My Nonprofit Reviews

Growing up around servicemembers, veterans, and their families, meant I was always home on any military base no matter where that had been. Even today, at 61, I still consider myself a Navy Brat and any military base my hometown. The opportunity to continue being a "good neighbor" to today's military community is one that Soldier's Angels provides to me on many different levels and I know from the cards, letters, and emails that I've received thanking me how much every card, every letter of gratitude, every care package, and any of the myriad other ways we support them, means to the recipients. There are many worthy organizations out there who seek to support our servicemembers and veterans, but Soldier's Angels is in a class of excellence all by itself.

Before I was an Angel, I was (and remain) a Navy brat. Even at 61! While we were nearly always able to go where Dad, CTR1 James M. Russell USN (ret.), went (the exception, of course, being to sea), it wasn't easy to overlook the fact that many of the sailors and Marines stationed alongside him weren't so lucky. And as this was around the end of the Vietnam War, it was an especially difficult time for servicemembers in general. Through my work as a volunteer with Soldiers' Angels, I feel as if in some way by reaching out to those who serve today I am reaching back to those from my youth. I believe to my core in our motto "May No Soldier Go Unloved," and that includes every single Sailor, Marine, Airman, Coastie, and now, Guardian as well. They're always there for me and, through Soldiers' Angels, I will always be there for them.