When my father, Odysseus, and his men sailed off to the Trojan War, they were confident their gods favored a quick victory. Instead, the siege of Troy lasted ten years. After Troy fell, the survivors made their way home to Sparta, Mycenae, Pylos, and elsewhere in the ancient Peloponnese. Neither my father nor any of his troops arrived home with the rest. We waited for years as the news grew worse. Odysseus was dead, we were told,or imprisoned, or, worst yet, he had married another woman and abandoned my mother Penelope, my brother Telemachus, and me.


If he is alive somewhere, his thoughts may wander to Penelope and Telemachus, but he won’t be thinking of me. I am the daughter he doesn’t know exists. Odysseus went off to the Trojan War when his son, Telemachus, was barely old enough to walk. His wife, Penelope, was a teenage bride, and is now a young wife, mother, and queen who has to try to rule Ithaca without him.


I was born seven months after he left. I am a hero’s daughter and a princess of his realm, but I have lived my entire life without a father. I’m nineteen now, and still waiting.


All over the world, and throughout history children grow up as I have. This website will focus on the children of those men and women who have gone off to fight America's wars, and provide information and resources for all who care about military families and want to help.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Military Kids Are Newman's Own

The late Paul Newman is well known for his philanthropy, donating the profits from innumerable “Newman’s Own” food products to charity. One of those efforts was the establishment in 1999 of the Newman’s Own Awards, which awards innovative programs working to improve the military community’s quality of life.
Since the Newman’s Own Awards competition began in 1999, it has recognized 133 programs with $650,000. The competition is sponsored by Newman’s Own, Fisher House Foundation, and Military Times Media Group. The grants are small, but the focus is on small, grassroots programs for whom a few thousand dollars will provide a big boost.
Military to Medicine a national military service organization of the Inova Health system, received the top award of $15,000 to help service members and spouses fast-track a career by streamlining the process of getting skills for entry-level positions in health care. 
A few of the other Newman’s Own Award winners this year include Carolina Canines for Veterans, Wilmington, N.C., a program that uses military prisoners to train dogs rescued from shelters to be service animals for wounded veterans.
Project Sanctuary Therapeutic Retreats, in Parker, Colorado helps military families reconnect following lengthy separations. It starts with a free, five-night therapeutic mountain retreat, then helps the family in a comprehensive two-year program.
Operation Building Hope, in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., adapts disabled veterans’ homes using volunteers to construct and install ramps and rails, modify bathrooms, lower countertops and widen doorways. 
Two more programs were of special interest to me as an educator. Working through libraries, Books on Bases gives free books to military families. And, most delightful of all, Kids Blossom Through Gardening, a Dover Air Force Base program, was developed to educate military children about good nutrition and healthy habits. Kids learn about the benefits of fruits and vegetables and have a chance to plant and tend their own container gardens.

Posted by About AART at 7:45 AM

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