Points of Light Mobilizes Volunteers in Honor of Military Members, Veterans, and First Responders on 9/11 Day of Service
Through volunteer service, Americans connect with the spirit of unity that arose in the aftermath of 9/11. As Points of Light commemorates the 15th anniversary of 9/11 National Day of Service, we highlight those who have been inspired to give back to their communities.
“I’m acutely aware of how things were prior to 9/11. This is the conflict of our generation, and I’ve looked at how it has affected society to see how I could do my part,” said Melissa Ann Sullivan, a passionate volunteer on behalf of U.S. veterans.
Military service is significant for Sullivan, and she has volunteered extensively to show her appreciation and respect. Sullivan has volunteered more than 80 hours with the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Currently, she’s planning a Spa Day for the AFRH ladies of the federally-operated program who account for about 10 percent of the home’s 450 patrons.
“Service is very important to me – something my parents instilled in me at a young age,” says Sullivan, has been recognized with Daily Point of Light Award for her work. This includes working with Honor Flight, an organization that charters flights for World War II veterans nationwide to visit the capital for a day, Sullivan became involved as a greeter for the flights arriving in DC.
Each flight brings between 50 and 90 veterans. Greeters meet them and help those who are physically disabled or who need additional services receive a guardian. In six years, Sullivan has greeted approximately 5,000 veterans and been a guardian for 15.
“Whether I’m working with homeless veterans or older WWII soldiers, volunteering gives me the opportunity to share my gratitude,” she says. “In some cases, veterans share memories of their experiences with me that they’ve never discussed before.”
Share a story honoring 9/11 first responders or a service member close to you on Twitter or Instagram using #911Day and #HonoringService. You can also get involved with our signature events and service projects taking place on the National Mall or one of 30 sites across the country.
Helping Caregivers of Combat Wounded Veterans Face Their Own Battles on the Homefront
When Joey Caswell’s husband, Charlie, was severely wounded in Iraq in June 2005 from a multiple IED blast, the impact on her as a U.S. Army spouse and mother was profound as well. When he returned home on his 30th birthday, he looked healed on the outside but, internally, he battled constant back pain, major depression, and PTSD – a battlefield where Joey joined Charlie, facing multiple medical appointments, all-night care, and countless errands.
That devoted journey as a caregiver of a wounded service member was a lonely, high-stress, career-straining one, and Joey Caswell gathered lessons learned along the way. Now a fellow with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and president of the new nonprofit, Warriors and Caregivers United in Michigan, Caswell mentors other caregivers of wounded service members.
She knows the drill of caring for a combat wounded veteran. “I lost sleep, I lost friends, I was tired, exhausted and finding myself getting angry,” she recalls, “angry that his issues and symptoms seemed to be working their way in to my everyday life as well.” Through it all, she stayed inspired by her husband, saying, “He gave so much for this amazing and beautiful country we live in and asked for nothing in return.”
Now the mother of three children, “It is my goal to make sure that no one – vets or caregivers alike – ever has to go through what we did, and that people get the knowledge and support we all deserve.”
Caswell says support could include assistance with childcare, meals, household chores, and a sympathetic ear. But it also includes a more widespread acknowledgment of PTSD as an injury, the strains it puts on families, and the fact that wounded veterans and their caregivers can be found in every community.
“Behind every wounded vet is a family member or spouse who is the invisible person most of the time keeping that veteran alive,” says Caswell. “Offer your friendship, support and love to them. And educate yourself on PTSD and the invisible wounds of war.”
Thanks to the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Joey Caswell will share her story and her expertise at the Military Forum “Service in Support of Our Military Caregivers,” sharing the stage with Catharine Grimes of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Leisa Easom of the Rosalynn Carter Institute, Laurel Rodewald of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and many more at the 2016 Conference on Volunteering and Service, June 27-29 in Detroit. Find out more about this year’s Conference and register now!
Channeling a Belief in ‘Peace and Joy and Relationships’ Into Good Deeds for Veterans
This week, in honor of Veterans Day, we celebrate the men and women who have served our country, who today are channeling that impulse to serve to make a difference in their communities. Meet Edwin Rodriguez.
Edwin Rodriguez
As a sergeant in the military, Edwin Rodriguez learned this mantra – When you see something wrong you should do something about it.
“I continue to keep that mantra alive in my life,” he says. “Life is about peace and joy and relationships.”
Driven by that mentality, Rodriguez signed up for a term of service with the Veteran Leader Corps, an AmeriCorps program run by Points of Light.
