Volunteering & Volunteer Students

There are so many opinions on FRGs (Family Readiness Groups). Some people love them and find their own particular groups supportive and caring while others see them as a place where competition and unfriendliness are the norm. The fact of the matter is that each FRG is completely different and it's impossible to know what kind of FRG will be available until you check it out. Then you can decide whether it's worth the time or energy to get heavily involved.

If you find that your particular FRG does what it is intended to do, that's wonderful and I encourage you to get involved in the support activities and fund raisers. But what do you do if you find out that your assigned FRG isn't that great? You can't exactly ignore it because it provides very important information that you'll need, especially during a deployment.

My advice is to maintain contact through the calling chain and attend meetings to get the information you need. However, if you don't enjoy socializing with the rest of the FRG, don't feel like you need to involve yourself in every activity. There are so many ways to support your Service Member and military without relying completely on the FRG.

Call local organizations around the area. The USO, Red Cross, Fisher House, or post hospital and volunteer your time. Send your Service Member letters and packages and show your support to his or her friends by sending them cards, as well. Get involved with projects through community groups like the Boy and Girl Scouts. They love having access to deployed Service Members so they can show their support for our military. If you have a place of worship, get involved with their efforts.

The point is, your FRG isn't the only way to feel connected to your Service Member while he or she is deployed. In fact, even if you are lucky to have a wonderful FRG, sometimes it's just gratifying to get involved with other efforts to support our troops. Use what's out there in the community to help get you through a deployment!

Over and out....