Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina is an affiliated chapter of the Congressionally-chartered veterans service organization, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. Both are non-profit organizations pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Our members are mothers who have children serving in the armed forces of the United States, including those children who are now veterans. The first prong of our mission is to support one another. It can be very difficult to ... Read More
Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina is an affiliated chapter of the Congressionally-chartered veterans service organization, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. Both are non-profit organizations pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Our members are mothers who have children serving in the armed forces of the United States, including those children who are now veterans. The first prong of our mission is to support one another. It can be very difficult to navigate the complexities of military life, especially with a child deployed to a war zone. Only another mother can fully understand the stress of not knowing exactly where your child is at any given moment and knowing that they could easily become a casualty of war or even a peacetime accident. We all know that we can count on each other for support at any given time of the day or night.
We regularly send Hero Boxes to men and women who are deployed outside of the United States to let them know their service is appreciated. Boxes are sent to ANY deployed service members, not just the children of our members. Names and addresses are solicited using social media and news media to let the public know we will be sending boxes (of course, our children are good sources of providing this information too, as they usually have friends who are deployed).
We send approximately 900 boxes to our deployed troops over the course of a year...our annual postage expense is roughly $20,000! The boxes contain favorite snack items, fruit cups, pudding cups, popcorn, protein items, seasonally-appropriate candy items (e.g., candy canes, candy corn, chocolate bars, Peeps, etc.), puzzle books, toiletry items, socks, etc. Virtually all of the items are donated at events where our members ask potential donors to buy just an item or two to put in the boxes!! We typically set up a table at a local Walmart or grocery store and provide customers with a list of needed items for our boxes, and we generally get a very good response. It costs about $23 to mail just one box, so we must solicit cash to pay for the postage.
We also support our local VA clinic by providing clothing for homeless veterans, food for those veterans experiencing food insecurity, and little goodie bags just to spread a little cheer to those who are in the clinic for a doctor's appointment.
Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina is also a registered sponsor for Wreaths Across America, and we partner with Florence National Cemetery to provide veterans' wreaths every December to honor those veterans who have passed on. This is a great opportunity to educate the public (especially children) about the sacrifices of those who have served in the military. We segregate the funds we raise for this purpose to ensure that our donors know exactly where their money is going. For the past couple of years, Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina has been the largest sponsorship group in the State of South Carolina, and among the top ten in the country!!
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