Super Soups and Beyond It’s hard to tell who’s more fortunate: the 22 Auxiliaries in California District 17 or their neighbor, McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. Through the Wounded Warrior Program, Auxiliaries there have undertaken weekly lunches for approximately 40 soldiers per month, individuals whose injuries have separated them from their units. A different Auxiliary provides lunch on the base each week.
The menu may be sandwiches
or enchiladas, but the lunches are always a good experience for Auxiliary 4647, North Highlands, according to Cristy Milano. “This going to feed the soldiers is our dream day,” she said, “because we get to interact with the soldiers. It’s very personal contact.”
Thanks to a MAP grant of
approximately $400, Auxiliary 4647 was able to feed an especially large crowd when 100 northern California and Nevada soldiers attended a muster last November on their assigned week. Members provided a feast of soups that could only be called “super,” with 21 different varieties from steak soup to beef stew to chicken and dumplings. “It was absolutely fantastic,” Milano said. “The soups were incredible and the guys were just beside themselves.” Not only did they measure up to the purpose of serving veterans, their Auxiliary also acquired eight new members in the process who were friends or friends of friends who heard about or helped with the meals. Baking is one of the ways Auxiliary 4647 excels, having
whipped up 170 dozen cookies to send to Iraq and Afghanistan last summer. “We baked our hearts out,” Milano said.
“And we had women coming out of the woodwork to join our Auxiliary.” Although it’s not the main goal, getting personally involved with active-duty troops is what draws new members, Milano said. “They participate, and the next thing you know they want to be members, and then they are participating in other things.”
One contact generates a future
relationship with soldiers as well. Over lunchtime conversations with service personnel, members hear their stories and find out what they may need or want in the future, such as useful items for care packages. In addition, Milano also makes sure she distributes Unmet Needs applications to the First Seargent at every Wounded Warrior lunch.
Members can take advantage of MAP grants for help with deployment and welcome-home events such as this.
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