans.

We’re so grateful for their incredible support and the heart that they had while volunteering!

If your company is planning corporate events or team building activities for 2023, keep Soldiers’ Angels in mind! We have a wide range of Corporate Engagement opportunities large and small that will not only engage your employees, but also give back to those who serve at the same time! Click the button to learn more.

December 19, 2022

The Soldiers’ Angels Adopt-A-Family program helps thousands of military and Veteran families brighten the holidays for their children each and every year. This year is no different… except… we’re just days away from Christmas and we still have over 50 families that have not yet been adopted. 

Can you help? You would need to provide gifts for each child age 18 and under, as well as a grocery gift card for the family to put towards their holiday meal.

If you are able to help a deserving military or Veteran family, please email [email protected] as soon as possible!! We have to get these families adopted as soon as we can so the gifts will arrive before Christmas day!

To see the impact this program can have on a family, click this link to hear how it’s helped female Veteran Angela and her five children: https://bit.ly/3FZ59DH

December 20, 2022

Back in November, we were honored to partner with USAA for a remarkable, Texas-sized Baby Shower— Operation: Baby Shower.

The event brought together 20 expectant military moms, Texans Cheerleaders, Lady Texans, and TORO, to honor 20 military moms in total (5 active duty, 5 married to active duty Service Members, and 10 Veterans). 

The brunch was hosted by the Lady Texans, an organization comprised of an Executive Committee and the wives and significant others of the Houston Texans players and coaches. 

Each member drew names for one of the expectant moms and then purchased items for participants based on their Wish Lists. The participants received major items such as car seats, strollers, beds/cribs, and essential items (including a Houstan Texans onesie)! 

The ladies were also treated to a beautiful brunch complete with charcuterie trays, chicken & waffles, chicken salad sandwiches, baby-themed cookies, chocolates, and nonalcoholic “Momosas.” The group even offered golf cart transportation to and from the parking lot so that our moms-to-be didn’t have to walk far!

If you love showering expectant moms with gifts for itty-bitty babies, click the button below to learn how you can get involved providing virtual baby showers through the Soldiers’ Angels Baby Brigade Team.

December 21, 2022

Thrive Causemetics is Bigger Than Beauty™ and this year, their support of Soldiers’ Angels was bigger than we could have ever imagined! They donated nearly $4M worth of makeup and skincare products to Soldiers’ Angels in 2022!!! 

Body wash, eye creams, masks and peels, and lots, and lots of lip balm were just a few of the incredible items donated by Thrive! These items made a huge impact on deployed Service Members and Veterans alike. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to ship body wash by the pallet load to many VA Hospitals across the country to support Veterans staying in the hospitals. Eye creams, masks + peels were packed in care packages made especially for female deployed Service Members as well as female caregivers to gift them a little pampering. And the lip balm! We were able to include lip balm in care packages for deployed, care packages for caregivers, and thousands of holiday stockings!!

We are so incredibly grateful for this BEAUTY-ful outpouring of support from Thrive!

If your company is interested in supporting the military and Veteran communities by donating in-kind items, please click the button below to reach out to us!

December 22, 2022

It’s National Cookie Exchange Day!! What are you baking today? ‘Tis the season for sweets and treats, after all! These delicious-looking creations were not just baked with love, they were baked for heroes with love! Volunteers on the Soldiers’ Angels Angel Bakers team created these tasty treats and then shipped them in care packages to deployed Service Members around the world! Huge thanks to all of the volunteers that worked diligently throughout the year to make sure our deployed received a taste of home! If you love baking and love supporting our heroes in uniform, be sure to click through and learn more about the Soldiers’ Angels Angel Bakers Team!

December 23, 2022

The holidays are the busiest time of the year at Soldiers’ Angels… We are always in need of volunteers to help pack candy and stockings to ensure they get to our Service Members and Veterans in time for the holidays. It can be very difficult for our small staff and regular volunteers to get everything done in time for the holiday season!

But this year was different… this year we had help from an army of volunteers who all know what it means to serve… 

Those volunteers were from USAA, of course, and Soldiers’ Angels has been incredibly fortunate to have hundreds of USAA volunteers support our holiday efforts in one way or another over the past few months! They sorted and packed candy, they packed stockings, they helped in our warehouse, they worked at food distributions, and more!

In addition, USAA once again covered the cost of supplies, packing, and shipping of 12,000 stuffed stockings for Holiday Stockings for Heroes and they adopted 120 military and Veteran families through Adopt-A-Family!

Thank you so much to everyone at USAA for helping at Soldiers’ Angels and making spirits brighter for our deployed Service Members and Veterans!

If your company is looking for meaningful ways to give back in 2023, take a look at our Corporate Engagement opportunities by clicking the button below!

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December 24, 2022

Soldiers’ Angels Home of the Brave is a campaign that works directly with the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) and corporate partners to provide employees and employers the opportunity to show their gratitude for Veterans on or around Veterans Day. In 2022 alone, during the course of just one week, Soldiers’ Angels Home of the Brave served 131 VA medical facility sites in 46 states plus Washington D.C., 895 volunteers spent more than 6,500 hours to honor 25,047 Veterans. This tremendous, nationwide effort wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of the 2022 Home of the Brave sponsors: Peraton, Bristol Myers Squibb, Xerox, Republic Services, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. A huge thanks to the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas for creating this video showcasing the Home of the Brave events as they happened at the Houston VA in November 2022.

If your company is interested in participating in the 2023 Home of the Brave, it’s too early to start planning! Click the button below to learn more about Soldiers’ Angels Home of the Brave.

December 25, 2022

In September of 2015, Soldiers’ Angels began the Veteran Food Distribution program— a monthly event that would provide low-income, at-risk, and homeless Veterans with food assistance. Since then, the program has expanded to five additional cities, engaging hundreds of volunteers, generating support from sponsors big and small, and, most importantly, feeding tens of thousands of Veteran families in need.

Over the past eight years, the Soldiers’ Angels Veteran Food Distribution program has provided nearly seven million lbs. of food assistance to 89,794 Veteran families in need. Over 21,000 volunteers from all walks of life have worked 114,549 volunteer hours to keep this massive event running. Thanks to sponsors big and small who have generously helped to provide over $14,680,000 to cover the cost of food and keep this event running every month in six cities across the country. This event has become the largest event in America that provides food support exclusively to Veterans.

Give a year-end gift now and help us ensure that we are not only able to continue the food distribution program into 2023 and beyond, but to expand it to serve even more members of the military and Veteran communities!