October 28, 2020
4 Ways to Support Military Families During Deployment
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Military deployment is a challenging experience not only for the soldiers who will be stationed overseas but also for their families.
Announcements of military deployment can come months in advance or in the space of only a few hours. The latter case can only heighten the stress levels of family members and friends who will definitely be caught off guard by a loved one’s sudden departure.
Typically, deployment cycles through four processes – preparation, deployment, sustainment, and redeployment.
Preparation includes additional training for the soldiers’ upcoming mission while their families prepare themselves for a long period of separation.
The act of deployment itself is taxing both on the soldiers and their loved ones as they begin to live apart, which becomes a new norm for them.
The period of sustainment lasts from 7 to 13 months when soldiers and their families deal with their separation until the troops complete their missions.
The final phase is redeployment when soldiers come home. They reintegrate with their families and deal with the psychological traumas, which they may have developed while completing their missions.
Throughout these phases, families of soldiers are saddled with strong emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, confusion, and nervousness because of the uncertainty that the distance with their loved ones presents. It is important for military families to receive support from friends and relatives as they try to cope with the challenges of deployment.
How You Can Help Military Families Deal with Deployment
If you are a friend or a relative of a family with a deployed member, you can show your support in various ways. Here are some of them.
- Volunteer for babysitting.
Deployment is often the most tasking time for a parent who is left alone to care for their family. Apart from worrying over the safety of their spouse, the husband or wife must also perform the duties of both mother and father in the household. They must provide comfort to the children who may feel anxious due to the separation and assurance that things will return to normal soon.
While most military spouses are expected to put up a brave front, you can help ease their burdens by volunteering to do babysitting so that they can take a break physically and mentally.
- Bring dinner.
As busy as the days are, relieving a military spouse of one task such as cooking dinner will mean a great deal for them since this will free up some of their time, which they can use to ease their stress. It’s a simple act that can show your support and thoughtfulness.
- Help out with simple tasks.
Military wives whose husbands are away would often need help with tasks like mowing the lawn, shoveling the snow, fixing the plumbing, and the like. You can volunteer to do these things even without being asked.
- Ask how they’re doing.
For military spouses and children, it is important to keep in touch to see how they are coping with their new arrangements. Kids will often need reassurance about their worries while their parent is away. It helps to have an adult listen to their concerns and ease their worries. For military husbands and wives, it also helps to have someone to talk about their concerns with. Topics don’t always have to be specific. It can just be shooting the breeze about what happened during their day or it could be a more pressing concern. Knowing that they are not alone will help lift the weight off their shoulders.
Our Suffering Veterans Need Help
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When our troops return home from their overseas deployment, some of them are retired or discharged from the service for a variety of reasons. Many of them face tough challenges in their transition back to civilian life. Some are unable to find jobs because they are ill-equipped to deal with the demands of the civilian workforce. Some are hampered by their mental health conditions, which they developed while in service. There are also those who cannot return to normal life because of permanent injuries sustained during their missions.
While there are veterans who are lucky to reunite with their families who provide them a strong support system, there are others who are left alone and abandoned.
That’s the reason why we at Veteran Car Donations are here. Together with our military and veteran nonprofit partners, we provide vital assistance to our suffering veterans.
You can help us sustain and even expand our mission to serve more needy veterans and their families. All you have to do is to donate to us any vehicle you no longer need or use. We’ll auction off your donation and use the proceeds to support our charity partners’ critical programs for veterans. Through such programs, veteran beneficiaries and their families get to receive financial assistance, free medical treatment, employment opportunities, family support, and other essential services.
Our donation process is super easy. Basically, all you need to do is get in touch with us.
You’ll also derive benefits for your charitable contribution since we’ll provide you with free vehicle pick-up and towing services wherever you’re located in the country. We’ll also make sure that you get to receive your 100-percent tax-deductible sales receipt days after your vehicle is sold at auction. With this receipt, you can claim a handsome tax deduction when you file your itemized income tax return in the next tax season.
We accept almost all types of vehicles regardless of their age or condition.
For more details about our vehicle donation program, feel free to visit our FAQs page. For your questions and concerns, call us at 877-594-5822 or send us a message online.
Help Our Heroes Now!
If you’re ready to help our struggling heroes, call us at 877-594-5822 or fill out our online donation form to get started with your car donation now!
Last Updated: March 8th, 2023