Photo By Timothy Koster |
Melody Baber, director of the Connecticut National Guard State Family Program, escorts......read moreread more
Photo By Timothy Koster | Melody Baber, director of the Connecticut National Guard State Family Program, escorts Santa Claus during the 24th annual Gov. M. Jodi Rell Operation Embracing Lonely Families (E.L.F.) at the Gov. William A. O'Neill Armory in Hartford, Conn. Jan. 20, 2025. see less
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The Connecticut Military Department, in partnership with Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, hosted the 24th annual Governor M. Jodi Rell Operation Embracing Lonely Families (E.L.F.) Dec. 20, 2025.
Operation E.L.F., established in 2001 by former Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell while serving as then Lt. Governor, supports military families enduring hardships caused by the deployment of family members.
“We just need to make sure that these families with loved ones who are overseas right now don’t feel alone and they feel supported,” said Melody Baber, director of the Connecticut National Guard State Family Program.
Operation E.L.F. helps lessen the financial stresses experienced by military families who must leave their civilian lives and careers when called to duty to serve the nation and state. It is designed to support families whose loved ones are deployed, preparing to deploy within the next six months, or recently returned from deployment. Funding and donations received through Operation E.L.F. are also used throughout the year to help support our service members and their families with demonstrated financial needs.
“It means a lot,” said Stephanie Nelson, whose husband is deployed overseas. “This is absolutely beautiful that they care about the families and take care of the families.”
State leaders, including Bysiewicz, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Maj. Gen. Francis Evon, adjutant general for the Connecticut National Guard, were in attendance and spent time with the families.
In addition to receiving gifts, treats, and financial support, families were also met by one very special guest, the holly jolly elf himself, Santa Claus, who took time out of his busy schedule preparing for Christmas to sit with the children and their families to hear their holiday wishes first-hand.
More than 800 Connecticut National Guardsmen are currently deployed to operations around the globe. Approximately 100 Airmen of the Connecticut National Guard’s 103rd Air Wing recently returned from deployment with approximately 150 Airmen still deployed overseas.
Within the next 10 months another 150 Connecticut Army National Guard Soldiers will be mobilized for overseas service. This is a significant increase in deployed units and service members and is the highest number of Connecticut National Guard service members who have been deployed in a 12-month period within the last 15 years.
This was the first year the Connecticut Military Department celebrated Operation E.L.F. without Gov. Rell, who passed away on Nov. 20, 2024. In November 2025, Operation E.L.F. was renamed the M. Jodi Rell Operation E.L.F. in her honor.
