First Lady

Christmas at the White House 2012 features The Gold Star Family Tree

December 11, 2012 by Wendy Leave a Comment

White House Gold Star Christmas Tree 2012 — The Gold Star Family tree is the very first tree visitors see when entering the White House. This tree is adorned with Gold Stars bearing the names of those who gave their lives for our country.

I recently watched White House Christmas 2012 on HGTV. The special highlights the transformation the White House goes through in just a few short days as hundreds of volunteers decorate each room top to bottom with carefully planned out Christmas decorations. The special also highlights the Vice President’s residence as it undergoes a “Christmas transformation”.

The theme this year is “Joy To All”.

As each room was shown there were two trees that especially caught my eye, the Joining Forces Tree and the Gold Star Family Tree.

According to the White House blog, “The very first tree visitors see as they enter the White House is the Gold Star Family tree. Standing in the East Landing, the tree is brightly decorated with special Gold Star ornaments bearing the names of some of America’s greatest heroes—those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”

Any Gold Star family who visits the White House is invited to decorate their own ornament to honor their loved one.

All visitors at the White House this holiday season will have the opportunity to fill out Operation Honor Cards, pledging to serve their community in honor of our military families, service members, and veterans. In addition, the Blue Room has a very special “Joining Forces” tree covered with hand-decorated ornaments made by military children living on U.S. bases around the world as a way to honor their parents’ commitment to serve. The Ornament can be downloaded here. The HGTV special did a great job highlighting some of the ornaments sent in by these military children.

Have you ever visited the White House during Christmas?

I have never visited, but have added this to my bucket list!

First Lady Obama and Dr. Jill Biden asking American’s to “Join Forces” with our Military Families

April 12, 2011 by Wendy Leave a Comment

Today at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden kicked off a unprecedented nationwide wide campaign to support our military families called Joining Forces.

First Lady Obama said, “Joining Forces is about all of us joining together, as Americans, to give back to the extraordinary military families who sacrifice so much every day. Our motto is simple — everyone can do something.”

In a recent NY Times article it was stated, retired “General McChrystal will lead the three-member advisory board for the initiative, called Joining Forces, whose aim is to encourage companies, schools, philanthropic and religious groups and local communities to recognize the unusual stress that is endured by families of active-duty personnel, reservists and veterans, and to strive to meet their needs.”

We will be participating on a bloggers roundtable this evening with Dr. Jill Biden to learn more about Joining Forces and will be reporting back.

Staying at PD. (periscope depth)

First Lady, Dr. Biden to Launch Family-support Initiative

April 11, 2011 by Wendy Leave a Comment

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden

First Lady, Dr. Biden to Launch Family-support Initiative

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2011 – First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will launch a national initiative tomorrow that will call on all sectors of society to support and honor America’s service members and their families.

The initiative is intended to educate, challenge and spark action among citizens, communities, businesses, nonprofits, faith-based institutions, philanthropic organizations and the government, a White House release said.

Following the initiative’s launch, Obama and Biden will embark on a two-day national tour to visit examples of communities, businesses and nonprofits working to support military families, the release said. Along the way, they’ll highlight the work of Americans –- from teachers and business leaders to neighbors and volunteers –- who are serving military families.

Obama and Biden will kick off their tour by speaking to 3,000 military and family members at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on April 13, the release said. Special guests Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos and Maj. Gen. Carl B. Jenson, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations East, also will attend.

Following their remarks, Obama and Biden will visit with the organizers of Operation Shower, a nonprofit organization that hosts unit-wide baby showers for expecting military families in a deployment or high-stress situation, the release said. Obama and Biden will join in a celebration for 40 pregnant military spouses and deliver gifts donated through a White House Operation Shower donation drive. Special guest Martha Stewart will attend to teach scrapbooking to military moms.

Obama and Biden next will travel to San Antonio to visit with service members and families at the Warrior and Family Support Center. The center, built with private donations and run by community volunteers, helps care for family members while they care for a wounded warrior. Obama and Biden also will meet privately with wounded warriors and families at nearby Brooke Army Medical Center.