After he graduated from Bellevue University last March, Rodriguez sought opportunities to help veterans while simultaneously engaging in his own career development. He landed as a Veteran Leader Corps member at Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska; he served as a job readiness coach, helping vets acquire schooling, find benefits needed to navigate their career paths, build their resumes, and boost their job-readiness skills.
“Veterans come to the table with leadership skills and valuable assets that are essential in any company but are sometimes judged by their background,” Rodriguez says. “Transitioning into the civilian workforce can be difficult, but not impossible.”
Rodriguez recalls a gentleman named Mr. Henderson who affected his outlook tremendously. Henderson was a highly skilled veteran in need of employment. He moved from California to Nebraska with years of experience in the electrical field.
Henderson experienced a job-related injury, in which he lost his hand. As a result, he wears a prosthesis. He could do many jobs, but not the one he had come to know and love.
“As I talked to him, I realized the unwavering sense of hope and joy that he had despite his many setbacks in life,” Rodriguez recalls. “I said to myself, ‘I need to get him a job.’”
Rodriguez connected Henderson with a supervisor at an auto parts store; the supervisor was also a veteran who experienced job-related injuries. Henderson landed a job at the store.
Though Rodriguez’s AmeriCorps service ended last month, he says helping fellow veterans succeed remains his passion: “I want to stay committed to the process and pave the way for others.”
If you’d like to serve veterans in your community, or serve alongside them, check out the opportunities at AllforGood.org.
Make Plans Today to Volunteer on Veterans Day
As we approach Veterans Day, Nov. 11, make plans to celebrate the sacrifices and courage of our armed forces through volunteer service.
Army veteran Mary Tobin, right, tells her story of service to Washington, D.C., students during an Honoring Service event on the grounds of the Washington Monument on Sept. 11.
Points of Light and the Travis Manion Foundation are teaming up to conduct Honoring Service projects. These events, happening across the country, will engage youth and military members in service to address the most pressing issues in communities, while inspiring a legacy of service among the next generation. The volunteer opportunities both strengthen the ties between civilians and the military and help ease returning veterans’ transition back into their communities.
Each event will begin with a presentation of the Travis Manion Foundation’s “If Not Me, Then Who” message to youth to provide the context for why service is important. The projects will motivate youth to recognize the value of sacrifice and foster a spirit of service in others.
The service projects include revitalizing local schools, cleaning community parks, welcoming home troops, creating disaster kits and more.
If you’re in the areas listed below, sign up and join us:
If you do not have an Honoring Service event nearby, check out the Veterans Day volunteer opportunities in your community by visiting AllforGood.org.
On 9/11 Day, Inspiring Children to Serve
Sitting in the grass, against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, Army veteran Mary Tobin had a bunch of 9-year-olds’ full attention. In ways they could understand, she talked about the heroes of 9/11, such as the airline passengers who diverted one of the planes set to be part of the attack.
Veteran Mary Tobin, center, tells her story of service to Washington, D.C., students, as Wendy Spencer, left, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, listens.
“They were just ordinary Americans, living their lives, like you live your life – going to recess, going to lunch,” she said, as the children giggled. “They heard some bad stuff had happened and they decided to stop the bad guys to keep more people from getting hurt.”
Tobin, who was injured while on patrol in Iraq, shared her story of service with the children today as part Points of Light’s national 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance event in Washington, D.C., which brought together veterans and school children to benefit children of military families.
“It’s important that we pledge never to forget those who lost their lives,” Spencer told the group of 8- and 9-year-olds from Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington, D.C., adding that it’s also important to remember the family members left behind. “It’s an important part of history that you’re learning now.”
Esther, a 9-year-old student at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington, D.C., writes in a book she is making for a child in a military family.
The children split into groups, which each paired with one of the veterans on hand to share their stories of service. Sacrifice and heroism were predominant themes.
“Do you have someone special in your life who is a hero to you?” asked Army veteran Marten D. Wallace Sr. of his group. “My heroes are those in the military who defend and serve our country. Heroes come in many forms.”
“And sizes!” added 9-year-old Esther, excitedly raising her hand.
The veterans talked about what brought them to the military and why it’s important to serve others, especially those in their communities. The kids asked about military training, marveled over world travel and even proposed an unorthodox style of combat in Iraq. “You could fight like ninjas,” 8-year-old Ginika told Tobin, who smiled at the suggestion.
Veterans, students and volunteers gather after the 9/11 Day service project in front of the Washington Monument.
“One time there was a woman who was in a war and who could not see her family,” wrote a student named Ariona, about Marine veteran Maggie Sexton. “But she still worked very hard.”
The books Ariona and her schoolmates made will be given as gifts to the children of military families – young people who often face particular struggles as a result of having parents deployed overseas.
