With May being National Military Appreciation month, Fort Hood’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation office, along with the Army Community Service office, partnered with H-E-B to honor service members’ spouses at Club Hood, May 11.
Attendees were offered free cosmetic gifts, manicures, makeup applications, meals and more to celebrate Military Spouse Appreciation Day.
This event marked 20 years of MWR support to Ft. Hood’s military spouses. H-E-B officials were thrilled to join forces with Fort Hood for the first time as a way to acknowledge and celebrate local military spouses.
"We want to wow them and treat them with the respect and love that they deserve," said Chuck Thomas, senior vice president and general manager of Central Texas H-E-B's. "We're excited about supporting our military spouses and thanking them for everything they do for our great nation."
Also displaying their commitment to support each military spouse, more than 30 vendors handed out 1,000’s of dollars in products, and over 100 volunteers showed up at Club Hood ready to serve Fort Hood family members.
"We are happy to serve the military because they serve us every day," said Leslie Vasquez, business development assistant for H-E-B's beauty department. "We worked really hard to get here, but to be able to thank them makes it all worth it."
Throughout the day, over 1,000 spouses participated and enjoyed a day of festivities. Spouses of Soldiers currently serving, retirees, and spouses of the deceased were all welcomed with open arms.
"We're offering a lot of hugs today," said Leslie Sweet, director of public affairs for Central Texas H-E-B's. "We don’t want this day to pass without making sure they all are thanked, appreciated and given a warm hug."
Johnnie Sanders, military spouse and retiree, took a moment to express his gratitude about the spousal appreciation day.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "The food was delicious along with all of the great gifts and services being provided."
Though primarily female spouses attended the gathering, male military spouses were also celebrated. Club Hood set up a special room called “The Man Cave”, where the focus was geared towards male hygiene and other items that would appeal to male military spouses.
“We realize that there are male military spouses out there too,” said Ryan O’Connell, president of Duke Canon Supply Company. “We’re based out of the St. Paul-Minneapolis area and we came out today to show our support to the men who support what their spouses do in the military.”
Some of the guests shared stories of life-long friendships that have been formed through life as a military spouse.
Sanders brought with her, a military spouse and friend of 48 years, Sophie Fusty. Sanders and Fusty were neighbors in on-post housing in 1970. The friends have lived in multiple locations due to the military, but have always stayed in touch and have been stationed in the same location more than once.
“We originally met here, then we met again when I went home to Germany and ended up together again when I came back to the United States,” said Fusty.