As the daughter of a career soldier, I have seen firsthand the stress war and deployments can put on a family. Times being what they are today, those deployments happen much more frequently than they used to, leaving mothers and families behind to cope. When I was given the opportunity to work with the amazing group Operation Shower, I was thrilled to jump right in with both feet and help! This organization’s mission is to support the military family, in particular expectant moms whose husbands are deployed. Operation Shower has the best reason in the world to throw a party!
On May 6th, a “Celebration Fore Baby” baby shower was held in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL on the Stadium Golf Course at TPC Sawgrass and sponsored by Birdies for the Brave, The PGA Tour and the Lend Lease Community Fund. Forty-one local military moms and moms-to-be arrived to be showered with support, recognition and gifts donated from high-end companies.
Every last mom received a baby shower-in-a-box complete with a super-cute Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, McLaren stroller, Chicco car seat (donated by the Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation) and so many more wonderful items. I continue to tear up whenever I think of the looks of astonishment and wash of emotion from these deserving moms when they received their gifts. In particular, the mom-to-be who had just put her husband on the boat that morning for a six-month deployment—her husband will miss the birth of their baby—still pulls at my heartstrings.
One of the really amazing parts of this event was the volunteers; the number of people rallying around these military families was staggering. A team of party designers and planners from all over Florida (and some from much farther north!) arrived in force the day before to craft, move tables and style the event. Paper and Pigtails and Pen N’ Paperflowers designed and donated a really fabulous dessert table, all in the shower’s golf theme.
There were so many creative, talented volunteers who not only gave time but also products for this event. There are too many to list them all, but here’s a few: Love and Sugar Kisses, Half Baked, Celebrations at Home, Cookies are my Canvas, Great Gatherings, Malu’s Boutique, Mommy GPS , Let’s Get This Party Started, The Flair Exchange and, of course, Frog Prince Paperie.
Operation Shower also recently partnered with Babies R Us to help purchase items needed for the moms-to-be and to help celebrate the new arrivals. Through this partnership, it’s easy for everyone to help support our military families! Click here to donate, either with funds or by purchasing a gift to put in one of the baby shower boxes. It’s a small way to give back, but you’ll be glad you did. Thank you again to our military families for all you do for our country!
Comments
Rebekah {A Blissful Nest}
Just beautiful! Looks like some of my favorite people had a wonderful time and I love the table decorations. I just love watching the mommies open up there boxes. Can not wait for the next one!
Rebecca
I adore the golf themed products you created. Are they for purchase anywhere, I donate via gift registries to Operation Shower regularly and would like to use this theme to host a fundraising shower this summer, if I can purchase these printables, it would make the shower adorable!
Thanks so much for donating your talents to their mission!
Ysczabel
I just love the smile on that mom there. Am sure that you made a lot of moms like her very happy. This is a great theme by the way, and I really admire how you are giving your time and talent for this. Paula, I hope there are a lot of others like you.
Recreate
Wow, I just can’t believe the number of soldiers who get deployed day after day, or week after week, leaving their wives and their unborn children! Anyway, I also commend the volunteers and the sponsors for their work. May God bless you a hundredfold!
BriskRain
Congrats to all of you who put in effort for this. These moms and moms-to-be really are deserving. It’s a wonderful way of thanking them for lending us their husbands so that we’re safe and secure.