Karen Grimord with Sargeant Daniel Roman, a patient at Landstuhl hospital in Germany. Photo courtesy Philip Jones.

To understand why Karen Grimord is so passionate about helping wounded soldiers overseas, just shake her family tree. Karen is a proud military brat who was born in a military hospital and grew up within the tight-knit, supportive community of military families. Both Karen’s father and husband retired from the U.S. Air Force after 22 years. At one point, five family members were serving in the Middle East at the same time, including her son and son-in-law. Karen herself worked as a military contractor for years, first for Lockheed Martin and later, for Raytheon.

Frequent moves and fast-forming friendships are hallmarks of the military lifestyle. So is a deeply rooted sense of mission and loyalty to country and the men and women who serve. That mission may be what drives Karen, 51, to commit extraordinary acts of charity through her nonprofit organization, Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.

Since 2004, the organization has shipped more than 200,000 pounds of donated clothing and supplies, often at Karen’s own expense, to wounded and ailing soldiers in the Middle East. The bulk of donated items are mailed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest American military hospital outside of the U.S. Karen also sends supplies to medics, nurses, and chaplains at more than 150 military units throughout Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Middle East countries with U.S. military operations. “If we can help just one military member with a gift, then I hope they feel the respect, gratitude, and the love we have for them. That’s what keeps pushing me on—knowing that it makes their future a little bit easier,” Karen says.

Her labor of love can be back-breaking at times. Working out of her home in Stafford, Virginia, she fills boxes with an assortment of requested items. A typical shipment might include sweatpants, Crocs, socks, towels, pillows, or blankets. Four or five days a week, she drives to the post office in her white Chevy Suburban, which she reluctantly purchased a few years back when the charity grew too large for her beloved Jeep to handle.

Sometimes, Karen is lucky enough to find volunteers to help. But often, it’s just Karen and her packing tape filling up boxes and taping them shut for their distant journey. Halfway through 2012, Karen had already shipped 946 boxes, a number on pace to beat last year’s tally of 1,713 boxes. In fact, supply and demand have grown rapidly since the charity’s first year when it sent its first 33 boxes of supplies. Karen expects demand will increase as other nonprofits close their doors or shift their focus to helping returning soldiers.

The organization grew out of a simple request from Karen’s daughter who was living in Germany, where her husband was stationed. Would she collect DVD and videotape movies and send them to wounded soldiers at nearby Landstuhl hospital?

Karen appealed to her circle of family and friends, collecting 485 movies. Grateful for her enthusiasm, the chaplain at Landstuhl asked Karen to collect sweatpants. Again, she turned to family and friends who donated 108 pairs. To her dismay, she learned the number was a “drop in the bucket” to meet the hospital’s needs. At the time, as many as 1,000 soldiers were arriving at the hospital every month, and their first stop was the Chaplain’s Closet, a place where soldiers received donated clothing and supplies to replace their tattered and bloody clothing.

Karen reached out to veterans groups such as the American Legion and soon, donations came pouring in. But the more supplies she mailed to Landstuhl, the greater the requests for donations. In just a year, word-of-mouth spread among military medics and medical staff in the Middle East about the woman in Stafford, Virginia, who almost never said “no” to a request for supplies.

“There was never a plan for me to start a nonprofit,” Karen says. “What started as one or two boxes turned into thousands.”

Karen knew she needed help with the legal and financial realities of running a charitable organization. Today, a small but loyal group of volunteers—many with strong military ties—handle accounting, communications, and other vital support services.

In addition to running her nonprofit, Karen also spends a month at Landstuhl hospital every year as a volunteer, handing out clothing and supplies from the Chaplain’s Closet.

It was at the hospital that she met Marine Lance Corporal Justin Reynolds. In 2006, the young Marine was recovering from shrapnel wounds and other injuries suffered when his Humvee hit an Improvised Explosive Device in Iraq.

From the start, the wounded soldier from Ohio clicked with Karen and gave her the nickname “Mom Two.” One day, Karen got a call from Ann Reynolds, Justin’s mother. The soldier had returned home to recuperate but suffered a stroke resulting in partial paralysis. Karen hopped in her car and drove to the hospital in North Carolina where Justin was fighting for his life. There, the two “moms” met face-to-face for the first time.

Nearly two years later, a second setback robbed Justin of his speech and motor coordination. Again Karen dropped everything to visit the Marine and his family, now in nearby Richmond, Virginia. “Karen has been such a great friend,” says Ann Reynolds. “If I need something, I call Karen. She knows how to get it.”

Karen’s devotion to Justin and his family is a clear example of why she works so tirelessly for wounded military members. Karen, her friends and family members say, is the kind of person who simply refuses to back down. Karen believes Justin one day will regain his speech and motor skills. Until that day, she will support him, just as she supports her charity—until every military member comes home.

To view a video of Karen Grimord, go to saturdayeveningpost.com/karen-grimord.

