It was Christmas season, 2004. The Sekely’s two young sons, 4-year-old Dawsen and 2-year-old Josiah, couldn’t wait for Santa.
But there was a problem for this Army family, based at Fort Lewis.
“Something got messed up on our pay,” said their mom, Melissa Sekely. “Things were really tight. I almost didn’t set up a tree.”
Even without the stress of the holidays, it wasn’t an easy time.
She was nine months pregnant with the family’s third child. Her husband, Sgt. Thomas Sekely, who had served one tour of duty in Iraq, was preparing to be redeployed, this time to Afghanistan.
“I was so overwhelmed with everything, with him getting ready to leave,” she said. “And I’m about due.”
Then came the phone call from Operation Homefront. Its Washington chapter is based in Snohomish. It’s run by Janice Buckley, who describes herself as “a single mom who lives on a farm.”
The nonprofit provides year-round support to military personnel and their families, such as getting help for moms with new babies and adopting families at the holidays, providing special extras.
“I look at our organization as a bridge,” Buckley said, to show military families “we love you, we support you, especially in a time of war.”
The organization had drawn the Sekelys from a list of families on the base.
“They called and asked us what the kids’ needs were, what kind of stuff we like and where we like to shop,” Melissa Sekely said.
Thomas Sekely remembers volunteers with Operation Homefront dropping off wrapped packages for him at the base’s welcome center.
They included Spider Man and Thomas the Train toys for the boys, a Christmas fruit basket, a Sears gift card for Thomas Sekely and an Old Navy gift card for his wife.
It was a Christmas the Sekelys won’t forget.
“Just to know that some people out there support and care about us meant a lot,” Melissa Sekely said.
Stories like these are the whole reason Operation Homefront exists, Buckley said. People volunteer in all kinds of ways to help military personnel.
A homemade quilt with a Marine insignia on it was sent to one Marine recovering from severe injuries.
Some volunteers provide home-baked goods to wounded soldiers in military hospitals.
Some provide new mothers with baby outfits and supplies. “One mom said, ‘I thought this only happened on television,’ ” Buckley said.
Another new mother, whose husband had been deployed just before the baby was born, was so overwhelmed by the organization’s thoughtfulness that she started to cry.
Buckley remembers her reaction. “This means so much,” the woman said. “Thank you.”
Sometimes Buckley helps find local mechanics willing to do car repairs for wounded service personnel.
One day earlier this month, Buckley drove to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to pick up a husband whose wife was getting a biopsy to see if she had cancer.
The man had been flying for 36 straight hours to get home, Buckley said.
“This is the way these families live,” she said. “I don’t think we understand what they go through every day for us.
“They’re so proud to serve their country,” she said. “We need to buck up and sacrifice a little for them.”
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