USO of Missouri, Inc.

..- ... --- #OnThisDate in 1838, Morse Code was demonstrated publicly for the first time. Can you guess what we wrote in Morse Code at the beginning of this post? #OTD #ThisDayInHistory

Look what arrived at our USO warehouse! Thank you Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri , for donating 2,502 units of their fall product! We appreciate your continued support for the USO of Missouri!

Did you make a resolution to read more in 2021? Pick up a copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense! #OnThisDate in 1776, this pamphlet advocating for American independence was published. #OTD #ThisDayInHistory

#OnThisDate in 1944, the United States Army Air Forces announced the production of the first American jet fighter, the Bell P-59 Airacomet. Although it was the first put into service, it was never used in combat. #OTD #ThisDayInHistory United States Air Force

#OnThisDate in 1941, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms speech the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear, giving hope to those fighting for #freedom around the world. #OTD #ThisDayInHistory

Keeping safe and socially-distanced, the USO recently provided 3,000 snack bags to military personnel returning to Fort Leonard Wood after holiday leave!

Our friends at 97.1 FM Talk and The Marc Cox Show are spotlighting military personnel and the USO of Missouri every weekday morning in January! Do you know a service member who would like to participate and send a short New Year’s wish home? Send us a message, and we’ll do our best to put you in touch!

Happy New Year & happy #USOHolidays! National USO sent goody bags for service members to enjoy as we finish the old year and enter the new!

On this day in 1959, Alaska became the 49th state! Wishing our USO Alaska friends a happy state birthday! #OTD #ThisDayInHistory

Happy New Year!

5-4-3-2-1! Have a great New Year’s Eve everyone!

We’re happy to share our new Mobile USO video with all of you! Thanks to Mike Martin Media for doing such a great job putting this together! Your donations help make programs like our Mobile USO possible: https://www.usomissouri.org/how-you-can-he//donate-online/

A special thank you to IOOF St Louis Lodge #5 for their very generous support of the USO of Missouri for 2020! We couldn’t do a photo and check presentation this year, but we appreciate all they do for us, our military, and our community to make it a better place. As you can see, their donation helps many service members who pass through our doors every day!

So often, the first responder community supports the military community and vice versa - they share a commitment to serve and protect, and we are grateful for them all! Thank you to the Community Fire Protection District for providing pizza to service members traveling through St. Louis Lambert International Airport during Holiday Block Leave, and thank you to Osage Ambulances for connecting them with the USO!

We’re not quite finished sharing pictures from this year’s Holiday Block Leave! While they didn’t get to visit with Santa this year, several soldiers on their way #homefortheholidays did get to visit with Miss Frankie Georgia Pearl (better than Santa?)! #USOHolidays

On this day in 1945, US Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. #OTD #ThisDayInHistory

Thank you to the The Home Depot Foundation and Bridgeton Home Depot for awarding an #OperationSurprise grant to the USO of Missouri! We appreciate the community support!

We seeing the pictures military families share with us (and allow us to share with you)! Thank you for sending beautiful smiles and happy faces!

Who needs elves when you have USO volunteers?? #USOHolidays

Happy Holidays!!!

‘Twas the night before Holiday-Block-Leave-Day-4, and all through the USO... IMO’S PIZZA! Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Veterans United Home Loans, the young men and women on their way #homefortheholidays were treated to Imo's Pizza (and many eyes lit up when they realized they also had toasted ravioli in those personal pizza boxes)! Thanks for delivering in the middle of the night, Imo’s!

Thank you to The Marc Cox Show for supporting the USO of Missouri, Holiday Block Leave, and our presenting sponsor, Veterans United Home Loans!

Feeling hungry? Our armed forces don’t have that feeling very long when they step through the USO doors at St. Louis Lambert International Airport! About 2700 of them on their way #homefortheholidays were treated to breakfast kolaches from St. Louis Kolache, thanks to our presenting sponsor, Veterans United Home Loans! That’s a LOT of kolaches!

Marines incoming! They look happy to be headed #homefortheholidays!

The food has arrived! First up, thanks to presenting sponsor Veterans United Home Loans, an assortment of awesome sandwiches (& massive cookies) from Gioia's Deli! Thank you to Gioia’s team for staying up and delivering in the middle of the night to feed our service members!

We are so grateful to our Holiday Block Leave presenting sponsor, Veterans United Home Loans, for providing all of the food and goody bags for our service members on their way #homefortheholidays! #USOHolidays

They’ll be home for the holidays, and the USO of Missouri volunteers and staff and Veterans United Home Loans are sending them off well-fed, happy and knowing they are appreciated! We have much more to share with you from our revised Holiday Block Leave this weekend. Stay tuned!

