Publications

Letter from the Chairman

The heart of the National Military Family Association is our advocacy for military families. Our mission to help strengthen, educate, and inform is accomplished in many ways. Our Operation Purple® Program, including summer camps for children of deployed service members, family retreats, and retreats for families of wounded service members has provided valuable respite and support for many deserving families. It was born from a need to support military families in new ways because of continued deployments and family separations.

Our robust Joanne Holbrook Patton Spouse Scholarship Program has allowed many military spouses opportunities to continue their education, despite changes of station and other challenges presented by our military lifestyle. The program was launched and continues to grow because of a need expressed by military spouses.

We are hard at work developing a new online tool designed to help military families manage their lives by delivering information the way families want to receive it, when they need it, and according to their individual circumstances. This new program, still in its developmental stage, is underway because of a need expressed by military families for easier access to useful information.

Our work is truly guided by the efforts of our Volunteers. Our programs have been initiated because of need, and Volunteers throughout the world listen, learn, and help us to identify the needs of military families. Needs change, and new needs arise – our Volunteers help keep us aware of changes.

We are able to respond to the needs of military families because we are aware of the needs of military families, and we are aware of those needs because of our Volunteers. Our Volunteer Corps is our eyes and ears on bases and posts worldwide. We depend on information received by our Volunteers and react to information from “the field,” which drives all of our outreach efforts.

Volunteers are essential to the success of our Association. They ask for little in return for their efforts, but can expect meaningful, relevant experiences when they join us in supporting military families. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our Volunteers, from members of our Boards, to Representatives in the field, to Volunteers who man tables in welcome centers or at special events! We can never thank you enough for telling our story, and, more importantly, for bringing the stories to us that shape our programs and our advocacy on behalf of military families. Thank you, thank you, thank you!