BSF Blog: When He's The Spouse | Blue Star Families

Department of Defense Reinstates MyCAA | Post date: 03/11/2010 - 03:00

The Department of Defense announced this morning that it is reinstating the popular My Career Account program that provided up to $6000 of educational benefits to military spouses. The program will resume this Saturday but only for those spouses who already part of the program. New applicants won't be allowed until the Department of Defense develops a long range plan for, presumably, funding and administering the program.

Members of Blue Star Families worked hard to get the word out about how military spouses were being harmed by the abrupt halt of the MyCAA program, holding a roundtable with Congressman Glenn Nye (D-Va) of the Congressional Military Families Caucus. The CMFC was instrumental in getting the program reinstated. Congressman Glenn Nye says that Congress will continue to work with DoD to ensure that the program is available to all military spouses in the future.

Here is a news story from Channel 13 News in Hampton Roads about the resumption of the MyCAA program. BSF member Chris Cowan talks about how the MyCAA program helps military spouses continue careers, despite the frequent moves required by the military life.

All those military spouses out there who fought for this program should pat themselves on the back! You did this. Together we can change the world.

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How Can BSF Help Military Families? Tell Us. | Post date: 02/05/2010 - 01:07
Blue Star Families needs your help. We want to know how we can make BSF better for you. We want to hear your ideas for helping military families.

And we're going to enter you into a drawing for helping us! Between now and April 1st, everyone who signs up for our mailing list will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate.

Even if you've already signed up on our website, you can enter here again. In fact, we encourage you to do so.

Blue Star Families Gift Card Giveaway

Blue Star Families is giving away a $50 Target or iTunes gift card! To enter, fill out the form below and tell us how we can make BSF work for you.
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Terms: The BSF Gift Card Giveaway is sponsored by Blue Star Families, Inc. Only one entry per person is allowed. Contest ends April 1, 2010. The prize will be awarded before April 8, 2010. Only residents of the Unites States may enter. You must be 18 or older to enter. No purchase is necessary and you may enter the drawing without filling out the online form by sending a 3x5 card labeled with "BSF Giveaway" to Blue Star Families, PO Box 6811, 7676 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22306. You must include your full name, date of birth and a contact phone number or email on the 3x5 card. Questions? Email NewMedia@BlueStarFam.org. Void where prohibited.
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This Emotional Life on PBS | Post date: 01/04/2010 - 21:14

Blue Star Families members,

Tune in tonight to watch the first installment of "This Emotional Life" on your local PBS station. Blue Star Families is an advisor to the project and has worked closely with production team on military family outreach. Check out BSF's listing under resources: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/resource-finder

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Behind the Scenes with Operation Appreciation | Post date: 12/01/2009 - 01:54

BSF members in the Tidewater region of Virginia - Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake - have been working hard on Operation Appreciation. We thought we'd give you a sneak peak of what happens behind the scenes to get your letters of appreciation out to service members, veterans, parents, military spouses and children.

Remember, if you'd like to send thanks to a military family, we'd love to hear from you. If you're part of a military family and would like to receive letters, sign up as a BSF member! If you are already a BSF member and are interested in helping out or distributing correspondence to military families in your area, please contact us at members@bluestarfam.org. Check out the Operation Appreciation page for more information.

Boxes and boxes of cuteness! This drawing and letter is from a 2nd grader in Baltimore County, MD.

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BSF Celebrates Veterans Day with Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden | Post date: 11/12/2009 - 22:47

On Wednesday, Blue Star Families joined with Service Nation to celebrate Veterans Day, write letters for BSF's Operation Appreciation, and pack hundreds of thank you care packages for the families of deployed service members.

Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden were on hand to help launch Mission Serve, a network of 36 initiatives partnering military and civilian service organizations to support the needs of our troops, veterans and military families.

Here are the remarks of BSF founder, Kathy Roth-Douquet, explaining more about the Veterans Day event:

Two months ago today, on 9/11, I sent my husband to Afghanistan for a year. It’s the fourth combat deployment of my daughter Sophie’s eleven years. She’s seen seven schools during her daddy’s absences too – hers is the life of a military child. She - and I - are a different kind of veterans of today’s war. We’re unspeakably proud of my husband, but there’s no hiding that its hard too. The group I’m involved with – Blue Star Families, and all these groups here, are about solutions for the hard parts of military life. In Blue Star Families we believe as Service Nation does that solutions come in part from our own action, and it comes from the help of the larger community. Many of you here today have helped us with that – packing our ThxBox to the families of deployed servicemembers – these today will go to Kansas National Guard, Virginian individual augmentees, and to North Carolina regular families. The Operation Appreciation letters you all are writing today will go around the country, including to the shaken community of Fort Hood. MissionServe has shown wonderful leadership in helping groups like mine connect to those who care in the larger community – in ways that makes us all activists, all agents in our own solutions. Its terribly fitting that we celebrate those partnerships today, on Veterans Day, a day that recognizes Americans – veterans – who serve so selflessly. Here’s just a smattering of the partnerships engendered by the leadership of Be The Change:

