2020 in Review

In a year that has been full of change and challenges, I’d like to share with you some of the successes that the museum has had, despite having been closed for nine months.

  • We received a generous grant from the Griffinhart Foundation to develop a curriculum to accompany SHOUT! The curriculum was developed by professors from San Francisco State University and Truman College, Chicago, and will “go live” in 2021. (SHOUT! is a play, an anthology—and soon to be a full-length film.)
  • We published two anthologies: Brat Time Stories: A Book for Nocturnal Brats and On Freedom’s Frontier: Life on the Fulda Gap.
  • We created personalized video tours of Operation Footlocker-one for a public school district in Illinois; the other for the Defense Department Schools. We also developed some virtual curriculum for DoDEA 4thgraders, using stories submitted by generations of military “brats.”
  • We created a virtual exhibit about the University of Maryland Munich Campus which opened in late September.
  • We started audio and video podcasting on our MAMF Media podcast, and offer a wide variety of programs. We presented several virtual poetry workshops with Tacoma Poet Laureate Abby Murray.
  • Our East Mountain Collaborative partnered with many entities to provide relevant programming on suicide prevention, addiction resources, stress management and home-schooling tips. We also explored news sources and discussed how to recognize “fake” and trusted sources. All of these are viewable at militaryfamilymuseum.podbean.com
  • We received an Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History. It is our second such award in as many years. In 2018, we also received the AASLH prestigious Albert B. Corey prize for our innovativeness.
  • We were careful stewards of our resources, and through the generosity of our community and some CARES Act funding, we have made it through this year and are optimistic that next year will be better. We will restart our capital campaign towards a building purchase.
  • Through the year, our collections have continued to grow with new artifacts acquisition, so we have purchased museum cataloging software. Once we get the “go-ahead” to reopen, we will begin to inventory and catalog our collection.

So, while 2020 has pushed all of to our limits, it has made us, as an organization, learn to be more flexible, run leaner, and think way out of the box.

So, What’s the plan for 2021?

 

  • Our collaborative is planning several video programs—in January we will present “So You Want to Write a Book—Now What?”
  • We are collecting stories for a special anthology celebrating 75 years of DoDEA—if you have a memory or two about attending DoD schools, we’d like to include it in the book.
  • We will be reworking a 30-year-old original children’s book manuscript, “My Momma Wears Army Boots”
  • SHOUT is slated to be performed in Los Angeles and Providence and will be made into a full-length film.
  • We will begin a very comprehensive project looking at gender, race, identity, religion and culture in military/families.
  • Our podcast will continue to grow and evolve as we add more interviews, stories and programs.
  • We may even unveil a new exhibit!

We hope that these programs are of interest to you, and you participate as applicable.

Also: Our museum is looking for several volunteer board members/liaisons to join our team. If you’d like to help grow our award-winning museum, further its mission of preserving and curating military family history, please email us at militaryfamilymuseum@comcast.net. Please tell us why you’d like to serve on the board, your skill sets and what you envision your role as a team member could be. Even though we are in New Mexico, several of our board members live elsewhere.

When we are permitted to reopen, please know that our board/docents have taken the New Mexico Covid Certification training so that our visitors and volunteers are as safe as possible.

We look forward to hosting you-virtually and in person!

Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, Founder & Director MAMF

 

We are Thankful  for our Humanities Council

Without the support of the New Mexico Humanities Council, many cultural organizations would have been in jeopardy. We appreciate the help from our local humanities council during the pandemic.

Through the federal CARES Act, the New Mexico Humanities Council helped support 68 organizations throughout the state. NMHC received 85 requests, totaling over $600,000 to help NM organizations offset a staggering $6.6 million dollars in losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funds helped organizations remain connected with their communities, as some are the only cultural provider in their area. Grant funds supported a variety of needs including operating expenses, salaries, staff retention, and support for programs that transition resources and in-person programming to online platforms.

 

 

One Community Auto Adds Five Charities to its Vehicle Management Service

 

Contact: Gary Peterson

505-379-3432 gary@onecommunityauto.com 

One Community Auto Adds Five Charities 

to Its Vehicle Donation Management Service 

Handles all aspects of donating and selling donated vehicles. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Albuquerque NM, November 23, 2020. One Community Auto, a local used car dealer with a mission to support our community, today announced that OCA added five new non-profits to its list of charities, now serving 53 area non-profits for which it manages all aspects of vehicle donations. In the seven years since the program began, OCA has helped local charities raise over $1 million to help support their various missions, and, even in the midst of the pandemic the numbers are still growing. 

