Let's Make Thank You For Your Service More than Lip Service

I often see military personnel and I am quick to say thank you for your service. There are organizations that give us an opportunity to donate money to help veterans. https://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/for-veterans/. https://www.hfotusa.org. https://puppyjakefoundation.org

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Good evening, and welcome to my humble podcast abode. I am Cocoa Griot, that fifty-something Mom who likes to chat about life, love and a host of other topics. When we tell people thank you for your service. What do we really mean by that? I had conversations recently with three people that made me ponder the depth of this statement.Two were out of the military and one was still serving.

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I reflected upon the contributions of my great-great-great-grandfather George Guthrie who fought in the Civil War in the calvary for the Union and my great-grandfather Elbert Lewis who fought in World War Two and what their service actually means to me. Whenever I see service people, I'm quick to say thank you for your service, but what have I done to be a service of their community? Tonight, I want to explore the topic of thank you for your service being more than lip service dog. Oftentimes

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I receive calls from organizations that claim to do things on behalf of people who served in the military. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty skeptical about donating so long my conversation this week really made me think about how can I safely do something on behalf of people without getting scammed? I think we've all heard before that freedom is not free. I was shocked to find out that about one-third of veterans suffer from PTSD.

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That's alarming. I know. As a civilian, I've not done enough to find out ways that I can contribute to people served in the military. So I want to start by talking about an organization called you, that's right. I'm talking to me too. You don't have to sign up with any particular entity. If you are not comfortable with that assisting veterans by running errands or spending time with them can be a great help, you know, sometimes people just need someone

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to talk to if you need a more structured way of helping directly, you might consider volunteering at a VA hospital in some capacity on those things are kind of scary right now with covid-19 things that we can do to keep ourselves safe and still contribute before I go further into our topic. I want to share some really exciting information with you. Today's episode is presented by the skin store. For over 20 years the skin store has been the number

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veterans. These groups build new homes or adapt existing homes for veterans with severe injuries. Please know that I checked out both of these nonprofits on Charity Navigator. You can donate money, if you cannot donate time to these worthy and reputable organizations. Some former military personnel have very very difficult time because they may have visual impairments,physical injuries,

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PTSD or brain injuries. A service animal that can help them in a myriad of ways guys. I'm so excited about the Puppy Jake Foundation. They raise and train puppies to become service dogs. This organization has a good score on Charity Navigator and donating to them can help a veteran to receive a service animal. Please think about the phrase all gave some and some gave all. I think that is most striking bumper

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sticker I've ever seen in my life. We cannot change the trajectory for people who lost their lives being of service to this country. We can't help those they left behind and the people who are coping with life changes because of their service. I've included the links to the non-profit organizations I mentioned in my show in the show notes. Also, there is a link for the skin store 20% coupon. Thanks.

Please consider donating to a Gofundme campaign for India.

https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/help-india

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