Operation Showers of Appreciation

InspiredON by Giving — Kimberly Felshaw was featured in the most recent People magazine (Aug. 16, 2010 – cover photo of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding) for throwing baby showers for expecting military families. Her Operation Showers of Appreciation was born out of one of the most inspiring times of her life and one of the most tragic.

Kimberly is an ex-active duty Marine, and her husband, Josh, is a sergeant in the Corps. Their church threw them a baby shower when they were expecting their baby, Allysa. However, Allysa was born with a terminal condition and died at just three weeks. Kimberly’s thoughts drifted back to the shower that their church had organized for them; she says she didn’t know many of those who contributed gifts for the shower. That helped inspire Kimberly to create what is now Operation Showers of Appreciation (OSOA), which has been able to provide $250,000 of baby-related items to some 500 military families, according to the People magazine story.

Many of the families that OSOA helps have a spouse who is deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan and will not be home for the birth of their new baby. OSOA is always looking for volunteers and donations to provide assistance to military families that have recently had babies and those with babies on the way.

Check out the Operation Showers of Appreciation’s newsletter to see the coverage in People and to learn more about them.

And go to their website, OperationShowersofAppreciation.org, to see upcoming events and also check out their Programs page to see commonly needed items that will help support the organization. And if you’re interested in sponsoring one of their families or in making a donation, you can contact Kimberly Felshaw at 949-547-7780 or by email at Kimberly@OperationShowersofAppreciation.org.

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