Bringing Them Home November 2022
Issue 3 November 2022
For many of us, the holidays can be a difficult time. For those who are serving our country away from home in a stressful environment, especially those who are separated from their families for the first time, it can be even harder.
I hope you will consider joining us in our 2nd annual Home for the Holidays campaign. All donations received during the month of November will reunite a military family this holiday season. Last year you generously donated $21,390 providing 33 Ticket Home Awards!! We hope to do even more this year. With your support, we are confident we can do just that!!
Issue 3 Table of Contents
Letter From Our President
As we approach the end of this year, I’m reminded that while 2021 was a big year, 2022 is on track to be even bigger. We are poised to exceed the 147 Ticket Home Awards given out last year. Considering the challenges that this year has brought, this is nothing short of amazing!
Who are the heroes in the story of the Ben Jackson Foundation? YOU are!
When you learned about this mission and thought about the lives that could be forever impacted by supporting this cause, you stepped up. You made a difference – a difference that quite literally will never be forgotten.
While I would like to thank each and every one of you, I am well aware that my words of thanks pale in comparison to knowing that you have changed many lives this year.
Turning toward the holiday season this year, so many of our young men and women in uniform are dreaming about returning home to reunite with their loved ones. In fact, 117 of the hundreds of Ticket Home applications we received during the month of September and October mentioned wanting to come home for the holidays. I would like to share a few of those comments with
you:
“Between the timing of my training period, and deployment overseas, I have not been able to spend the holidays with family for the last two years.”
“My elderly grandmother would be absolutely ecstatic to see me come home for Thanksgiving considering if I didn’t, this would be the second year in a row that I haven’t been around my family during any holiday.”
“I have been overseas for almost 2 consecutive years, one year in South Korea and 9 months now in Hawaii. Unfortunately, I spent last Christmas and New Years in a hotel room in South Korea before my PCS to Hawaii so a Ticket Home Award would greatly help me get home for the holidays this year.”
“A Ben Jackson Foundation Ticker Home Award would benefit me – I want to spend time on holidays with my dad. It’s been 2 years now since the last time I celebrated holidays with my family. I miss them so much and being in the military and being alone has been so hard for me.”
“I just want to say I appreciate the concept you are doing for the troops. It is so greatly appreciated, and it helps us so much with not being paid a whole lot when you’re lower enlisted. Just a simple plane ticket is the biggest miracle anyone could ask for because it helps us see the people that we joined the service for. It helps us see our biggest supporters and for that I will always be grateful for this program whether I get selected or not.”
You can continue to support our youngest military and help make their holiday wishes come true with your tax-deductible gift to our Home for the Holidays campaign. Donate now.
Whether you choose to become a regular donor for as little as $10 per month, sponsor a trip home from overseas with a donation of $1,000, or anything in between, I want you to know that your support means so much to Ticket Home recipients and helps create lasting memories in their lives.
Wishing you and your family joyful holiday memories,
Larry Jackson
President
Other News
We are excited to welcome our first employee! Marilyn Zipsie is joining the Ben Jackson Foundation team this month in a part-time role as our Executive Director. Marilyn brings a wealth of experience-she has served as a non-profit clinic manager, a recruiter, and has owned her own business for 10 years. On a personal note, Marilyn lost her brother Robert Hasz while he was serving in the Navy. Robert was aboard the USS Forrestal when it caught fire in the Gulf of Tonkin. Marilyn personally knows the desire of a sister to reunite with her brother and the deep grief felt with his death.
Thank You
Below are a few examples of our eternal gratitude for the generous offering of time, talent, support, and gifts of so many!
- Thank you to our board members, advisors, and selection committee for their time and dedication to selecting monthly recipients, developing a strategic plan towards sustainability, developing an employee handbook, and communicating with recipients,
- Thanks to Wenesday Traylor, Becky Berg, Tim & Sherrie Johnson, Dave, Mel, & Tobin Jackson, Tia Scanlon, Vic Pulvermacher, Kevin Viney, and Keean Paltz for sharing the mission of the Ben Jackson Foundation at EAA.
- Thanks to Carson & Keisha Faulkner for helping us get settled in at EAA, helping with transportation, sharing our mission with their many RV guests, and for a $500 donation.
- Thanks to Ellen Vander Heyden of EVH Marketing for giving our website a fresh new look! Ellen has been supporting us and our website since the beginning.
- Thanks to Bailey’s Run for the gift of $6,000 from the sale of this year’s Bring Me Home wine.
- Miller & Son’s Market in Verona for a gift of $1,200 from our day hosting their brat stand.
- Thanks to 4Imprint for the donation of a retractable banner & merchandise bags.
- Thanks to Krier Foods for the donation of Jolly Good soda.
Share this:
You have helped provide
334
Ticket Home Awards worth
$237,250
11 Emergency Trips Home
2022 Awards By Branch
Air force = 89
Army = 19
Navy = 12
Marine Corps = 7
Space Force = 5
"Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for providing a way for new soldiers to return home and see their families"
"I am truly grateful and honored to be a recipient of this award. This means so much to me, my family, and friends."
"I just want to be able to hug my mom, and see my little brother play with his band, and sit and talk with my great grandmother like we used to. I may be 23, but it doesn't matter how old you are—home is always home."
"I was humbled to represent the Ben Jackson Foundation at EAA this year. It was touching to listen to his phenomenal family share Ben's story and I was moved by the support shown by both the local community and aviation enthusiasts alike. It was a fantastic opportunity to get the word out about the help we provide for our young service members to get the family support they need when they need it."
Wenesday Traylor, US Air Force (Ret.) Board Member
"I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am to have this all in the works and to be planning my first official holiday with family in over 3 years. You have made this possible for me an I am so unbelievably grateful!"