In support of the nation’s military, Bob’s Discount Furniture is proud to provide holiday meals to military families through Operation Homefront’s Holiday Meals for Military program. A team of Bob’s employees helped to pack and distribute meals to active military members and their families during the holiday season at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Middletown, Connecticut.
Nationwide, Operation Homefront will provide 14,500 meals through the holiday meal distribution program this year. Since 2010, Holiday Meals for the Military has served over 680,000 military family members.
“It’s a very good time for families to get together and share special holiday moments but it’s tough when one of the parents is deployed,” said Joe O’Hara, Northeast Director of Operation Homefront. Flanked by hundreds of packed meal bags ready for distribution at the center in Middletown, O’hara added, “We try to give them as much as we can to let them have a great day and have one really big, nice meal, so they can create their own memories to last a lifetime.”
Bob’s volunteers filled meal bags with all the items necessary for a holiday meal and handed them off to recipients. The meal distribution event also included a service information fair for recipients and the chance to visit with Santa.
Breanna Pollock, a mother of three elementary school-aged children attended the event for a second year. Breanna’s husband, William Pollock, is a member of the Army National Guard and has been deployed to Iraq since February. The Operation Homefront event is popular with her family, said Breanna, adding that the support of the meal helps.
Filling bags with pie crust and gravy packets, Bob’s volunteer, Christine Mansfield, Senior Director, Learning and Development said, “It’s such an honor to give back to those who serve us every single day.”
In addition to supporting the Holiday Meals for the Military event, Bob’s is also collecting funds for Operation Homefront now through Dec. 31. Guests can visit any store from coast to coast and donate in the on-the-house café to support the military relief organization. Bob’s will match all donations dollar-for-dollar with a maximum contribution of $150,000.
Since partnering with Operation Homefront in 2019, Bob’s has contributed more than $200,000 to support the organization’s programs and services.