WID Capital Chapter engaged in outreach efforts.

• Author: Owens, Heather
• Position: Women in Defense

The Capital Chapter of Women in Defense has begun to include volunteer opportunities as a major part of the chapter's activities.

Chapter President Kelli Short-Tomasulo, of the PMA Group, explained that one of her goals when she became president in April was to have the chapter become more involved in the community.

"With so many active-duty military being sent in the Washington, D.C., area after being injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, I believed it was important for the Capital Chapter to show our support of the military," said Short-Tomasulo.

To organize its support efforts, the chapter has formed an advocacy committee, with Shannon Graves, of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, and Kathryn Bannon, of the University of California Government Relations Office, serving as co-chairs.

The committee recently kicked off its efforts with a meeting at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. Elaine Rogers, president of the USO of Metropolitan Washington, and Karen Theobald, donor and supporter at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, were guest speakers.

Rogers suggested many ways to support the USO-Metro's many soldier and family oriented programs. Options include helping to assemble care packages and volunteering at airport assistance and family service centers. Though the USO cannot accept items directly for care packages, members of the public can sponsor the cost of completed packages for one or more service members.

Theobald described many hands on ways for volunteers to assist soldiers who have been wounded in combat. She noted that injured soldiers can spend anywhere from several months to a year recovering at Walter Recd.

Though family members often want to stay with wounded relatives, real-life responsibilities often intrude, and they must go home to work and pay the bills. Thus, volunteers play an important part in aiding and cheering the soldiers as they recuperate.

Volunteer opportunities at Walter Reed include attending a monthly birthday celebration, donating phone cards and other items for the troops, getting companies to donate used computers or other items, mentoring a soldier in the recovery process or in a new career path, driving family members to the grocery store, or taking a recovering patient out to lunch or a movie.

Theobald said that every single injured service member has told her that they would rather be back with their units finishing the job. "They're being asked to go out and protect our...