Television shows like Extreme Home Makeover and Oprah's Big Give are doing a great job supporting our troops and their loved ones who need help. However, this is not enough. There is simply not enough focus on giving back to our military families that need our help.
Shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give, are getting it right, giving back to our soldiers.
Extreme Makeover Home Edition is known for its tear jerking episodes by building beautiful new homes and giving incredibly generous gifts to deserving families. Their choices of recipients are those that are in dire need of help, like: families with handicapped or sick children; families that are poverty stricken; families with single parents; families that give back to their community; and families that have been victims of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
Oprah's new show, The Big Give, has also stepped up by engaging ten volunteers to compete by giving to the same types of families. In the first three weeks, the contestants have done an incredible job of acquiring generous gifts and financial assistance to families who need it.
The one type of family that these shows have not forgotten, are U.S. military families. On many occasions Extreme Makeover has helped families of the armed forces who were struggling to make ends meet. A few months ago, Ty Pennington led his team to help a brave former Marine, who was injured in the line of duty. A few weeks ago, they built a new home for a National Guardsman who is still stationed in Iraq. He left to serve our country leaving everything behind including his wife, children, a home under construction and unpaid bills.
During the first two weeks of Oprah's show, each episode featured at least one military family. In the first show a soldier arrived home after serving our country with no job and no home. He received a place to live and financial help. In the second week, one contestant helped a soldier who returned home injured and without benefits or health insurance, by giving him cash and a party. Hopefully there are more big gives like these still to come.
It is incredibly moving to see troops, who need help, receive well-deserved financial support. Every day soldiers leave their families, laying their lives on the line, to protect and defend our freedoms. While they are gone many of the families are back home struggling to make ends meet while living in substandard conditions with very little money. Some soldiers then return home to situations like: no home, no job, no money and no means to support their family. Scenarios like these are unfathomable and incomprehensible. I cannot think of more deserving families to give beautiful homes and gifts too. We cannot forget our troops and their loved ones that are in need.
Support for our military seems to be greater than it ever has, especially compared to the Viet Nam War. In the past few years, especially since 9/11 and the beginning of the Iraq War, there have been wonderful tributes expressed through beautiful, heart wrenching emails. These certainly need to keep going. All of our soldiers need to know we are behind them.
Unfortunately, in some situations, this is not enough. It seems as though too many military families are forgotten and neglected when they need help. Compared to other noteworthy causes, military families are not considered a very high priority. This is wrong.
I am by no means minimizing the other recipients that television shows and charities give to, especially those victimized by natural disasters or who have sick children. But, when soldiers leave their families behind, with very little financial stability and no decent housing, something needs to be done. And when they return to even less: no job, no benefits, no decent housing, and no money, those that are able to need to step up and help. We simply cannot forget about our troops in need. Quite honestly, I just cannot grasp how they are allowed to come home to those conditions in the first place. It is appalling.
There has been a lot of media hype and publicity surrounding famous entertainers who travel the world donating their time and money to families and children of third world countries. I think these charities and contributions are absolutely necessary and surely need to carry on. The pain and suffering that goes on in these places is unimaginable, especially when it comes to children. Charity like this portrays our freedom and generosity. It indicates how giving of a nation we truly are.
However, my message is this, do not forget our own. Do not forget that we are able to travel all over the world helping those in need because our military keeps us free. As Toby Keith's song, American Soldier tells us, “Freedom don't come free.”
So, when those who are in a position to give, are in a giving mood, don't forget about our military families who are left behind for months at a time, or those that are left behind forever because their loved ones were killed in the line of duty. We need to take care of our own as well as others.
