Care Packages for Service Members

When members of the U.S. Armed Forces are wounded in duty, their care begins in the hospital—but it doesn’t end there. The Semper Fi & America's Fund exists to serve injured service members in other ways: welcome home greetings at military hospitals, transportation to bring family members there, child care while spouses visit, financial and emotional support, transition help for post-hospital life, personal check-ins. And now, home-delivered gifts of soup.

As part of its efforts to care for wounded service members and their families, the Semper Fi & America's Fund has partnered with Spoonful of Comfort to extend solace and thanks to our country’s heroes. In 2020 alone, the Semper Fi Fund has delivered more than 500 Spoonful of Comfort meals to service members in the hospital or transitioning back home.

The Semper Fi & America's Fund Mission: A Perfect Fit

“We began sending Spoonful of Comfort gifts to service members who were in the hospital for treatment or when they transitioned home to recover,” says Amanda Kelly, Semper Fi & America’s Fund, Internal Events and Sponsorship. “It’s something we can have delivered to a hospital or hotel, to the barracks or a home—sometimes it’s as much for the spouse and family as it is for the service member. By providing a meal, it’s one less thing the caregiver and the person recovering have to worry about.” 

Spoonful of Comfort proved to be a great fit with the mission of Semper Fi & America’s Fund. “Our purpose is to care for a service member who is injured,” explains Kelly. And Spoonful of Comfort solves a real need. Recovering from surgery is physically demanding. As anyone who has been in the hospital knows, simple foods are what the body needs first. “Nutrition is a big consideration when we send Spoonful of Comfort,” says Kelly. “When providing for people who are high-risk, on medication, and recovering from sickness, solid nutrition goes a long way.” 

Receiving chicken noodle soup is something patients truly appreciate. The families love it too. “At Semper Fi & America’s Fund, supporting the family is huge.” Kelly says. “We look at a Spoonful of Comfort care packages as a whole unit. Ready-made soup is a meal the caregiver doesn’t have to prepare. Soup with biscuits—and cookies!—are all things kids love. There’s something very reminiscent about having chicken noodle soup, it’s very nurturing. Caregivers feel they’re being taken care of just as much as the service member.”

A Timely Gift to High-Risk Service Members

Care packages to these injured service members has become even more relevant with recent stay-at-home measures due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Recovering patients are already at high risk if they were to contract the coronavirus. So, venturing out to a grocery store is a no-go. “In the early days of the virus outbreaks, we thought we’d provide grocery delivery to our service members,” reports Kelly. “But the bigger challenge everyone faced was empty grocery store shelves. We couldn’t obtain a lot of food that families needed.” Spoonful of Comfort was able to step in.

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“Reaching out to care for loved ones has been so important to people in recent months,” says Marti Wymer, Spoonful of Comfort founder and CEO. She notes that orders for care packages skyrocketed as people were less able to check in on friends and family in person. “Semper Fi & America’s Fund called on us to help reach out to thousands of our country’s service members. We are humbled and honored that we could be a part of that.”

A Nourishing Partnership

Semper Fi & America’s Fund appreciates a close relationship with Spoonful of Comfort, too. Semper Fi & America’s Fund orders are placed by case managers all over the country—some located on overseas military bases—so the requests are being made by different people, in different time zones, at different hours. “Every single one of our case managers has had something positive to say about Spoonful of Comfort,” Kelly remarks. “Their customer support even corrects our orders if we forget to include our corporate discount benefit.”

“The overall appreciation of caring for our service members has been remarkable. To some vendors, we’re just another credit card number. At Spoonful, you can tell that they are truly sincere about the love and care they put in the product. Our service members can feel that. They’re getting a care package that really means something.”

The partnership between Semper Fi & America’s Fund and Spoonful of Comfort continues to strengthen. Kelly sums it up this way: “Together, we share a mission to let service members know they are not alone. That’s already the feeling baked into what Spoonful of Comfort does. It’s part of all our communications. I see a great partnership blooming with us.”

Whoopie Pies for Semper Fi & America's Fund

The Semper Fi Fund and Spoonful of Comfort invite you to support wounded members of the U.S. Armed Services. Throughout July, add a five-dollar whoopie pie treat (or two!) to any Spoonful of Comfort care package and the proceeds will go directly to the Semper Fi & America’s Fund. One of only two veteran non-profit organizations to hold an A+ Charity Watch rating, Semper Fi & America’s Fund operates with proven processes and low overhead. The Fund maximizes donations to immediately serve those who have served us in preserving our nation’s freedom.