American Angel The Saturday Evening Post

Minorities overall have a particularly high need for organ transplants because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, and liver are found more frequently in racial and ethnic minority populations than in the general population. For example, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics are three times more likely than Whites to suffer from end-stage renal (kidney) disease, often as the result of high blood pressure and other conditions that can damage the kidneys. Native Americans are four times more likely than Whites to suffer from diabetes. Some of these conditions that can result in organ failure are best treated through transplantation, and others can only be treated by this life-saving procedure.  In addition, similar blood type is essential in matching donors to recipients. Because certain blood types are more common in ethnic minority populations, increasing the number of minority donors can increase the frequency of minority transplants.

There are no costs to your family for your donation. Costs related to donation are paid by the recipient, usually through insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Electing to become an organ donor will NOT affect the quality of medical care you receive at the hospitals. The medical team trying to save your life is separate from the transplant team. Every effort is made to save your life before donation is considered.

What can be donated? Organs: heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, and intestines. Tissue: cornea, skin, heart valves, bone, blood vessels, connective tissue, bone marrow/stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC).

To learn more about donating bone marrow or a cord blood unit, visit:
http://bloodcell.transplant.hrsa.gov/DONOR/Donating/index.html and http://bloodcell.transplant.hrsa.gov/CORD/Options/Donating/index.html

Even if you sign a donor card, it is essential that your family knows your wishes. Your family may be asked to sign a consent form in order for your donation to occur.

If you wish to learn how organ donation preferences are documented and honored where you live, contact your local organ procurement organization (OPO). The OPO can advise you of specific local procedures, such as joining donor registries that are available to residents in your area.
Each organ and tissue donor saves or improves the lives of as many as 50 people. Giving the “Gift of Life” may lighten the grief of the donor’s own family. Many donor families say that knowing other lives have been saved helps them cope with their tragic loss.

Get Started

Register with your state donor registry, if available.

Designate your decision on your driver’s license.

Sign a donor card and carry it with you. Download a page of eight donor cards that you may print and sign.

Order a free donor card that will be mailed to you.

Talk to your family. To help your family understand and carry out your wishes, sit down with your loved ones and tell them about your decision to be an organ and tissue donor. They can serve as your advocate and may be asked to give consent for donation or provide information to the transplant team.

To learn more. visit www.organdonor.gov

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration

Are You an Organ Donor? The Saturday Evening Post

Last Christmas Eve, Heather and her family, including her two children, ages 3 and 7, prepared a full-course dinner for an elderly housebound neighbor and her son, who has muscular dystrophy. Heather made a rack of lamb with green beans and potatoes that her kids helped mash. They stayed for an hour and chatted before heading home to prepare for a visit from Santa.

“I think it’s that kind of direct experience, where you can sit down and talk to people, that many find so meaningful,” says Heather, president and founder of The Volunteer Family (thevolunteerfamily.org), a Boston-based organization dedicated to matching families with volunteer opportunities, both during the holidays and year-round. “It’s a great way for parents and grandparents to involve the kids.”

In a holiday season that stretches from before Thanksgiving to just after the New Year, it’s nice to hear stories about people giving instead of receiving, especially when Christmas isn’t even a holiday they celebrate. Last December Gary and Debra Danoff and their two teenage sons drove to the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center (JCC) and spent Christmas morning in the Center’s kitchen preparing a feast for homeless shelters. Everyone pitched in to cook large quantities of lasagna, chicken, and vegetables for delivery to area shelters.

The Danoffs were in good company. Across the city, at least 1,000 volunteers fanned out across the region to provide food and gifts to the Capitol’s neediest residents as part of the D.C. JCC’s annual “December 25th Day of Service,” now in its 22nd year.

Heather Jack brings dinner to neighbor Alice Cook.
Photo by Art Illman.

“It’s a great feeling to watch volunteers come in and out of the building,” says Erica Steen, director of the Morris Cafritz Center for Community Service at the D.C. JCC.

“We draw an amazing smorgasbord of people from all ages, backgrounds, and races. We get grandparents and grandkids, entire families, young professionals, senior citizens. Anyone can participate.”

By choosing to prepare meals for the homeless, the Danoffs bring together a belief in community service with their love of cooking. “It’s gratifying to prepare food for other people,” says Gary. “We want our kids to understand the full range of living conditions in this world. We want them to know that many people don’t have the ability to go to the supermarket and pick the foods they want to eat and pay for them.”

Secret Santas

Sometimes, the joy of giving is that much sweeter when the gift is anonymous. That’s what Linda Forte-Spearing has learned.

On Christmas morning, she wakes up with her husband, Tony, and tries to imagine the wide-eyed surprise of children in another household as they unwrap the presents she carefully chose for them. Linda has never met the children or their parents, but that’s all part of the joy of giving, she says.

“It’s an incredible feeling to buy gifts on an anonymous basis,” says Linda, a freelance writer. “It brings a whole new meaning to the holidays.”

