Christmas Assistance for Military Families

If you're a military family, there are numerous resources out there for you to find assistance for Christmas. Being a military family comes with its own set of issues and brings several challenges to everyday life. Regardless of whether one spouse is deployed or not, there are places you can go to get help for Christmas.

While its true that a deployed service member's family is more likely to get help due to the stress and hardship of a deployment, you can get help for Christmas even if there's no deployment. Whether you need help due to a recent job-loss for the non-military spouse, an unexpected medical bill or vehicle repair- there are ways to get help.

Before you begin contacting anyone to ask for help for Christmas, there are a few things to be aware of. You will most likely have to provide several pages of documentation- current orders, military ID's, DEERS enrollment information to prove that the members of your household are dependents of the military spouse. You may be asked to provide current LES's, copies of all bills and even a rental/lease agreement or mortgage. Keep these things in an easy to get to place and organized, this makes it easier for you to provide it if/when you are asked for it.

While there is no guarantee of getting help, even through resources that usually help ONLY military families, there is a higher likelihood than if you'd gone to a civilian social service organization. And many times, if a military resource can't help you, they will try to refer you to someone who can. The military tends to watch out for its own.

The following places are good to contact for Christmas Assistance for Military families, they will also help with unexpected expenses and emergencies as well in most cases.

-Operation Homefront: Operation Homefront is a wonderful resource for military families with deployed service members. To the best of my knowledge, for holiday assistance, they will only help ranks E-1 through E-6 and the service member must be deployed. Other types of assistance applications are handled on a case-by-case basis, although most of their programs require that the service member be deployed. Their website is: www.operationhomefront.net

-Military OneSource: While Military OneSource themselves do not directly provide Christmas Assistance for Military families, they can provide you with phone numbers and website addresses to organizations in your area that may be able to assist your family with Christmas. They can prove to be a valuable resource when you're seeking help (with anything), because they can help you get in touch with resources you might not have been able to locate otherwise. To contact Military OneSource, you can call: 1-800-342-9647 or go to their website at: www.militaryonesource.com

-Your Local Base/Post Family Assistance Office- Many times your local base or post's Family Support Center can get you in touch with resources that prove Christmas Assistance specifically for Military Families. If you find yourself in a touch situation financially and are unable to provide your family with a Christmas, contact your Family Assistance Office and ask if there are any programs available. Some civilian businesses will even "adopt" military families during the holidays.

-Toys For Tots- Toys For Tots has been around for many years and they help with toys for children at Christmas-time. To contact them, go to their website at: www.toysfortots.org, click on request toys and choose your area to send a message to the local coordinator.

This is only a partial list of resources for Christmas help for Military families, although most of these places will help if at all possible. For other resources, you can contact your base/post Family Support Center, local VFW chapters, and even non-military organizations. Remember, when seeking help for your family for Christmas, the sooner you apply for assistance, the more likely you are to seek help.