They’ll wrap up the day at an event at Coors Field in Denver. The Colorado Rockies and Coors Field has invited military families from across Colorado to a special viewing of the Rockies vs. Mets game. Obama and Biden will speak to the families and participate in activities with them. Special guests include entertainer Jessica Simpson and the Air Force Academy baseball team, which will practice with military children.

The next day, Obama and Biden will stop by the National Math and Science Competition at the Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. In conjunction with the National Math and Science Initiative, they’ll host a science competition where military parents will challenge the students at the school, which primarily serves military families. The event is intended to raise awareness of the challenges military children face and the need for advanced placement courses in math and science at schools serving military children. Joining them at the event will be gust participants from the Discovery Channel program “MythBusters.”

Next, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will join Obama and Biden for an employment event in Columbus, Ohio, to highlight how several major businesses have made commitments to ensure job transferability for military spouses. By enabling spouses to transfer, they can more easily retain their jobs at a participating facility in their new community, the release said.

Obama and Biden will wrap up their tour at a community event for military families in Columbus. The USO and Sesame Street will host a concert-style event honoring National Guard members and their families. Local organizations doing great work in their communities who need volunteers or donations to support military families will be recognized. The event will feature a performance from singer and producer Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers and Sesame Street Muppets including Elmo. Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, also will attend.

Earlier this year, Obama and Biden previewed their new initiative during a National Governors Association meeting at the White House.

“We’re very excited about this initiative because we think that this will not only help our troops and their families, but it will help us as a nation link together and be even stronger,” the first lady said at the time.

“It’s about showing our gratitude to that very small group of Americans who make such a tremendous contribution and sacrifice to this country,” she added. “And it’s about serving the people who sacrifice so much to serve us.”

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63505

Military Spouses are Heroes, First Lady Says

October 27, 2010 by Wendy Leave a Comment

The Women’s Conference

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2010 – The needs and concerns of military spouses, whose sacrifices benefit the nation, should be of concern to all Americans, First Lady Michelle Obama said today.

“These women and men — they are heroes and it’s time that we recognize the challenges they face and the obstacles they overcome and the contributions they make,” Obama said at the Women’s Conference® 2010, held Oct. 24-26 in Long Beach, Calif.

“It is an issue that I believe should be on the agenda of every women’s conference, right up there with equal pay, right up there with work-family balance, right up there with breaking the glass ceiling,” the first lady told 30,000 attendees who gathered to hear Obama and more than 100 other speakers during the annual forum.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, hosted the meeting. The Women’s Conference also is a global online community with more than 1 million participants.

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, also addressed the conference.

“One of the best parts of my role as second lady is the time I spend meeting servicemembers, military families, veterans and wounded warriors – people who honor us with their service across this country and around the world,” she said in prepared remarks.

Women make up 15 percent of the military and serve in leadership positions in every branch of the service, Biden added.

“In recognition of that evolution,” she said, “the president is expanding and enhancing care for women veterans and looking for ways to expand childcare.”

Obama said her husband, President Barack Obama, also has worked hard on behalf of military families — strengthening support programs and counseling services and increasing funds for housing, childcare and career development.

“He’s extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to more military families and caregivers, and we’re working with states to streamline requirements so that spouses don’t have to reapply for professional credentials and take new tests every time they move,” she said.

“But the truth is that there is so much more that each of us can do and should do right in our own communities … [and] it’s time for each of us to act,” the first lady said.

Obama called on teachers, school administrators and PTA members to see what their schools can do to better support military kids. Lawyers, accountants or counselors can offer services pro bono to some military families in their communities.

Small-business owners or human resources professionals who work in large companies, she said, can make an effort to hire more military spouses and help make the workplace more accommodating to military spouses.

People with time to volunteer can go to the United We Serve website to find out how to help military families in their areas, Obama said.

The needs and concerns of military spouses “should be on the agenda of every woman and every American because they represent the very best this country has to offer,” the first lady said.

“It’s time that each of us did our part to give them the support they need, the recognition they deserve and the gratitude they’ve earned,” she added. “I look forward to working with all of you in some way, shape or form to make that happen in the months and years ahead.”

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61429