On #ThisDayInHistory, December 19, 1958, the world heard the first radio broadcast from space! President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his holiday message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere." #OTD https://youtu.be/ibVj97TIjtk

THANK YOU to the City of St. Peters for over 15 years of participating in the Pennies for Patriots recycle program! They recently presented the USO of Missouri with a 2020 donation of $3000 and have raised over $36,000 to support the USO and the military we serve. You can learn more about this program at: https://www.stpetersmo.net/aluminum-can-programs.aspx #BeTheForce

Thank you to all who have given to the USO this holiday season! You help us continue our mission throughout the year. (Picture from 2019 event) https://www.usomissouri.org/how-you-can-he//donate-online/

In years past, USO of Missouri has supported the Wreaths Across America wreath-laying event at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, serving hot drinks to volunteers out of our Mobile USO canteen. Due to the pandemic, we weren’t able to bring the Mobile USO out this year, but reps from USO of Missouri were grateful to be able to volunteer to lay wreaths and remember and honor our veterans this holiday season.

Happy Holidays from the USO of Missouri's therapy dogs, Maverick, Apache, and Bandit!

#HappyBirthday, National Guard! On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America were organized into three permanent regiments to better defend the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Today, the descendants of these first regiments - the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard share the distinction of being the oldest units in the U.S. military. We'd like to thank USO staff and National Guard veteran, Cary for his service! #ThisDayinHistory #OTD #BeTheForce #HappyBirthdayNationalGuard

Our Mobile unit travels the entire state of Missouri. On December 4th, the mobile was in the Southwest corner of the state supporting the soldiers readiness program at Camp Clark! #BeTheForce

Surprise buses on a Friday afternoon (we were expecting some, but a few extras arrived)! No problem - our volunteers have got this!

Still doing our part to support the military as they head home for the holidays, even if it looks a little different in 2020 (image & video below are from previous years). We are so grateful to Veterans United Home Loans for stepping up in a major way to help this year! Not only are they supporting the USO and our service members, but they are supporting local restaurants as well. With such awesome core values, Veterans United is truly an example of a company that cares!

Keeping busy at the USO this afternoon, and that’s how we like it! (Cary got them all to look at the camera this time! )

Your donation brings joy to military kids throughout the holiday season! Thank you for the smiles, laughter, and for helping the USO of Missouri support military families year-round - you make the magic happen!

Today we’d like to thank USO volunteer Ronnie Schwartzberg for her service! We asked her why volunteering for the USO is important to her? It is a way to be able to give back and be around the military who are keeping our country safe. Thank you, Ronnie. We appreciate you!

We all need lots of cheer this year, so the USO of Missouri is celebrating the holidays the whole month of December!

They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligationthe obligation to ensure that their sacrifice will help to make this a better and safer world in which to live. ~Admiral Chester M. Nimitz Today, December 7th, the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, we remember the 2403 lost (half of whom perished on the U.S.S. Arizona; over 1000 men remain entombed there). We will never forget.

Our drive thru Operation USO Santa Drop was a huge success! So many smiling faces, military families, USO teddy bears (thank you, Build-A-Bear Workshop!), Fred Bird antics, Santa & Mrs. Claus, and the 135th Army Band made it a fun and festive morning for all!

We took over 450 pictures this morning! We’ll share the best ones tomorrow!

Watch your mail for our new holiday appeal! You can also give a secure donation online at usomissouri.org or you can give through Facebook! Thank you for considering the USO of Missouri as we wind down the year. We are so grateful for all of our supporters!

Congratulations, Rocky Baldwin, for 8000 volunteer hours!! We appreciate your dedication to the USO and our military!

Thank you to the Route 66 Corvette Club for their generous donation this year and for their past support of the USO of Missouri!

Thank you, Build-A-Bear Workshop for donating special USO Bears for military children at this year's SOLD OUT #SantaDrop! #USOHolidays

Thank you to East Alton American Legion Post #794 for their generous support of the USO of Missouri!

Just one more hour of #GivingTuesday! Thank you to everyone who has given today (and everyday)! You can still support our military this holiday: https://justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO We’re also just one month away from the new year (can you believe it?)! The USO of Missouri has lots of plans for 2021, which we’ll be sharing with you, our friends, so please continue to follow our social media throughout the year, and please share with your friends too! Do you have anything special planned for 2021?

