All expectant moms have jitters as they await the birth of their babies, but military wives with spouses on deployment face additional challenges. Thanks to Operation Shower, military wives do not have to prepare for the baby’s arrival alone.
Operation Shower Supports Military Families
Co-founded by Lena Morrissey and Kris Jackson, Operation Shower is a non-profit organization that provides baby showers for pregnant military personnel and their spouses. This is Operation Shower’s unique way of honoring the sacrifices of military families and supporting the troops.
Operation Shower recently received a 2009 Golden Pacifier Award from babytalk magazine. Operation Shower’s "At Your Service Award" was among several awards presented to “tip our hats to the heroes who have done something this past year to help out moms or babies,” according to babytalk Editor Lisa Moran. Other noteworthy recipients included Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and President Barack Obama.
Bringing Baby Showers to Expectant Military Wives
The nonprofit organization has two different ways of supporting expectant military wives with spouses on deployment. The organization holds unit-wide showers that include the expectant moms in a specific military unit. Operation Shower also sends a shower in a box to an individual military mom with a spouse who is deployed during her pregnancy. In both the unit-wide shower and the shower in a box, Operation Shower coordinates gathering donations and bringing the shower to the expectant mom.
“I wanted to recognize the price military wives pay, being alone while they prepare to give birth,” Morrissey told babytalk. The organization is well on the way to accomplishing that goal, as several unit-wide showers have been held in the past. Recipients have included the new moms and moms-to-be at Fort Bragg, N.C.; Twentynine Palms, California; and Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
A San Diego “Operation Shower” event in 2008 celebrated new and expecting moms with husbands deployed on the USS Nimitz is the Pacific Ocean. “Bringing the community together to recognize these women for their strength shows them that they are appreciated and not alone during their pregnancies,” Morrissey said in the Naval Air Forces Public Affairs article, “‘Operation Shower’ Rains Gifts on Nimitz Moms.” In 2009, Operation Shower planned its first eco-friendly baby shower with a “Boxes in Bloom” baby shower.
Help Operation Shower Support the Troops
Operation Shower produces and coordinates the baby showers, but the non-profit organization cannot do it alone. There are many ways to help Operation Shower support military families. The group’s most critical need is product donations to fill the boxes for the military wives and their babies-to-be. Donors can give new products, donate money, sponsor a box with a group or host a shower or party to collect items for Operation Shower.
Businesses can also support Operation Shower by becoming a preferred vendor. These companies have a commitment to providing the non-profit organization with products to include in the shower box. The organization places a priority on quality and eco-friendly products.
Operation Shower helps recognize the commitment of military wives and supports the troops by providing baby showers to expectant moms with spouses on deployment. The non-profit organization can provide a shower for the new moms in an entire unit or on an individual basis. There are many ways to help Operation Shower in its mission to honor the sacrifices of military families and support the troops. Those who want to support Operation Shower can donate items or money. Businesses can donate products for the boxes and become preferred vendors.
For more articles to strengthen families, read Stay Connected With a Married Date Night and Intimate Friendship Starts with Communication.
Genna Cockerham - Genna Cockerham has been writing online since November 2008. She served as Marriage Feature Writer from December 2008 to February ...
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