Janaia DeShields, vice president for military initiatives at Points of Light, said the project brought different generations together to not only commemorate 9/11 but to teach the next generation about what it means to serve.
“We hope to inspire a legacy of service in the next generation of leaders,” she said. “Sept. 11 will always be part of our history – how we recognize it is up to them.”
It’s not too late to serve in honor of 9/11 Day. Events are happening over the weekend. Go to AllforGood.org to find an event near you.
For 9/11 Day, a Message from a Marine About What it Means to Serve
Today we share the story of Marine Staff Sgt. Maggie Sexton, who will be joining us in Washington, D.C., for the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. On the grounds of the Washington Monument, she will be talking to local schoolchildren about what it means to serve. Find ways to serve on 9/11 Day and through the weekend at AllforGood.org.
Maggie Sexton
I signed up to join the Marine Corps not long after the events of 9/11, right after I finished high school.
I joined for reasons similar to other young Marines at that time: I wanted to serve my country and join the response following the 9/11 attacks, and I wanted to challenge myself and find out what I was made of.
For my first four-year enlistment I was a nuclear, biological and chemical defense specialist. Then I spent another enlistment guarding American embassies in Beijing and Berlin and teaching new embassy Marine security guards. I ended up serving eight and a half years, in locations from Japan and China, to Iraq and Germany, and here in the U.S. from California to Virginia.
Have you noticed that the word “serve” is used a lot when people are talking about being in the military? We’re service members; we serve our country; I served for eight and a half years…
What does it mean to serve and why do we consider that such an important aspect of our military? To serve is to elevate the needs of others over your own – to sacrifice your own desires and goals and needs to something greater. And sacrifice takes a lot of forms in the military.
It means not having the option of quitting, no matter how much you want to. It meant living on the military base with other Marines instead of having my own house. It meant not being able to go home and see my parents and brothers for Thanksgiving or Christmas – though I did get to visit them at other times. It meant going to war.
When I deployed to Iraq there were a lot of military moms and dads. Sacrifice meant that they had to leave their children for six months to a year at a time, and I saw just how heartbreaking and difficult that was for them.
Many service members’ sacrifice included being injured or killed in the line of duty.
All of that hardship and loss is also a huge sacrifice for our families – our parents, siblings, partners and children – even though they weren’t the ones who joined the military or signed up for that sacrifice.
I said that I joined the Marines to serve, but also to challenge myself and see what I was made of. From boot camp, to my three combat deployments in Iraq, to my experience guarding American embassies around the world, I did learn what I was made of: pretty tough stuff.
In addition to learning to run and march and do pull ups and shoot a rifle, I learned assertiveness; I learned how to keep a cool head in stressful or dangerous situations, I learned how to lead and take responsibility for the Marines around me, and I learned to always give my best effort and never think of quitting as an option. Most importantly – I learned what it means to serve.
The skills and perspectives I learned as a Marine served me well during my Marine Corps career and they continue to serve me as a veteran and civilian. I now live in Washington, D.C., where I finished college after I left the Marine Corps, and where I now work to improve the health, well-being, rights and opportunities of women in other parts of the world.
And I know a lot of other Marines who have left military service but are continuing to serve their world, and country and communities in many different ways.
I hope that my story expands your perception of Marines, soldiers, sailors and “airmen” (P.S. – they aren’t just men, either!) and will help you to think about the diverse roles that service members and veterans play within your community.
Reclaim the Legacy of 9/11 Through Volunteer Service
Across the country on Sept. 11, millions of Americans will perform good deeds to help others and reclaim the legacy of what happened on that day 14 years ago.
Vice President Joe Biden joins volunteers at George Washington University to assemble hygiene kits during 9/11 Day last year.
Will you join them?
You can find volunteer projects near you by visiting AllforGood.org and searching the term “9/11.” Projects are happening on Sept. 11 and through the weekend.
“In powerful and heartfelt ways – through volunteer service – Americans are rekindling the spirit of unity that arose just after 9/11,” says Delores Morton, president of programs at Points of Light. “Service draws us closer to each other as we honor the victims and heroes of that day.”
If you’re in the Washington, D.C., area, join us for our national 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance event, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
During that event, war veterans will tell their stories of service to public school students. Working with volunteers, the students will document the veterans’ stories to create books that will be given as gifts to the children of military families – young people who often face particular struggles as a result of having parents deployed overseas. The handmade books will serve as reminders of the strength and resilience of the men and women in the armed forces.
Sept. 11 was designated a National Day of Service and Remembrance by the 2009 Kennedy Serve America Act. The Corporation for National and Community Service leads the annual event, working with MyGoodDeed and hundreds of nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations, and schools and businesses nationwide.
