Volunteer of the Month

Congratulations Molly Vogel, March's Volunteer of the Month!

Molly Vogel is the Family Readiness Group Leader for the 347th Regional Support Group out of Roseville, Minn. Molly has a great enthusiasm and desire to support and empower the military families within the Minnesota National Guard. Her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Joe Vogel, deployed with the 34th Infantry Division from 2009-10. Meanwhile, Molly was home with two small boys and, thankfully, a strong family support network. Since her husband's return, they both signed up for and have been actively participating in the ADAPT program allowing researchers the chance to observe the effect of deployment on military families.

Since taking on the role of FRG Leader, Molly has been working with unit command and staff to improve family participation in unit activities and attending available family readiness training. Molly has also participated in discussion panels for the Family Reintegration Academy for the 1st BCT, talking about what family members can expect when their Soldier returns from deployment.

February's Volunteer of the Month - Katie Lewanski!

Katie Lewanski is the Family Readiness Group Leader for the 34th Infantry Division's Bravo Company out of Rosemount, Minn. Katie was appointed the FRG Leader following the Division's deployment to Basra, Iraq.

During a "steady state," when a unit is not deployed or training for deployment, interest in the FRG decreases, so Katie was virtually starting a new FRG during a time when there was less interest. Despite this, Katie's positive attitude and willingness to try new things have made her a truly positive asset to her command.

Additionally, Katie has gone above and beyond by attending the Yellow Ribbon meetings in her armory city. The Yellow Ribbon committee also sees her as an asset, as she is the pulse of the families and can express their needs in a solid, practical way.

Our January Volunteer of the Month recognizes the volunteer team of B Co. 134th BSB!

Renee Tabatt (leader), Carrie Hanrahan (co-leader), Rachel Vopatek (treasurer) and Penny Pesta (secretary) are the volunteer team of Bravo Company, 134th Brigade Support Battalion out of Camp Ripley, Minn. They have done an outstanding job with the Family Readiness Group and are dedicated and passionate about supporting the families.

This FRG faced quite a challenge when Bravo Company was recently deployed. The Soldiers were attached to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, or HHC, which could have been extremely confusing for families. Because of the flexibility of the FRG, it wasn't. They began working even closer with the HHC FRG and held some events and meetings together. The Bravo Company FRG has shown that the families are their first priority by coming together with HHC's FRG.

The Bravo Company FRG leadership is always available for families. They work very hard at planning and implementing FRG events so that the families are supported and feel closer to the unit. They attend all the state and battalion FRG leadership trainings, so they can continue learning additional resources and knowledge to fully support the families.

This FRG truly shows that their hearts are in the right place. Thank you Bravo Company FRG!

This month's Volunteer of the Month - Bill and Jamie Cassavant!

Bill and Jamie (pictured second and fourth from the left) are the Family Readiness Group co-leaders for Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry out of Crookston and Thief River Falls, Minn. They have been in their respective positions since 2007 and have been a vital piece in the company's family readiness program. No matter what cycle of the deployment, they have consistently met with the Company Commander and 1st Sgt. on a monthly basis to remain abreast of unit activities, issues and concerns that affect the Soldiers of the unit.

They have ensured the Soldiers and families of the unit receive timely, updated information regarding resources and programs that are available to them and their families. They send out mailers, emails, phone calls, or any other new way they can think of to inform the Soldiers and families of the family readiness program and the importance of the commander's family readiness plan.

Bill and Jamie have also worked with the Crookston Yellow Ribbon effort and continue to be a voice for this program by regularly attending meetings and informing the network on ways to support all military families in the community.

Congratulations Justine Herberg, Family Readiness Group Volunteer of the Month, November, 2011!

Justine is the Family Readiness Group Secretary for Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 94th Cavalry out of Hibbing, Minnesota. She takes the meeting minutes, attends monthly conference calls and makes phone tree calls. Justine puts together the monthly FRG newsletter and updates the FRG Facebook page. She likes to stay involved any way she can and often presents at FRG meetings, appreciating being able to pass along valuable information to family members and be an advocate for them.

Justine is always trying to learn more about opportunities available for families and will drive several hours to attend meetings. She brings a positive attitude and excitement to meetings and her smile is contagious. 

Congratulations Jeanne Lyons, the Family Readiness Group Volunteer of the Month, October, 2011!

Jeanne Lyons is the Family Readiness Group leader for Alpha Company, 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Brigade Special Troops Brigade. She is an exceptional community member who, with no immediate family member in the National Guard, has graciously stepped into the role of an FRG leader. Jeanne may not have a loved one in the military, but she clearly has a passion to serve and support military families.

Since accepting her role in late July Jeanne has been unstoppable. Her immediate instinct is to always go the extra mile in supporting Servicemembers and their families.

Jeanne truly is the queen of quality-communication. She has revised the family contact roster, personally called every family member, held an FRG meeting, developed a monthly newsletter and continues to look for ways to keep families connected to their Soldier, community and one another. Jeanne connected with the Battalion's "Forward" FRG leader, attached to Alpha Company and based out of Oklahoma, to ensure that thier families receive updates from their Soldier's deployed unit via newsletters and Facebook. In addition to her role as FRG leader, Jeanne heads up the "Treat Bag Brigade," a group that adopts a platoon and sends themed care packages (i.e. Minnesota State Fair) to throughout their deployment.

Tammy Estes selected as Family Readiness Group Volunteer of the Month, September, 2011!

Tammy Estes is the Family Readiness Group leader of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry (Albert Lea). The spouse of a deployed Soldier, Tammy is always available and open for any and all requests that are presented to her, providing great leadership to the families and volunteers of the FRG.

Tammy encourages the FRG to participate in community activities, parades and celebrations, schedules FRG topics that benefit all and holds family activities that everyone can participate in. During the month of August, under her direction, Delta Company's FRG held a swim day for the families which included a mini "SRP" (Student Readiness Process - a spinoff of the military's SRP, or Soldier Readiness Processing, which prepares them for mobilization) for the school children. During this activity they distributed school supplies they received through the Operation Homefront/Dollar Tree School Supply drive and had a massage chair available for the parents.

Tammy has attended the National Conference two years in a row, attends the Military Child Coalitions training sessions and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon meetings within her community. She is a strong advocate for children and family needs, consistently drawing an attendance of 20-plus family members to the meetings, and has had as many as 40 attendees.

Congratulations to Kristy Klaphake for being nominated and chosen for the Volunteer of the Month, August, 2011!

Kristy is the Family Readiness Group leader for Alpha Troop, 1st Sqaudron, 94th Cavalry out of Hibbing, Minnesota. Above and beyond her leader responsibilities, Kristy supports her geographically dispersed families by hosting FRG meetings throughout the areas they live. She reaches out to all branches of the military and recently invited a Navy spouse experiencing her first deployment, to take part in one of their meetings. Kristy has also set up a working phone tree, put together amazing newsletters and taken part in the Hibbing Yellow Ribbon Community Kickoff. She does all this while living over four hours away from the Hibbing unit, caring for her three girls under the age of three and going to school full-time.