Connie Milstein

Archive for the ‘Blue Star Families’ Category

In today’s world, most people are well-versed in Internet communication via social media networks. Whether it’s keeping in touch with an old classmate, marketing a small business or learning more about a new friend, nearly everyone is familiar with Facebook and similar websites. For military families especially, Facebook can be a very pivotal part of a family member’s deployment. Following an initiative announced on Veterans Day, Facebook and Blue Star Families have launched a Social Media Guide to better help military families communicate during these long deployments. Connie Milstein is a long-time supporter of Blue Star Families and their work with military families and serves on the nonprofit’s Board of Directors.

“Social media has completely altered the landscape of communication for today’s military families,” said Stephanie Himel-Nelson, the Communications Director for Blue Star Families. “But with each notable stride in technology comes greater responsibility and knowledge and that’s what this guide is designed to do.”

The guide is described by Facebook as “an easy-to navigate online handbook detailing everything from privacy settings to groups to Operational security and more – all tailored for today’s 21^st century military.” It is broken down into sections that give a basic overview of the social network and its set up, applications and messaging. It also details how the military is using Facebook to better connect unit leaders, service members, spouses and family members. One of the most important sections in the social media guide addresses common misperceptions about privacy and security and offers clarity and recommendations.

Connie Milstein and the other members of the Board of Directors for Blue Star Families are happy to announce that the 2012 military Spouse Symposium & Career Fair “Keeping a Career on the Movie,” will take place on Thursday, January 26, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. The free event open to all military spouses, service members and veterans, is co-sponsored by BSF and the Military Officers Association of America. This year’s topic will help spouses looking for a job or preparing for a future career through career-development seminars, meet-and-greets with expert panelists and employers from regional and national companies, and onsite résumé advice.

In the morning, speakers will touch on topics like “Five Things Employers Want You to Know,” hosted by employers from the Society for Human Resource Management and others, and “Build Your Brand: Your Dependable Strengths,” which will encourage attendees to discover what they love about their career and how to better market themselves. Following a joint lunch between MOAA and West 2012 with keynote speaker SFC Leroy Petry, a Medal of Honor recipient, attendees will be free to visit employers and seminars of their choice.

“Blue Star Families and MOAA have a long history of working together successfully, through MOAA’s Spouse Council and BSF’s annual survey of military families,” said Mark Smith, executive director of Blue Star Families.

On February 24^th and 25^th, many Hollywood favorites came out to show their support for Blue Star Families, where Connie Milstein is on the Board of Directors.  The Creative Coalition joined with Blue Star Families to create a PSA to help raise awareness about suicide among military service members and their families.

Directed by Tim Daly, the co-President of The Creative Coalition, the PSA was scheduled to include Cher, Dana Delany, Hector Elizondo, Minnie Driver, Omar Epps, Richard Schiff and many others. Stars such as Susan Sarandon, Melissa Leo, Stanley Tucci, Ellen Barkin and many others have already lent their talent towards these efforts as well.

The PSA is scheduled to debut at the White House Correspondents Dinner weekend in Washington, D.C.

Blue Star Families – of which Connie Milstein is on the Board of Directors – is all about helping and supporting military families.  Just last week, there was yet another story of how Reyna Reyna (chapter director of Southern California’s BSF) saw this in practice.  When she asked localities to help her send care packages to deployed Marines in Afghanistan, the response was overwhelming; no one sat back silently.  Indeed, it was a group of grandmothers who organized an assembly in Saint Catherine’s Church, Temecula, to get out their mixing bowls and flour and start baking!  At the end of the project, there were over 200 dozen freshly baked cookies ready for the marines in Afghanistan.
“This is exactly what Blue Star Families is all about,” said Reyna. Indeed, Connie Milstein and the BSF work hard to literally get “hands-on” to support the military and their families.

In an unprecedented move, Blue Star Families – the organization that supports military families – is seeking to assemble a Blue Star Family Cookbook.  The goal of the project is to “celebrate” the lives of military families while easing the soldiers’ “transitions away from home.”  Included in the book will be recipes as well as articles addressing specific entertaining and cooking needs while trying to “support [the soldiers] while they’re making sacrifices and adjusting” to military life.
Connie Milstein is a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Star Families.

Blue Star Families is an association working to support military families throughout the United States. Connie Milstein serves as their president. The members of the organization include military parents, spouses, children and families of all outlets of service.

Last year, Blue Star Families started a program called Books on Bases, Smiles on Faces. Over 10,000 books have been distributed to military base libraries, DOD Schools and military impacted public schools. Children with parents serving in all branches of the military were supported by these book donations. The program was launched in partnership with the Kids in Distressed Situations organization.

This past summer, over 850 museums throughout the United States opened their doors to military personnel and their families, thanks to the initiative of Blue Star Families, with board member Connie Milstein, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Following the success of this operation, Blue Star Families launched an art contest for army children. Running from July 1^st through September 12^th, the contest was meant for children with a parent or sibling (including step parents/siblings) who served in active duty, either on reserves or in the National Guard. The contest enabled the children to express themselves and their feelings, give thanks to the supportive museums, and also win prizes.

The children painted, colored or sent photos of their experiences or thoughts during a visit to a Blue Star Museum. Every picture was sent with a short explanation and was required to depict the blue star in some way. The winning artists, who received savings bonds, were chosen by a panel of judges from Blue Star Families, and announced on October 8^th.

In a lovely show of appreciation for American military families, Blue Star Families and the National Endowments for the Arts teamed together this summer.  They invited military families, including active duty service members and their immediate families, to come to 600 museums for free.  The free admission ran from Memorial Day (May 31, 2010) through Labor Day (September 6, 2010).

Certainly, many advocates of military service, like Connie Milstein, support these efforts to offer benefits to military families.

Laura Dempsey is one of the founders of Blue Star Families, an organization which recently added Connie Milstein to their Board of Directors. Ms. Dempsey founded BSF in order to fill in what she saw as a large gap in the knowledge Americans had about military families. Ms. Dempsey felt that because little was really known about the everyday lives of military families, it was hard for the public to understand the successes and challenges of these families. She believed that by bringing awareness to the public, civilians could connect more readily with the military families, help support them, and generally share in the service to our nation that the military families bear, for the most part, on their own.

Laura Dempsey is the wife of Major Jason Dempsey, who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. The Dempsey family is stationed at Fort Drum, in New York, but in their eleven years of marriage of already moved seven separate times, to five different U.S. states. Laura is a civil rights lawyer and, for the past ten years, has worked for the rights of children and families, including helping to draft federal legislation to protect families and the children within them.

Blue Star Families is an organization which was founded by military families in order to support, connect and empower military families. The influence of BSF is widespread, with a presence in over 70 military bases throughout the world. BSF is proud to have a dynamic National Leadership Team which is comprised of the spouses and other family members of the active duty, military personnel, including national guardsmen, reservists and veterans who are serving in all of the branches of the U.S. military.

Connie Milstein recently became a member of the board of directors of BSF- a natural extension of Mrs. Milstein’s long-term commitment to and concern for military families. Connie Milstein’s support has extended to donating, on more than one occasion, special confections from her baked goods shop, Connie’s Bakery, adding a sweet touch to the special programing BSF organized on behalf of their families. Whether it is brownies, cookies or cakes, treats from Connie Milstein’s bakery says, “We love you and support you!” in the sweetest way possible.