The recently contracted charities are: 

  • Veterans Integration Centers – The VIC began 15 years ago as a program to bring 
  • Veterans all over New Mexico from the streets to a place for healing and creating new lives. Homeless and home-insecure Veterans are housed in the VIC’s Transitional Living Facility in the Southeast Heights, where they receive a number of services—medical, psychological, working on job skills and interpersonal skills that will help them create a new stable and productive life. VIC moves those Veterans who are ready into permanent housing and continues to work with them to build confidence in their ability to thrive. Headquartered in Albuquerque and Alamogordo, VIC also runs a weekday shuttle downtown to transport all who need help to various organizations and services for the homeless. VIC also provides a food bank in their NE Heights Central Avenue location for those in need of nutritious food. Learn more at www.nmvic.org 
  • The Museum of the American Military Family – With the message of “We Also Serve”, MAMF, temporarily located in Tijeras, NM, shares the stories of military families from all branches of our Armed Services whose great sacrifices support our strong military. The Museum, visited by people throughout the U.S. and other countries, focuses on the unique lives of families that may move numerous times as their active-duty military family member is transferred from base to base. And, on those who remain behind when family members are deployed to combat zones, having to manage family life without their spouses’ presence. The Museum develops numerous programs throughout the year to continue sharing stories, experiences and challenges met by military families serving worldwide. www.militaryfamilymuseum.org 
  • Next Step Ministries – Their mission is to provide help and hope to men who have taken steps to move from a damaged or broken life to a life that glorifies God. The men served by Next Step Ministries are, first, men who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Second, they are men who have stumbled in their lives, resulting in homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration, broken relationships, or perhaps long-term unemployment, but who have taken significant steps toward stability and restoration. Learn more athttps://www.nextstepnm.com/ 
  • IncredAble Adaptive MMA – A non-profit associated with Jackson-Wink MMA, its mission is to create and provide opportunities in MMA for youths and teens with physical and environmental/at risk challenges. They help these young people who are often overlooked train in and excel in the sport of MMA. This focused training helps empower clients to be able to defend themselves, as well as to become more fit and build physical strength. Learn more at www.incredableadaptivemma.org 
  • FIFABQ – Food is Free Albuquerque—A nonprofit that encourages the social empowerment through the growing and sharing of fresh food. Through their efforts of gleaning local backyard trees and privately owned orchards, they feed hundreds of New Mexicans in need. Food is Free is a global movement started in Austin Texas as front-yard gardens. The Albuquerque chapter was started in 2014 by two woman looking to make preserves for their own families. Through this act they discovered a hidden abundance of fruit trees and took this newfound information to begin giving food away. Since then FIFABQ has grown multiple programs, providing unique ways to bring fresh healthy food to citizens in Albuquerque and beyond. Every action driven by their motto 
  • “Fresh Food is a human right”. Visit their website at www.fifabq.org 

OCA makes the entire vehicle donation experience so incredibly simple. Make one call, that’s all a donor needs to do! OCA will… 

  • • Pick up the donated vehicle 
  • • Prepare all legal paperwork 
  • • Give the donor proof of the donation 
  • • When the vehicle sells, send a donation letter for filing taxes 

OCA owner Major Gary Peterson, USAF, Ret., completed his military mission in hot spots in the Middle East and served at the Pentagon prior to retiring and opening a used car dealership committed to helping support his community. In the seven years OCA has been managing vehicle donations for non-profits, the number charities he serves has grown from a handful to over 50. 

In order to move the sale of donated vehicles that his company repairs and refurbishes more quickly, Peterson established Route 66 Auctions and is holding monthly online auctions, www.rt66auctions.hibid.com, to ensure that monies are available to the non-profits much earlier than waiting for car lot sales. For more information about the process and the many charities served by One Community Auto please visit https://www.onecommunityauto.com/services 

# # # 

One Community Auto, “Where everybody wins!”, is located at 300 Wyoming SE, Albuquerque NM 87123. Call 505-379-3432 for more information on vehicle donations. 

We miss you!

If you’re planning to visit us, please make an appointment 24 hours in advance, and if you can’t come visit in person, check out our blogs and podcasts or follow us on Facebook. View one of our many blogs, like https://weservedtoo.wordpress.com, our podcast at https://militaryfamilymuseum.podbean.com and our website, https://militaryfamilymuseum.org

In order to keep you and us safe, your hosts will have taken New Mexico’s Covid-Safe Training.

New Mexico Proclaims November to be Veterans & Military Families Month

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen.

As we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to take a moment to issue a proclamation proclaiming November as Veterans and Military Families Month in New Mexico.

I urge all veterans and eligible dependents of veterans to make sure you’ve filed for your eligible VA or state veterans’ benefits—or to ensure your benefits are up to date. These are benefits you’ve earned through your service for our country, and I want to make sure you are receiving everything you’ve earned. Please contact the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services for help with this filing process.

Office address:

New Mexico Dept. of Veterans Services

Office of the Cabinet Secretary

406 Don Gaspar Ave.
Santa Fe, NM  87501

Attn: Ray Seva (505) 362-6089

 

 

 

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