Serving our country is the most important job someone can do. Since Veteran’s Day is upon us, we thought it would be a great time to talk about how we can celebrate and give thanks to our service members. November 11th is a monumental opportunity to teach civilians about the national holiday and the sacrifices that were made throughout history. If you don’t have any family members or people close to you that have served, you may not know how to show your appreciation. We’ll list a few ways to celebrate below:
At Work
Once leaving the service, many veterans move to the private sector. Find out who has served in your workplace. Take time out of your day to make your co-workers who are veterans feel appreciated. Ask if they would be willing to share a story or two about their time serving.
Veterans take great pride in their journey and it would be a good opportunity for younger generations and non-veterans to learn about. If you’d like to do something else, you can celebrate them by bringing in donuts or cookies or writing a thoughtful letter or email thanking them for their service and sacrifices they have made.
If you’re an employer, you can celebrate our veterans by helping them transition to civilian life through meaningful employment. Make it a point to give thanks to them.
Military service instills a strong work ethic, decisiveness, a spirit of collaboration, and much more. As the holiday season approaches, consider our veterans’ families as well. The Soldiers’ Angels organization has programs for businesses. Organizations like this help deliver gifts and it can be a fun way for the entire office to come together.
At Home
There are a few ways to celebrate our veterans at home. You can organize a care-package party with your neighborhood or friends. If you don’t know anyone who is stationed overseas, you can contact a nearby base to help identify those in need, or you can reach out to companies who are known for helping our troops such as the Travis Mills Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project or the USO.
Make a visit to a nearby Veteran’s hospital. If you don’t live near a Veteran’s hospital, you can visit an assisted living facility or a nursing home. Taking the time to chat with elderly or injured veterans is a great way to let them know they are appreciated for their service to our country. On the plus side, maybe you’ll hear a few stories about how their life was and what they did during their time of service. You can take a small gift or an activity like bingo or card games to play while you’re chatting.
Do you have kids at home? This is the perfect opportunity to teach them about Veterans Day. You can do crafts with them such as creating flags out of paper or drawing and coloring images of our troops. It’s your chance to get creative and inform them about our veterans.
At School
Encourage your child’s teacher to incorporate Veterans Day into their lesson plan. There are a ton of ways to do this including a short writing project, watching a short documentary, craft projects, and the list goes on. In addition to incorporating Veterans Day into your child’s class, speak to a principal so everyone at your school can learn more about the monumental day.
Inviting a veteran to speak at your school can make a huge impact on the kids. Either you or the school can reach out to all of the parents and ask if they have anyone in mind that would be willing to speak to the students about what it was like to serve. If you have a difficult time finding a veteran, you can contact your local VA and they should be able to identify a good guest speaker.
By celebrating our veterans, you can make a huge difference for them. They make year-round sacrifices, along with their loved ones, and they would greatly appreciate your celebration and thanks. We listed only a few ways to celebrate our veterans, but there are plenty more. Get creative and show your appreciation!
At the end of the day, veterans really don’t want anything other than a simple “Thank You!”