My first Thankful Thursday post goes out to The USO. I am so Thankful to them for all they do.

The USO is an organization that is there for our Military and families.
They have branches all over the world, They do events for our Soldier’s overseas, and events for Military Families as well.

“While times have changed, the USO mission has remained the same: to boost the morale of service members and serve as the link between them and the American people. Today the USO delivers its programs and services to 1.4 million active duty service members and 1.2 million National Guard and Reserves as well as their families at more than 130 centers located worldwide.”

As a Military Family of 8, we have turned to The USO for many events they host.

The USO is such an amazing organization, they host so many events for the families, and always do it with every member of their staff smiling.

Tuesday Dinners
Since our family runs on one income, feeding 8 people does not come cheap, we are very thankful to The USO and all of their volunteers and donations that make the Tuesday Dinners happen.
The dinners are given by volunteers or The USO staff, they fix up the upstairs dinning room and serve wonderful meals. The staff is always so attentive, and they will not even let me throw out my own plate. Those dinners have helped get us through some hard weeks, just by saving money on one meal for all of us. Our children love attending Tuesday dinners, its a fun way to eat out, and we can completely afford it.

Santa’s Secret shop is an Awesome event!
There is a wonderful Holiday meal served for the entire family, and downstairs the children get to see Santa and have a picture taken. Is that not cool enough? Santa has a gift for every child as well! The best part, especially for families on limited incomes, is that the children get to all go to a “secret” store, where they each shop for a gift for each parent, they get it wrapped by wonderful volunteers and the most important thing, is that they get to feel so good about themselves for it!! Our children got to attend the Santa store event this year, and it was so wonderful! The turkey dinner was awesome! the fact that the kids got to see Santa and get a gift for themselves was so much fun, and to see the excitement of being able to shop for us was even better. They could not wait to tell us what they got us, and since then it’s been an everyday thing to try to get them not to tell us 😉

For Halloween and throughout the year when available, there are always bowls of candy in the lobby for our Service Members to treat themselves.  Our children got to attend the Halloween event, and they got so much candy, that they still have some in December. We got a great dinner, and all the kids went trick or treating downstairs to each staff and volunteer. They were so excited!!!

When my husband was deployed to Iraq, he went to a couple of USO’s that were in the Airports. There he was welcomed with nice staff and given little goodie bags, candies, and cookies, and even toiletries to freshen up. He said it made him feel like someone cared in a land of travelers.

All of their staff is always willing to help, and please. There is one person in particular that I Love, her name is Sara.

She is always seen rushing from place to place trying to please everyone. She has always been there even when I needed someone to cry or whine too. I am so thankful to be able to know such a giving person.

Needless to say, We are very grateful for all that The USO does as an organization. Many Soldier’s that are away from home, make this their home, and families like ours make it our dinning room 😉

If you know any Military Personnel, please thank them for their service, and mention The USO to them, you would be surprised how many people rush through life without benefiting from the programs available. If you would like to volunteer or make a donation, or learn more about the USO, This is the link to the Downtown San Diego, Ca branch .

Thank you to all the Volunteers and staff that make The USO what it is to families like mine!