Win-Win-Win

This seems like a nice win-win-win for the holidays. Atlantic Beach Children for Peace (pictured to the right) will present the original musical "Christmas Glee" this weekend. The price of admission? An unwrapped toy for a child age one to fourteen for a gift giveaway at the local community center. Many at the giveaway are children of active military members in the local area.

The musical is written, directed, and produced by Eve Beardall, who wrote an original song "Christmas by the Sea," especially for it.

It must be complicated for military parents this time of year. There are a lot of giveaways for military children, especially around the holidays and the start of school. I sometimes wonder what the recipients and their parents really feel about this, because in our culture direct charity of this sort is difficult to accept. It creates a feeling of inequality between the donor and the recipient, and though there may be financial inequality, we all want to feel equal in other ways. How does it feel to be in the midst of other people’s plenty, and be treated as if they think you wouldn’t have any of it without them? Toys are great, but not if they come with even a hint of pity or condescension. It’s a rare person who is truly comfortable with others feeling sorry for him or her.

Hopefully these toy giveaways are presented in the spirit of saying thank you, that the parents and children feel as if they are being repaid for services they have performed. That's one of the reasons I like the Atlantic Beach Children for Peace idea. These children are performing a service to repay a service. Everybody wins--the performers because they get to do something they love, the audience, because they get to enjoy the show, and the military children, who will have something under the tree that shows that kids feel a bond with kids, and that when we appreciate each other through gifts of all sorts, whether it’s a song, or an action figure, or a parent off at war, everyone comes out the better for it.

The Mission Continues

Whatever else one might think of Goldman Sachs after the economic meltdown it contributed to, the company has stepped up to serve military children.  I wrote a few months back about the imminent loss of Operation Purple summer camps for children of deployed and wounded military.  The funding source for those camps dried up as a result of the financial woes of the time.  Goldman Sachs has now announced a $20 million partnership with The Mission Continues, an award-winning national non-profit organization. The investment will be used to fund a network of non-profit organizations that serve returning veterans and their families over the five year life of the program. 

Though the primary focus of the partnership will be  professional development, personal growth opportunities, a future employment plan, and job placement for veterans , another goal is family support and counseling. The first  partner in this mission will be the National Military Family Association, which will receive a grant of $1 million for its Operation Purple ® camps for military children.  A program which looked as if it was headed for closure will now have spaces for 2500 children of servicemembers.“

“Goldman Sachs Gives is proud to work with a network of veterans organizations, like The Mission Continues, that are providing a range of support services for wounded veterans and their families,” says Dina Habib Powell, managing director and Global Head of Corporate Engagement. “Supporting our veterans can have a significant impact both in the lives of individuals and the broader communities where they work and live.”

“BRATS: Our Journey Home” Premieres Tomorrow, December 10

 The term “brat” apparently was attached to military children as a result of the British acronym, “British Regimental Attached Traveler. “BRATS: Our Journey Home,” is a film festival award winning documentary  exploring the lives of today’s “brats” and their families.  More than 1.5 million children are “military brats” today, and approximately 15 million Americans grew up that way.

The social and psychological difficulties experienced by today’s military children are growing better documented by the month, and this documentary attempts to educate the public and give military children a voice through the medium of film. “I want this documentary to give families the opportunity to talk about their feelings and share their experiences, and help their children grow positively in a military family environment, even if part of that family experience is traumatic,” says filmmaker and fellow Brat, Donna Musil.  Musil lost her father in the Vietnam war, and experienced not only the death itself but the trauma of suddenly leaving military life as a result of it. 

Musil started a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit group, Brats Without Borders, in 1999 to help create a way for the voices of military children and families to be heard. “Adult brats” experience significant levels of divorce, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, and generally don’t have a means to connect the difficulties of their early life with their current problems.  Musil hopes her film will address this. 

“BRATS: Our Journey Home” is a two-hour documentary narrated by “adult brat,” Kris Kristofferson, and featuring General Norman Schwarzkopf. It can be seen on Discovery’s Military Channel during the month of December. The North American television premiere is on Friday, December 10, 2010, at 9 p.m. EST. For more details about the film go to www.bratsfilm.com

"Oftentimes We're It for that Child"

Angelica Jordan, a second- and third-grade Spanish teacher at Mannheim Elementary School in Mannheim, Germany, was honored yesterday at the Pentagon as the 2011 Defense Department Education Activity’s Teacher of the Year.The Teacher of the Year program honors the contribution excellent, committed teachers make to the quality of life for military families in the fourteen districts serving military children around the world.

