“One Mama: One Hero One mission–sending support to our military at home and overseas” is the tagline for Military Mama Network, an open Facebook group dedicated to “supporting our military with cards, letters and packages filled with love.”
The group of over 2,500 welcomes dozens of new “military mamas” to its ranks daily. Men are welcome too; in fact, everyone who wants to support our military is welcome, insists MMN Founder Geriann Wiesbrook, who carved a few minutes out of her busy schedule last Friday to chat with HH6 Camo Chix about her organization.
HH6 Camo Chix: I see that your organization has only been around for the past year and you’re on track to have 3,000 members by the end of summer – that’s amazing!
Wiesbrook: (Chuckles) I know, I can hardly believe it myself – I feel truly blessed by the outpouring of love and support for our military.
HH6 Camo Chix: How did Military Mama Network get started?
Wiesbrook: I’ve always been passionate about our military, you could say that I bleed camo (another chuckle,) and the truth is, it’s in my blood – someone in my family has always been in the military. My father, mother, sister, many friends – and now the younger generation, my nephew…my son (pause), but if I had to really pinpoint how this group started, I’d have to say it was because of my brother. And holidays.
HH6 Camo Chix: Your brother was in the military?
Wiesbrook: Yes. You see, we were always so close. And then he went off to war in Iraq. He was gone for the holidays and it was so (another pause as she composed herself) HARD to have him gone for the holidays. I just kept thinking of him there – alone – away from family. So I started sending letters – every week. And care packages. The first care package I sent included personal messages from home recorded on my daughter’s toy tape recorder. It was the first time my brother was away from the family for the holidays. I just wanted to make it special.
HH6 Camo Chix: It sounds like you are really close to your brother.
Wiesbrook: Very, and not being able to talk to him was so hard. The thought of him alone – away from family for the holidays – broke my heart. I dealt with it by sending the letters and care packages. And then he told me about how he was sharing those care packages – how so many soldiers received nothing – heard nothing from home – NEEDED to feel connected. My brother felt for those guys!
HH6 Camo Chix: So that’s when you started sending letters and packages to other service members?
Wiesbrook: That was the first spark, but it really took off when my son was in basic training. My son and I are close, and while he was in basic he would do things like give up his phone calls home so that others could reach out to their families. I hated not hearing from him, but my heart broke when he told me how it was hard for him to get mail and packages from me while his buddies looked on – some of them got nothing, he said. It really got to him so he asked me to help. I did, and that’s how it all started, I guess.
After he graduated from basic training, I did an online search and found an organization called “Adopt a US Soldier.” That’s how I started sending things to service members I didn’t even know. And when one of them wrote back to me about how much he appreciated the care packages I sent, he shared how so many of his buddies might benefit from care packages – and you know what he asked for? (long, emotional pause) Socks. He said they would love socks and toys to give out to local kids. And treats for his dog. That broke my heart. And it made me determined to get them socks – and then some.
HH6 Camo Chix: Is that when the group started?
Wiesbrook: No, not exactly – well yes, kind of. It was expensive to send those care packages. But I was turning 50 and I wanted to make it meaningful – I had an idea. I unwittingly threw a monkey wrench into my friends and family’s plans for a surprise party by organizing my own celebration, a kind of “thank you” of sorts to all those who I feel I’ve been blessed with over the years. I invited my friends and family to come, but instead of bringing me gifts I asked for them to help me support some of those soldiers.
HH6 Camo Chix: How did they respond?
Wiesbrook: I couldn’t believe it. I had enough to send, and funds for postage – for about six months! And then the holidays rolled in and it was Thanksgiving. I decided to go out on a limb and post on Facebook asking my friends and family if, while they were out shopping for Christmas gifts over Black Friday weekend, they wouldn’t mind picking up socks and underwear to send to soldiers along with a personal note or card. Or drawing – anything personal. And THAT’s when it really took off. My personal Facebook page got so busy that I started this group – and one year and a month later, here we are!
HH6 Camo Chix: I see from the Facebook page that you do a lot more than just send letters and packages.
Wiesbrook: Oh yes. It just kept growing. What was initially a group of military moms has grown to be so much more!
2014 has already brought news coverage, four spin off groups, and an affiliate group, several hundred letters and hundreds of boxes [of care package supplies]. In addition to the growing “Mama” page, we have a sibling group, a private group, a prayer group, a veteran group and a philanthropy group.
HH6 Camo Chix: That’s just amazing! All in one year!
Wiesbrook: Oh yes. And it’s all grown into so much more than what we started out to be. We connect people with soldiers – whole units even. We provide guidelines on what to send, tips for letters – something personal is still at the very top of the list – and we are there for each other.
HH6 Camo Chix: You and the other military moms?
