This week we feature Janet Goodhart, a volunteer from Rhode Island who has been with Operation Gratitude for two years. Janet primarily crochets hats and scarves, but she has also made hundreds of paracord bracelets and handwritten thank you cards, as well as donated beanie babies, blank greeting cards, and made financial donations in memory of her late husband, Bill. Janet Goodhart began volunteering at Operation Gratitude two years ago when she was looking for additional places to donate her hand-crocheted items.

Although crocheting is her favorite method of volunteerism, Sonyia enjoys sewing cool ties and drawstring bags. She’s also ventured into card making because of the many options for creativity and color. Even while working a full-time job, Sonyia said “there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not doing something for Operation Gratitude. I just enjoy it so much.”

The eighth blog in the Every Day is a Day On series features Mary Sayers from North Carolina. A dedicated volunteer who has served with Operation Gratitude for over 10 years, Mary is involved with her church’s Knitting for Charity group. Her love of making connections has created a large web of volunteers and donors. Mary loves to knit and shares her passion whenever she can.

Lil Bauer is a dedicated volunteer, with us since our founding. Now at 95-years-young, Lil is one of our oldest volunteers yet she still runs circles around the rest of us! Known for her signature hats, she is affectionately known as “the hat lady” around the FOB. She is a true force of nature when it comes to volunteerism.

Lori Carroll, a retired Navy veteran, and caretaker who currently lives in Florida. Lori has been crocheting for 47 years, sharing her talents with a multitude of charities. She brings that experience to Operation Gratitude by crocheting hats and scarves. She is heavily involved in our Facebook group, Operation Gratitude in Action.

Prior to the pandemic, Regina was volunteering at Operation Gratitude’s warehouse, the FOB. She would also consistently volunteer at our monthly care package assembly days. Regina worked in the knits section, rolling handmade with love items and assembling them into care packages. Regina Bevacqua began volunteering with Operation Gratitude in 2020. A friend's neighbor told Regina about assembly days at the old armory location. It sounded fun, so Regina began to attend assembly days herself. She even brought her nephews who are active-duty service members.

Donna Snell, a semi-retired event planner, became involved with Operation Gratitude a few years ago when a friend told her about one of their campaigns. In 2017, during the devastating Texas floods, Operation Gratitude was sending truckloads of supplies to families who had lost their homes. Donna’s friend was collecting clothes to assist with that effort, and Donna joined in to support the cause. This led to Donna attending an assembly day where she described herself as “hooked.” After that, she began slowly volunteering around her work schedule. Now Donna volunteers almost every day and has worked with every program Operation Gratitude has launched.

When we started the new year, I hoped that the need to support our Deployed Troops and Frontline Responders would wane. As we returned from the holidays, I hoped and prayed that our fight against COVID would end and service members who faced extended deployments would come home. Yet four weeks into 2021, and the need for Operation Gratitude has grown — not waned. In the weeks leading to the 2021 Inauguration, we supported 6,800 police officers in Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department and NYPD and 25,000 National Guardsmen deployed to our nation’s capital because they needed us. The fact is, on average, we have impacted more than one service member every minute of the day, thus far, in 2021.

The Every Day is a Day On series spotlights volunteers at Operation Gratitude who go above and beyond to support servicemen and women, their families, and first responders.

Our second spotlight features Jeanne Bauer, a former middle school teacher who has been involved in community outreach in the San Carlos United Methodist Church in San Diego for more than ten years. The main focus of her congregation’s involvement with Operation Gratitude involves knitting hats and scarves and writing Christmas cards, which are all sent during the holiday season in care packages to those currently serving in the military.

For many of us, 2021 started off in a very challenging way. Our fight against a global pandemic continues, and we witnessed an attack on the U.S. Capitol Building last week resulting in the deaths of five Americans and injuries to 58 DC Police Officers. 

What Operation Gratitude did in response was nothing short of extraordinary, and we need your help to continue to lift the spirits of our men and women in uniform at a time of their greatest need.