“DOD teachers are experts at welcoming brand new students into the classroom and wishing them farewell when they [move],” she said. “Military teachers understand that, often times, we’re it for that kid. A parent may be deployed in harm’s way, and the parent that’s home is working and taking care of the kids and doing everything they can to keep it together for that year.”

Jordan taught at-risk youth in Minnesota for nine years before taking an assignment with DoDEA. “I felt truly called to be part of the military community where I can make a difference in the life of a child, because I felt like I could understand their worries and fears about losing a parent,” she said. “Their parents could be deployed, and they may or not come home, and I can really relate to military kids, because I was missing a parent.”

“When the kids come to our classroom, they deserve to be loved and respected,” she said, “and when kids come to DoDEA schools, they need to know that it’s going to be consistent, that it’s going to be the same every day, and that they are going to be cared for.” The photo to the right shows some of the children at Mannheim Elementary School.

Coming to the Pentagon helped Jordan to realize that “I am part of more than Mannheim Elementary School, that I’m a part of more than DOD Europe. I’m part of a huge system that’s here to support the teachers, and my primary role is supporting military families.”

Watching Over You

For the youngest children who serve in our military, those under five, a new storybook has just come out that might make a perfect gift. Dear Baby, I'm Watching Over You written by Carol Casey and illustrated by Mark Braught, is written as a love letter from a parent to a child, explaining at the child’s level what service to country means and why a parent is away so much of the time.The idea is to convey the parent’s continuing deep love even when he or she is not there to show it.

  

An especially sweet feature of the book is a "Roll Call" page where the person who has read this to or with a child can write his or her name and the date.  The book also comes with a yearbook feature to write down memories of the year to share upon the parent’s return.

One Amazon reviewer says, “I read this book to my 3 year old son. It was given to us as a gift. It is such a great book about how the military member truly misses and watches over their babies/kids. I have read it over and over and it never fails, I always tear up. I would give this book to anyone going through a deployment with children.”

Another says, “This is the perfect book for the young child (ages 3-5) whose parent has deployed. Each illustration perfectly captures the everyday life of the child waiting at home matched with the everyday life of the parent who's away. This book will help bridge the gap and drive home the message of love from parent to child and back again.”  

A third adds, “This book does an amazing job of explaining why mom/dad has to deploy. I have two children, 3 and 5, who have went through multiple deployments and really enjoy reading the book. I would recommend Dear Baby, I'm Watching Over You to any family with little ones who have questions about why their parent has to leave.”

Of Thee I Sing

If you are looking for a book to give a child during the holiday season, you might want to consider President Obama’s children’s book, Of Thee I Sing. Written by Obama before he took office, the book celebrates a country "made up of people of every kind," where individuals across the spectrum make unique contributions.

The group includes five women and eight men, ranging from our nation’s legendary heroes such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; to civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and César Chávez; to artists Georgia O'Keefe, Maya Lin, and Billie Holiday; and to a wide range of others including Sitting Bull, immigrant American Albert Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Neil Armstrong), Jane Addams, and Helen Keller.

Each of these, Obama writes, "made bright lights shine by sharing their unique gifts and giving us courage to lift one another up ... to work and build upon all that is good in our nation."

"Have I told you that they are all a part of you?" he asks his daughters, to whom the book is addressed. "Have I told you that you are one of them and that you are the future?"

Barack Obama has already established himself as a successful author of adult books with both his memoir "Dreams from My Father" and his political book "The Audacity of Hope" enjoying solid sales around the globe.

Of Thee I SIng, features features illustrations by popular children's book artist Loren Long ("Otis") as well as collaborations with other notables including Madonna and Frank McCourt.

But here’s the best part: Obama will not receive any profits from the book. All post-tax proceeds from sales of "Of Thee I Sing" will be donated to a scholarship fund for the children of soldiers who have been killed or disabled.  You can buy a beautiful book and know that not a token donation but all the proceeds will be helping others.  And by the way, if you are considering buying Sarah Palin’s new book, please note that she has expressed no such generosity.  Last I heard, the profits from her best seller are all going to her.