Blue Star Families is partnering with PBS to create reintegration toolkits for families, ones we packed in the ThxBoxes today, and to connecting Greater DC Cares to the National Guard community around the Capitol region. Student Veterans of America are joining with Big Brothers Big Sisters to mentor youth. American Legion Auxiliary is engaging with Operation Homefront’s adopt a military family for the holidays programs. Sierra Club is partnering both with the National Military Family Association’s Operation Purple® to offer a free week of summer camp fun for military kids with parents who have been, are currently, or will be deployed, and with Armed Services YMCA to provide post-deployment family reintegration camping trips. MCEC and America’s Promise Alliance are working with military-connected schools to ensure their kids are adequately represented in the Gallup Student Poll, a nationwide survey of 5th through 12th graders measuring hope, engagement, and well-being.

Thank you all for being here today, for caring, and serving.

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Weekly News Round-Up for October 27, 2009 | Post date: 10/27/2009 - 21:55

Weekly News Round-Up

All the Latest in Everything Blue Star Families

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

HEADLINES - Welcome to our newest Board Member Connie Milstein! iParticipate is out with a new Public Service Announcement featuring Matthew McConaughey thanking military families for their service. Check out all the Freebies and Discounts for military families below!

Remember, if you want BSF info and links to articles and events more than once a week, join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check out our Blue Star Families Blog.

If you received our Weekly News Round-Up from a friend or co-worker, please join us today. Blue Star Families is an exciting new way for military family members from all ranks and services (and our supporters!) to Connect, Support, and Empower one another. Just go to the JOIN US page on our site BlueStarFam.org.

There's a lot of excitement about Blue Star Families and the best way to make sure you are in the middle of it all is to join your local chapter. Just shoot Vivian a note at members@bluestarfam.org, and she'll get you connected.

Enjoy! Heidi & the Blue Star Families Team

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Weekly News Round-Up for October 13, 2009 | Post date: 10/14/2009 - 05:00

Weekly News Round-Up Oct. 13

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Welcome to our new Advisory Board members Deborah Mullen and Babette Maxwell! Deborah Mullen is the wife of Adm. Michael Mullen who is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Babette Maxwell is one of the founders and the Executive Editor of Military Spouse magazine.

Remember, if you want BSF info and links to articles and events more than once a week, join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check out our Blue Star Families Blog.

If you received our Weekly News Round-Up from a friend or co-worker, please join us today. Blue Star Families is an exciting new way for military family members from all ranks and services (and our supporters!) to Connect, Support, and Empower one another. Just go to the JOIN US page on our site BlueStarFam.org.

There's a lot of excitement about Blue Star Families and the best way to make sure you are in the middle of it all is to join your local chapter. Just shoot Vivian a note at members@bluestarfam.org, and she'll get you connected.

Enjoy! Heidi & the Blue Star Families Team

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Navy Husband: Women Warriors Bring it Out of You | Post date: 09/22/2009 - 14:36

I am somewhat of a novice when it comes to blogging but when it comes to the message boards I have quite a track record! For more three years there has been a thread on Miltary.com titled “Any male spouses out there?” Notwithstanding, the devil is in the detail. For as long as it has been going there have only been 257 replies, with a good percentage of those coming from female spouses offering encouragement and moderators ‘shushing’ and ‘tutting’ at us. The really sad part is that the thread has received over 30000 views. I realize not all are male spouses but it points to a silent preponderance of us out there.

My last blog post stated that we need more male spouses to help vocalize this silent tide and do a better job of ensuring the ongoing success of our women warriors. How happy was I, then, when I was invited to sit on a panel at the recent 6^th annual symposium of Academy Women in Arlington VA. The Panel was titled “Partners in Success: Perspectives from Military Women’s Partners.” Founded in 2003, Academy Women aims to support, inspire and enable all current, former and future women military officers to reach their full potential as leaders in the military and throughout their lives.

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Frustrated by Having to Register to VOTE Every Time You Move? Tell Us All About It! | Post date: 08/26/2009 - 13:33
Frustrated by Having to Register to VOTE Every Time You Move? Tell Us All About It!

Blue Star Families wants to identify the special challenges that military members and their families face when struggling to vote and fully participate in our government. Help us by completing the BSF Voter Registration survey. We are interested in knowing:
- How often you have had to register to vote?
- What kinds of problems you have had voting – either in person or via absentee? Why aren’t you registered to vote?
We want to share our military family stories with key policy makers and we need your help.

It will take fewer than 10 minutes for you to complete the online survey. PLEASE DO IT TODAY!
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Weekly Round-Up for August 25, 2009 | Post date: 08/26/2009 - 02:00

Weekly News Round-Up

All the Latest in Everything Blue Star Families

Welcome! We've had another busy week with our new Military Families Voter Registration survey, ideas for helping kids during deployments and involvement in some powerful articles. Read all about it, and many other cool things happening in the BSF world below.

We are working hard on the creation of our new Blue Star Families website and online community which will be launching very soon! Check out below how YOU can help make connecting together even easier and more exciting.

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