Operation Homefront offers many one-of-a-kind events that offer an exciting variety of sponsorship opportunities. For information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Ebony Strange at 240-403-7294 or via email sponsorships@operationhomefront.net.

 
Hearts of Valor
It requires a special kind of woman to invest herself – and her family – in the reintegration of a wounded warrior returning from battle. The man who went off to war is forever changed.

A wounded warrior caregiver cannot go it alone. She needs an education about what to expect before her husband arrives home. She needs to prepare herself and her children for a dramatically changed husband and father. She needs the support of women who have gone before her, adapted to the myriad changes that are wrought by combat, and who help her to strengthen her resolve to continue to be a good wife and partner. Counseling is an important, free service that Operation Homefront provides before and after these wounded warriors return home.

Hearts of Valor Retreats
This is respite care and skill-building, addressing the mental health of the caregivers of our wounded service members. Provided by Operation Homefront in conjunction with an outsourced contractor, the retreats are held in a resort setting with two full days of skill-building and self-exploration with other female caregivers. The wives learn how to recognize the signs of post-traumatic stress and how to deal with it, along with other topics including stress management for themselves, financial counseling, marriage counseling, inspiration, and extension of their informal support network through other wounded warrior wives. These events are life-changing, and the feedback indicates many marriages have been saved as a result of the retreats.


Homefront Celebrations
An important morale-boosting event is an Operation Homefront Celebration held for the spouses of deployed service members at military installations around the country. These events provide a mental health respite and coping skills for military spouses.
It is a few hours of fun, food, festive goodie bags and an entertaining speaker whose message motivates these military spouses to support each other, take care of themselves, and keep the faith during deployments. The venues and décor are always nice so that the spouses feel pampered. By the end of the evening, the room is full of tears, laughter, sharing and discussions.

 
These celebrations are so popular that the reservation list – no matter what size – fills in just a few hours! As long as we find a venue big enough to host the crowd, we can always add more spouses to the fun. Celebrations are scheduled as sponsorship can be arranged.

Military Child of the Year Award and Gala
The Military Child of the Year Program recognizes the service and sacrifices of our nation’s youngest heroes. This is the only award of its kind recognizing outstanding military children whose resilience, strength of character and service to our nation best exemplifies being a part of the military community.

In the past, we were honored to have First Lady, Michelle Obama and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Martin E. Dempsey, as our keynote speaker, which made the event more memorable for the award winners and guests alike.

Every year a child is chosen from each branch of service that best demonstrates resilience and strength and thrives in the face of the challenges of military life. They also demonstrate leadership within their families and communities. All candidates are required to submit an application showing how he or she exemplifies the characteristics of a model military child.

Back-To-School Brigade
Each year Operation Homefront helps children get ready to go back to school by providing them with backpacks filled with school supplies. Through a partnership with Dollar Tree stores, Operation Homefront is able to collect school supplies, but has a huge demand for funding to purchase backpacks. In 2011, Operation Homefront distributed over 33,000 backpacks filled with over $2 Million in school supplies. Corporate partners who sponsor this program can provide a letter to be included in each backpack for the recipient child and can provide volunteers to participate in distribution events. This is a very rewarding sponsorship opportunity.

Annual Reception
Each year, Operation Homefront hosts its Annual Reception in Washington, DC. Strategically scheduled to coincide with Association of the US Army’s annual conference, each year’s event honors the strength of our nation’s military families. An estimated 250 guests, including military leadership, celebrities, members of the Operation Homefront Board of Directors, corporate sponsors and media, pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the military’s home front hero; the military family.