How are you serving on 9/11 Day? Share your story with us on Twitter or Facebook, or by sending us an email at [email protected].
Honor Service on 9/11 by Hosting a Volunteer Service Project
Sept. 11 marks a day to commemorate tragedy and triumph, recognize heroism and sacrifice, and inspire volunteer service that makes a difference in communities.
Volunteers share a lighthearted moment while assembling hygiene kits during last year’s 9/11 Day of Service.
This year, Points of Light’s Military Initiatives is inviting organizations to join a national service movement in cities across the country by hosting “Honoring Service” projects on the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. To support this effort, Points of Light will provide mini-grants of $1,500 – $4,000 to 20 organizations.
Applications must be submitted by Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. Eastern to [email protected]. For more information, review the project overview, FAQ and host site application here.
Join Us in Honoring Military Children Through Volunteer Service
In April, millions of Americans are celebrating the Month of the Military Child. To support the volunteer work of our youth and military, Points of Light is teaming up with the Travis Manion Foundation to serve communities with school volunteer projects you can join in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
Service projects will include planting flowers to beautify schools.
Each service project will begin with a presentation about Character Does Matter, a Travis Manion Foundation program that empowers veterans to connect with youth in their communities and inspire them with stories of our nation’s fallen heroes. AmeriCorps members serving with Corps 18 and the Veteran Leader Corps – programs managed by Points of Light – will lead the service activities.
The service projects, aimed at beautifying the schools, will include organizing school resource rooms, planting flowers, painting and more.
If you’re in New York, D.C. or Los Angeles, sign up and join us:
This post is by Tyler Wright, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2008 – 2013 as a hospital corpsman. Wright assisted in manufacturing craniofacial prosthetics for wounded warriors and cancer survivors. After the Navy, Wright became an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the nonprofit Student Veterans of America in Washington, D.C., where he was subsequently hired as senior regional outreach director.
Proudly wearing an AmeriCorps VISTA T-shirt, Tyler Wright hugs a potential future AmeriCorps member, his daughter.
I was a hospitalman apprentice in the Navy when Hospital Corpsman Second Class Petty Officer Waite asked me a significant, life-changing question: “Are you in college?”
I paused for a moment, and then replied most ambivalently “No, not yet.” This vacant response was immediately met with a steadfast stare and retort that I remember clearly, “What are you waiting for?”
He added, “Use Navy tuition assistance or lose it. Your choice.” I had acquired a mere three community college credits before I joined the Navy, with a distant hope to one day obtain a college degree.
Fast forward four years later, and I am hanging up my uniform for the last time, leaving the Navy behind as a hospital corpsman third class petty officer. Five years of leadership experience and complex medical expertise trailed behind me, yet I was genuinely nervous about the transition.
I also entered the “real world,” as we called it, with a bachelor of science in health care management, a master of science in administration, numerous allied health certifications and all but one course completed toward a graduate certificate program. I put in long hours with the Navy and went to school in the evenings and weekends, leaving me little time for luxuries. When I couldn’t tap into tuition assistance, I paid out of pocket.
I also understood that while I had worked very hard in the service, I was also extremely lucky to be in a command that encouraged professional development opportunities; not all military orders allowed for academic enrichment. I felt obliged, and dare I say even some guilt, to give back to brothers and sisters in arms who were less fortunate.
Tyler Wright, in his Navy days
I became an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving the nonprofit organization Student Veterans of America (SVA).
AmeriCorps VISTA and SVA made it possible for me to pursue my dream, albeit grandiose, of ensuring that every single veteran coming behind me would be taken care of on campus and guided in the right direction. I would be the guy that could navigate them through the G.I. Bill, CLEP exams, graduate admissions, apprenticeships, service school credit transfers – you name it.
Not only did I work one-on-one with veterans and their families, but I also built capacity within the ever-expanding network of SVA chapters established on over 1,000 campuses across the nation. They brought me veterans and gave me the tools to change lives, possibly even saving a few in the process.
After successfully completing my year of AmeriCorps VISTA service, I was hired by my host organization as senior regional outreach director. I have a seat at the table among pioneers crafting and executing the next natural phase of the SVA legacy – literally making history. I also oversee a number of VISTA members with diverse and unrivaled talent.
My U.S Navy-to-AmeriCorps VISTA story is just one of countless in the veteran community that follows such a pipeline of national service to success.
Now I’m thinking about going back for my doctorate. Many thanks go out to Hospital Corpsman Second Class Petty Waite, wherever he is serving today, for being the mentor that I needed at the time.
