A Visit with the Warriors

Eight years ago Serve Our Willing Warriors began as a small group that simply wanted to give back to Wounded, Ill and Injured Warriors + Their Families.

Experience the annual event that marked the humble beginnings of our great non-profit by joining us on 

December 5th 

at Water Reed National Medical Center 

or 

December 6th 

at Ft. Belvoir Hospital 

for our Annual Holiday Gift-giving Event 

and share the holidays with our 

Willing Warriors + Their Families. 

Register for the event here.

If you are unable to attend, you may donate gift cards 

or make a cash donation for the gift bags for our Warriors at info@willingwarriors.org

Willing Warriors take the Green

This past Monday October 6th Serve Our Willing Warriors' 2nd Annual Golf tournament brought together motivated golfers and socially responsible corporations to take a swing at bringing wounded warriors and their families to the Bull Run Warrior Retreat. While enjoying a day out on the green, golfers had the opportunity to network with other professionals and build camaraderie with 32 wounded warriors in attendance at the event.

One group of wounded warriors in attendance at the 2nd Annual SOWW Golf Tournament

With smiles on their faces, the wounded warriors and their loved ones arrived that morning ready to play and were simply happy to get outside of their medical environment. One family in particular shined in their enjoyment on the field and expressed their gratitude for allowing not only the warrior but his wife and child to be able to participate as a unit!

A wounded warrior alongside his wife and son on the 9th hole green 

This couple's son William had actually recently become famous in the local newspapers for having putted his ball perfectly off the green in a game of golf last month. Below is the shot that the front page under the Sports and Recreation Briefs featured with his beautiful smiling face!

Little William, age 3, in the newspaper prior to the SOWW Golf Tournament

Analyzing the green

Little William debating his next put

Nothing like the bonding of a father and son

It is smiles like these that keep Serve Our Willing Warriors fighting for these families and their quality time together. We would like to give a special thanks to SMGA and Ft. Belvoir for helping us organize the attendance of the wounded warriors' golf outing. We had some truly amazing soldiers with positive attitudes in attendance that made an ample effort to thank each and every person they saw sporting a SOWW shirt any chance they got. 

 

It is often said that "it's the simple things in life" that make it all worth while. Today, for the 32 wounded warriors and their families, it was the simple enjoyment of a day out on the green alongside their biggest supporters. Special thank you to Jeff Glenn for all of his hard work in putting together this event for us! Here is the star below with his SOWW team being recognized by the House of Delegates: 

Please enjoy our event photos below! 

FH. FURR provided a vehicle from combat recovery for all of our players to sign the day of the event

Wounded warriors of Ft. Belvoir up bright an early

The Moores ready to take on the green

These ladies are all smiles!

Never a boring moment with these guys

Lovely ladies of the green 

Wounded Warrior Don and his crew

Amazing view of the helicopter after the ball drop

Taking measurements to determine the winner of the $2,500

Event golfers discussing the top 3 closest balls 

Thank you for reading! 

A "Willing Warriors" Christmas at Fort Belvoir

One of the loveliest halls you'll ever see 'decked' in holiday splendor is the beautiful new USO building at Fort Belvoir.  It is the perfect place for Warrior family gatherings and it feels extra warm and inviting during the holiday season.

We are always excited when we get to spend time with our Warriors at Fort Belvoir, but the visits are extra-special now that we get to host our events in this incredible facility.  With its massive fireplace, enormous kitchen and dining area, it truly is a haven for these families that are visiting their recovering Warriors.  We feel very privileged to be invited to utilize this amazing space. 

The cafe area filled up quickly as the Warrior Families came out for food, gift bags, gift cards and holiday camaraderie.

Smiling servers from Park Valley Church - our annual partners for 

this holiday event.

Many Warriors + their family members visited the SOWW table to learn more about our organization and to sign up for updates on the Bull Run Warrior Retreat. Many of them would really love to have the chance to enjoy a short stay at the retreat and take a break from the hospital / rehab environment.  

These are the faces of some of the families we hope to have as guests some day in the near future.

This USO posters really sums up our sentiments exactly!

After most of the crowd had eaten and received their gift bags and gift cards from SOWW, our president, Shirley Dominick, addressed the gathering.  Shirley shared SOWW's vision and then introduced our other partner organization for the event - iPods for Wounded Veterans.  We at SOWW really admire this incredible organization.  We have worked with them before and it has always been a great match-up, so we were delighted to have them at this special holiday event once again. 

After all the introductions had been made, Warriors were invited to sign up for their free iPods and raffle tickets to win additional prizes.

Long lines of warriors filled the hallways to register for all the gifts.

A Warrior reads one of the cards written by students from Fauquier County Public Schools which included a gift card from Park Valley Church.

SOWW's "First Daughter", Kelsy Dominick, spent the afternoon making new friends.

The iPods for Wounded Veterans organization is based in Massachusetts, so they were happy to find a couple of Red Sox fans among the Warriors.  But free banners were only the beginning -- lots of raffle numbers were called and many Warriors collected some select prizes (including iPad Minis). Watching these wonderful men and women light up when their number gets announced is always such a fun time.

One of our "Willing Warrior" Winners poses with SOWW President Shirley Dominick,  Paul Cardello (Founder and Chairman of iPods for Wounded Veterans)  +  SOWW VP John Dominick.

So here's to all our wounded, ill and injured Warriors + Their Families at Fort Belvoir -- we thank you, we admire you and we always, always enjoy your company!  We promise to work hard to make the Bull Run Warrior Retreat a reality so that we can help just a little more during your time of transition and recovery!

"God Bless Us, Every One!"

~ Tiny Tim ~  
(from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol")

Once again we must thank the individuals and organizations that came together to make the annual Fort Belvoir "Willing Warrior" Holiday Event so special.

Special thanks to Pamela Winn-Lovelace - the Warrior Transition Brigade Outreach Coordinator at Fort Belvoir.  She is the amazing lady behind the scenes that brings about so many special events and opportunities for the Warriors + Their Families.  (Plus she is a joy to work with each and every time!)

Thanks to our event coordinator, Sharon Chase, and Intelligent Designs for providing bags and blankets as gifts.

Our affectionate thanks to the members of Park Valley Church and Pastor Barry White for all the fundraising and involvement for these holiday events each and every year.

And a big 'shout-out' to iPods for Wounded Veterans!   We love you . . .    the Warriors love you . . . 

Let's do it again next year!