The General’s Kids: Helping the Children of Wounded Warriors
Note: I may earn money or products from the companies, products, or links mentioned in this post.
I have been following a blogger friend of mine on Facebook for awhile now and the story of her wounded warrior husband and how life has changed for their family. I was so excited to hear about an organization she started for other wounded warrior families called The General’s Kids and I asked her if I might interview her and share a little about it on my blog.
I really hope you take a little bit of time today to learn more about this awesome program! Here is my interview with Jacqueline Goodrich, founder of The General’s Kids:
What is The General’s Kids?
“The General’s Kids, L.L.C. was designed for our nation’s little warriors. Whether they are infants or teenagers, facing the life-changing injury or illness of a parent leaves a lasting impression. There are so many wonderful organizations out there that benefit wounded warriors and their families, and children often benefit from these. But at The General’s Kids we are proud to focus 100% on the children and young siblings of the wounded, ill, and injured.
We can help connect children and teenagers of various ages with others across the country who are going through similar struggles, provide sponsors who will send encouraging cards or care packages, and will soon be able to offer financial assistance for things like special interests or school funding.”
How The General’s Kids was started:
“I have been an Army wife since Christmas Eve, 2005. Since then, I have have spent time as a freelance writer, photographer, and baby wrangler as my children, Lucy and Tag came into our lives. On February 20th, 2012, my husbandâs 26th birthday, I woke up to a phone call from Afghanistan. The days that followed found our family rushing to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be by his side as he recovered from serious wounds sustained in combat.
It didnât take long living at this unfamiliar place for me to see the effect it had on three year old Lucy and newborn Tag. For months as the family adjusted to this ‘new normal’ I watched parents of infants and even teenagers fight to make hospital life a little more kid-friendly. The idea for The Generalâs Kids grew from my desire to see my own children still experience joy in the midst of these life-changing circumstances…”
Future goals of The General’s Kids:
“There are so many unique situations in the wounded warrior community. As a family, we have not qualified for financial assistance from many of the larger non-profits. When I started dreaming up The General’s Kids I knew in my heart I wanted to be able to help as many families as possible. In the future when we are able to offer financial assistance we want to be able to do that even for children whose parent might be returning to duty after months and months of recovery. Or for the teenagers who need school books and dance lessons. And for fun, for a much needed break from their normalcy, I would love to be able to fund vacations for warrior families.”
Michael was my best friend since we met as 14 year olds. Five years later, we started dating and quickly got married. Our life together has always been centered on the fact that we would be a career Army couple. We’ve been through years of separations, 2 wars, multiple TDY’s, and I gave birth to both our children without him by my side. But the idea of ever not being on active duty and having our lives dictated by a combat arms/special operations MOS just seemed crazy.
Since he was wounded though, our life as a family and a couple has grown in unimaginable ways. We’re starting to both see new ways we can serve our country, by supporting its heroes. I know God needed us to go through all of this so we could help those coming after us. This has been one of the most life-affirming experiences we’ve ever been through together. And I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather do this with than my G.I. Joe!
To find out more about The General’s Kids or to donate please visit the website or Facebook page:
One Comment