Wiesbrook: Yes. We find comfort in our mission, but we also find comfort in one-another. We are able to fellowship in this group, to share our feelings with other moms who are going through the same things – basic training, deployments – it really helps to have others to talk to who can relate to what you are going through.
Ongoing Projects
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Today, Military Mamma Network sends cards to the wounded in three military hospitals overseas, birthday cards to veterans, thank you notes to Vietnam Vets who received none when they returned years ago from serving their country, and they send flowers and cards to those families of service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Care packages continue to go out to deployed service members packed with razors and deodorant – items troops can’t get enough of, Wiesbrook tells anyone who wants to donate. Feminine hygiene products are greatly appreciated by deployed women who can’t run out to a corner store, she adds, and snacks, magazines and baby wipes are also high on the list.
And, Wiesbrook says, “If a soldier has made a special request – and someone lets us know about it, we try to fill it.”
Special Missions and Random Acts of Kindness That Cannot Be Repaid
The group regularly takes on special missions in addition to sending out their letters and care packages, and when they learn of a fallen hero, the group mobilizes and on the Friday following the death of a service member killed in action, each mama performs a random act of kindness that cannot be repaid — it can’t be paid forward — Wiesbrook, explains, because each act is in honor of a sacrifice that can never be repaid.
The mamas mobilized earlier this week upon learning of one such fallen hero, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, a soldier from Staten Island, NY, had died during an insurgent attack in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013. As the one year anniversary of this death approaches, a number of the mamas pooled their individual acts of kindness, each making a donation — anywhere from $5 to $100 or more — in honor of the fallen hero to help a military family stationed in Germany who needed to travel home to bury their infant daughter Lucy, who had died just before birth.
According to the Baby Lucy McEnaney Memorial Fundraising page, on July 11 the unthinkable had happened to US military couple LIndsey and Kevin while stationed in Velseck, Germany.
The couple, according to the Go Fund Me page, had spent the last several months preparing for the arrival of their first child, a baby girl they named Lucy. At just under 30 weeks into the pregnancy, according to the statement, on the tail of a trip home for a 3 week visit complete with a wonderful baby shower, tragedy struck.
“A routine doctor appointment turned into the saddest day of their lives-no heartbeat was found. Lindsey was later induced and delivered their angel baby Lucy at 11:07 pm weighing 1 lb 11 oz.
As if dealing with the loss and heartache haven’t been enough, it has been compounded by being a half a world away. Lindsey and Kevin want to give their daughter a proper burial back home in the US but unfortunately they have been unable to access the funds necessary to pay for last minute transatlantic flights, and for transfer and burial expenses.
We are asking for prayers and if possible, your assistance on behalf of this family in helping with these significant and unexpected expenses. Any funds left over after covering all the expenses associated with Lucy’s passing will be donated to causes associated with helping other expecting military families including the March of Dimes.”
We sincerely thank you for any and all support.
With the help of the Military Mama Network, the $4,000 fundraising goal for the Baby Lucy McEnaney was exceeded in less than 24 hours, and what Wiesbrook loved the most, she said in a post to her Facebook group, is that the funds were raised “$5 here, $10 there.”
“Little bits of our lives and hearts shared over a wire to bring Lucy home,” Wiesbrook said, “But the journey doesn’t stop there,” she added, “We have a heartbroken family we need to continue to support as best we can. And for today, it’s about holding them in our hearts as they make their way home.”
A Military Mama’s Work is Never Done
At the same time they were working on the fundraiser for Baby Lucy’s family, the Military Mama Network was arranging to receive 10,000+ boxes of Girl Scout cookies to send to USOs, hospitals and deployed service members, and as these efforts unfolded, Geriann continued welcoming new members to the group and fielding requests for support, letters of encouragement and prayers for service members and other military families in need.
Someone to Lean On
Many in the group of over 2,500 share wholeheartedly in Wiesbrook’s passion for serving the country’s military, past and present.
When asked what belonging to this group means to them, a number of military moms were quick to respond.
They are there for each other, in addition to being there for the service members, they say. The group is a place where they can talk about their feelings with others who are experiencing what they are – worrying about a son or daughter away at basic training, dreading a looming deployment, waiting for news – a call, a letter, a Facebook message – that their loved one is safe. A worried mom, they share, can reach out to this group and always find someone who understands and who is there for them – no matter the hour of day or night.
Spread the Word
“Ultimately,” Wiesbrook explains, “it comes down to this. We, don’t want our military to feel that they have been forgotten. We owe it to them to let them know that we are thinking of them. That we are thankful to them, and that we are there for them. Please invite your friends and families to help. This group has a SINGULAR purpose…to support our military. Please help us spread the word.”
“After all,” Wiesbrook adds, “it’s because of them that we are free.”
You can support the mission of the Military Mama Network by getting the word out to friends and family about what they do. Please share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, Email or via any of the other sharing buttons below.
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