Sometimes an incident leads to a hospital stay of a service member or veteran. But what if military families are unable to stay with their loved ones? This is where Fisher House Foundation comes in. Random Acts Regional Representative for the U.S. Great Lakes region Susan Mickelson teamed up with Fisher House to support veterans and military families.
Inspired by the annual 4th of July holiday, Susan decided to plan a Sponsored Kindness Act that would serve veterans or military families. First, she did some research to find a military-based charity that fit. When she found the Website of Fisher House, she knew she had found a good fit.
Fisher House
Fisher House Foundation builds homes at medical and VA centers around the world where veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in the hospital. Fisher House Foundation has grown to over 90 Fisher Houses and supported hundreds of thousands of families.
The organization also operates two programs, the Hero Miles program, and Hotels for Heroes, which use donated frequent flyer miles and hotel points to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members. Fisher House also manages a grant program supporting other charities and scholarship funds for military children and spouses.
House manager Holly with some of the donated meals.
Getting in Contact
To set her plan in motion, Susan contacted Fisher House’s location that was nearest to her. She had a chat with the manager and asked what the charity needed. The manager told Susan that a catered dinner is something Fisher House would appreciate the most. She also directed Susan to a wishlist. Using funds from Random Acts, Susan then selected some snacks and supplies and put them in the catering order.
Day of the Donation
Susan arrived early at Fisher House’s location and met with a staff member. Together they started to unload the catering trays as well as the other supplies Susan had bought. The team member from Fisher House was really excited about the donation. They brought the cart with the donations into the kitchen. One of the guests saw the food boxes and told Susan how much she loved that restaurant. Hearing this filled Susan with happiness.
“I was very happy with how the act turned out and how happy the house manager was,” said Susan.
A seemingly simple thing as a meal can make a difference to someone else.