Linda and Tony are an American couple living in Toronto, and Linda got involved in charitable work as a member of the American Women’s Club of Oakville in Ontario. As the name suggests, members are U.S. citizens living in Oakville, who join together for fellowship and community service.

To find her “adopted” family, Linda goes to the local schools and requests a wish list for a family that’s struggling to make ends meet. Last year she and Tony helped a single mother with three children, ages 8, 10, and 12. The mother, a Jamaican immigrant, works as a cleaning lady in a nursing home.

“The list is always heartbreaking. They have an opportunity to ask for anything and do just the opposite, asking for basic clothing articles or simple toys like puzzles or crayons,” she says. “We always buy the kids a new winter coat, hats, gloves, and a scarf.” She also buys gifts for the parents, including a gift certificate for the grocery store.

Last year Linda asked the principal to go back to the mom and ask her for a second wish list — one that didn’t involve the basics. “Every child should have a Christmas that sticks with them for a lifetime.” She purchased iPods for the two older children and a Nintendo DS video game system for the youngest. “I have learned a very valuable lesson in all of this,” says Linda. “Pay attention to what’s going on in your own backyard — no matter where you live.”

Linette Laureano would second that emotion. For the past six years, this single mom of three has been working hard to make sure that poor kids in her Orlando, Florida, community don’t miss out on the joys of Christmas morning.

Last year her toy drives and a partnership with Toys for Tots brought Christmas morning magic to more than 400 children. To pull off such a large toy exchange, Linette sets up a temporary toy “store” within the Protestant church, where her mother is senior pastor. Linette and her family work late into the night, then curl into sleeping bags on the church floor in anticipation of the day ahead.

Parents arrive at a pre-arranged time to shop for three free gifts per child, plus stocking stuffers. “It’s humbling,” says Linette. “You learn to be grateful for what you have. So many people have so much stuff that they don’t even appreciate it, while others have lost all of their belongings or can’t afford nice things. Those are the people I want to help.”

At St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Cleveland, Ohio, you’ll find a similar “store,” but this time it’s the kids who get to do the shopping. And these are schoolchildren who know what it’s like to do without. At least 91 percent of the 225 students at this K-8 elementary school live below the poverty line. Many students come from single-parent homes.

Times are undeniably tough. But one day a year, students get to shop like millionaires let loose on Rodeo Drive. That’s when parishioners from Holy Angels, an affluent suburban Catholic church in nearby Bainbridge Township, set up a Christmas boutique within the school and sell upscale gifts to students at below bargain-basement prices. Nothing costs more than a quarter for the cash-strapped kids, not even Lenox crystal or a warm designer sweater.

But the children aren’t buying presents for themselves. They’re buying gifts for their parents, grandparents, siblings, and other family members. Selections are taken
to the gift-wrap station, where they’re wrapped and tagged by volunteer teen workers from Holy Angels, who also
help younger children carry overstuffed bags of presents back to the classroom.

“The day is just amazing,” says Principal Sister Michelle Kelly. “Parishioners at Holy Angels collect all year for this sale so that our children can buy nice gifts for their families.”

Ringing the Bell

Every holiday season, Christian Millman and 15-year-old son, Lucas, are a two-man Salvation Army band.
Photo by Richard Swearinger

For some, charitable giving is a private matter. But for many, volunteering is a family affair.

Five years ago, Christian Millman, a media manager in Des Moines, Iowa, and his wife, Michelle, started a family tradition of ringing the kettle bell for the Salvation Army. In split shifts, they bring one or more of their three children for an evening of bell-ringing, hot chocolate, and neighborly greetings in front of a local supermarket. Lucas, 15, brings his clarinet and plays Christmas carols to serenade passers-by.

“I’ve been impressed by how much they enjoy it and look forward to it each year,” says Christian. “It also gives me precious one-on-one time with my children during
a busy season.”

Many people stop and say “thanks,” adds Lucas. “They’re sometimes surprised to see a kid ringing the bell.”

Sometimes, people also share stories about how the Salvation Army helped them through rough patches in their lives. “It’s really moving for me and the boys,” Christian says. “All of the sudden, they’re not such disaffected young teens. They stop being tough and cool and realize that this really matters.”

Holiday giving made simple

Want to spread holiday cheer but don’t know how? Here are a few ideas:

Warm Up America! Volunteers create handmade afghan blankets, clothing, and accessories to help those in need. Call 704-824-7838 or visit warmupamerica.org.

Trees for Troops. From December 4-6, buy a tree at participating farms for the troops and their families. Call 636-449-5060 or contribute online at treesfortroops.org.

Soles4Souls. Donate new or gently used shoes to this charity that distributes footwear to the needy. Call 866-521-SHOE or visit soles4souls.org.

SALVATION ARMY. Ring the bell and collect donations in that trademark red kettle. Contact your local Salvation Army office or visit ringbells.org.

‘Tis the Season for Giving Back The Saturday Evening Post