Members of the American Legion Dane R. Balcon Post 2008 in Falcon, Colorado, have created a program to help military spouses and families during the deployment of an active-duty family member. Brad Staton, president of the American Legion Falcon Homefront program, said he and a few other legion members had talked about initiating this type of program for a long time, and the idea came to fruition at the start of 2016. ìThis is an outreach program where we want to recognize spouses and families and let them know that the American Legion is there,î Staton said. ìWe want to find out if they need help along the way and then help however we can.îBettina Kossow, president of the American Legion Auxiliary program for Post 2008, said she remembers how difficult it was being on her own when her husband was deployed. ìI remember how removed I was not living on base or post when he was deployed,î she said. ìAs a wife, you do not tell people that your husband is deployed so really no one around you knows it.îKossow said the Falcon Homefront program is a safe way to help a family member or a spouse with their needs and staying connected to supporters.After getting the program up and running and spreading the word locally and on Facebook, Staton said a family had been nominated for assistance from the legion. He sent a private message via Facebook to the woman and told her about the program.ìShe said that nobody else had reached out to her since her husband had deployed and that she really appreciated that we did that,î Staton said. So far, the legion has presented her with a gift certificate to the Unicorn Salon in Falcon, movie passes for her and her family and a gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse, he said.The certificates and movie passes came from donations, Staton said. However, Chip Kossow, commander of Post 2008, said if the legion could not come up with enough donations to fund their activities, they would find space in their budget to pay for the provisions.After one Facebook post, Staton said he received between 25 and 50 responses. ìThey all said it is a great thing what you are doing, thank you for what you are doing and how can I help,î he said. To protect the families they help, all nominees must be identified privately through Staton, and he ensures their names will not be made public.Frank Serrano, president of the American Legion Riders, said the people they help do not have to be needy in the general sense of the term. The goal is to let the families and spouses know that their sacrifices as military families and spouses have not gone unnoticed, and they have not been forgotten.ìWe want people to know that we are here for them,î Staton said.http://americanlegionpost2008.org
