Supporting our troops is important to my family and I. My father was in the army, serving in Germany in the 1950s. He was proud of his service, and enjoyed telling us stories about his experiences in Europe.
My Dad was lucky, because Europe was peaceful by the time he was there, so his service wasn’t very dangerous. But he was overseas and away from his family for almost 2 years, which is a very long time, and he missed two Thanksgivings, two Christmas, and many birthdays and smaller celebrations.
Being away from home is always hard, but especially around the holidays. And many of our troops are not only away from home and family, they are also in harms way. Marie Callender’s has designed the Comforts From Home Project in partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO) to bring the heartwarming feelings, flavors and favorites of home to those who miss it most.
The USO Operation Celebration program is dedicated to providing a “home away from home” for all the deployed troops stationed around the world, to make sure that all the holidays, big and small, are celebrated. It is easy for us to take all the trappings and signs of holidays for granted, like meals and entertainment. The program makes sure that troops have a place to celebrate and enjoy some relaxing time, with or without their families.
Last year Marie Callender’s brought care packages to servicemen and women stationed overseas with a $250,00 donation to the USO2Go program, and this year they want to donate more, up to $300,000. And they have made it easy for you to help. From September 1, 2015 until January 29, 2016 simply look for the USO Operation Celebration program on one of more than 51 million specially-marked Marie Callender’s frozen meals or desserts. The box includes a code that can be entered online, and each code entered equals a $0.50 donation to the USO.
Last week my family and I bought some of our favorite Marie Callender’s items to enjoy, and of course we made sure to get boxes with the USO codes. We bought Vermont White Cheddar Mac & Cheese and a couple little Apple Pies for a quick and tasty dinner. The whole family loves the Mac & Cheese because it so rich and creamy, and of course pies are always a hit.
I saved the boxes, and the next day went to the website to enter the codes and do our part to help Marie Callender’s bring a little bit of home sweet home to our U.S. servicemen and women overseas. You can find a list of all the participating products, enter the codes and see a real-time code tracker at the Comforts from Home website. I just checked the tracker and it looks like Marie Callender’s is almost half way to their goal of 600,000 codes!
Legal terms: For every entry by 1/29/2016 of an 8-digit code found on participating products, Marie Callender’s will donate $.50 to the USO Operation Celebration program. Guaranteed minimum donation: $100,000. Maximum donation: $300,000. Limit 5 code entries per person/computer each day. Valid in U.S. Only.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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