The #USOHolidays are in full swing! We just finished distributing 2,750 complete Thanksgiving dinners to military families with financial hardship (thanks to your support of our #OperationUSOGiveThanks program), and #OperationUSOSantaDrop is right around the corner! This #GivingTuesday, you can support USO of Missouri holiday programs like these and others by giving here: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

Despite having to close its doors for much of 2020, the Fort Leonard Wood USO has still supported over 64,000 military personnel on post by distributing approximately 917,000 supplies and food items this year. Your gift on #GivingTuesday helps us provide these critical supplies: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

From St. Louis to Kansas City, all four corners of the state of Missouri and everywhere in between, and even over the river to the Illinois counties surrounding Scott Air Force Base (Monroe, Madison, St. Clair, and Jersey), our two Mobile USO canteens allow us to serve the military where they live and workat deployments, homecomings, morale boosters, and anywhere the USO can support our service members. While several events were cancelled or had to be rescheduled this year, our Mobile USO has been back on the road since July, serving over 10,000 at 50+ events! You can help keep our Mobile USO on the road with a gift today: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT- RALPH MORRIS ( Lead volunteer for Operation USO: Give Thanks!) "I'm thankful not just for the men and women who serve in our military, but for their families and the many sacrifices they also make. It's an honor to be able to provide them with a traditional holiday dinner that they would otherwise not have. Gobble Gobble Gobble!" Thank you, Ralph, for your service to the USO of Missouri. We appreciate you!... Give here: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

The USO of Missouri can only fulfill our mission with the support and dedication of our volunteers. They make all of our programs possible, because they are always at the ready when we need them! So far in 2020, they have served over 17,500 hours serving our military and their families. Can’t volunteer but still want to make a difference? Your donation this #GivingTuesday will help us support thousands of service members click here: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

Laugh with us, laugh at us! Yeah, we’ve got this Facebook Live thing down.

It’s Giving Tuesday! Thank you to all who support us today and everyday!

This #GivingTuesday, we’d like to share some of our accomplishments in 2020 impacts we have made because of your support! This year, the James S. McDonnell USO facility has supported over 27,000 military personnel traveling through St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

The Covid-19 pandemic has required all of us to make changes and be flexible to continue to fulfill our mission. The USO of Missouri has implemented health and safety measures to ensure our facility is sanitized and as safe as possible, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 while preserving our commitment to thousands of military service members. We require masks in our facilities, as well as social distancing, and we have modified our programs to reflect these safety measures, such as hosting drive-through events. It’s important to us and our volunteers to continue to serve those who serve! You can help us continue our mission by making a secure donation today: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO #GivingTuesday

We’re so grateful for everyone who gives, today and everyday, but since #GivingTuesday is a special day, we’d like to give back. Four lucky Giving Tuesday donors will be the recipients of a $25 QuikTrip gift card today (thank you QT)! We will hold random drawings throughout the day (the first drawing will be live at noon), and anyone who donates a minimum of $10 through midnight tonight will be eligible. Before Coop retires for the season, he stocked up on treats and caffeine at QT! Give here: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

#GivingTuesday has officially begun! Your gift over the next 24-hours will help the USO of Missouri support thousands of service members and their families this holiday season. Click here to give: justgiving.com/campaign/GivingTuesdayUSO

Santa- the original paratrooper! We are looking forward to this weekend’s SOLD OUT event! #SantaDrop

GIVING TUESDAY is just around the corner! You can make an impact in a big way by supporting the USO of Missouri next Tuesday, December 1st, without ever leaving the comfort of your home! We'll be hosting a special day of social media and prizes - stay tuned! #GivingTuesday

#OTD in 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City! (1924 pic of Santa's sleigh)

Today is Thanksgiving, a day for Americans to observe and appreciate the many freedoms and opportunities we have, thanks in no small part to those who serve. The USO is grateful for our armed forces and their families, who make sacrifices for our great nation everyday.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever your travels through the USO of Missouri may take you!

We know we're a day early, but you'll be busy tomorrow! We just want to take a moment to thank all of our friends, followers, donors, volunteers, and champions for supporting us, today and everyday, but especially with our recent Operation USO: Give Thanks campaign. You have helped us serve 2,750 military families this year! You make our mission possible, and we #GiveThanks for you! Don't worry - Sgt. Cooper has been officially pardoned by the USO, and he shall return next year! Thanks for the love, Cooper! #GetStuffed

Sgt Cooper had one last minute errand to run this week! Can you guess where he is?? #WhereIsCooper

#GivingTuesday is in ONE WEEK! The USO of Missouri has a special day planned - stay tuned!

Shout-out to Walmart Saint Louis - Telegraph Rd and Walmart Supercenter Shrewsbury - Watson Rd for supporting our #OperationUSOGiveThanks program with a Community Giving grant this year! They are helping us provide Thanksgiving meals to military families this year, and you can join them by donating here: JustGiving.com/campaign/USOgivethanks #GetStuffed #GiveThanks #USOHolidays #WalmartGiving #Walmart #BetterTogether

The USO Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri was busy last week as military units picked up Thanksgiving Baskets for their families. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to support #OperationUSOGiveThanks which allowed USO of Missouri, Inc. to support thousands of families for Thanksgiving across Missouri. https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/USOgivethanks #USOHolidays #BeTheForce