Houston Area Military Families Celebrate Father’s Day at Astros Game

We kicked off our new Bringing Families Back Together program series with a reintegration event for Houston area military families. In partnership with the Houston Astros and Astros Foundation and other supporters, CCMK distributed 600 Astros tickets to military families, giving them the opportunity to spend Father’s Day together after months of deployment. Families sat together in designated sections and receive free food and drink. In addition, the Astros honored Capt Lee Kain of the Army National Guard, and his family alongside Ronda Englander, Co-Founder of CCMK, in a special pregame ceremony.

As America’s troops return home, there is an urgent need to provide support and strengthen family systems that will facilitate transitions to civilian life and family resilience. With help from The Astros Foundation, Conoco Phillips, Little Caesar’s Pizza of Richmond, TX, US Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management, The Trevor Romain Company, and individual donors, CCMK was able to host family members that have experienced at least one deployment, with some having experienced more than five.

The Greater Houston area has one of the largest veteran populations in the nation. There are over 304,000 veterans in the Greater Houston area; an estimated 16,000 are veterans of the Global War on Terror. Like many other parents at the game, Capt Kain has been actively deployed since 2009, between serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and completing his training for the Army National Guard, Capt. Kain has missed several of the last Father’s Days.

Michelle Schmidt, a military spouse and mother wrote CCMK to say, “This experience is very special to us because this is the last thing we get to do as a family before my husband leaves for [a] 12-18 month long deployment in Afghanistan. He will be leaving behind me and our 2 daughters, as well as his family, my family, and our friends. My husband and his dad are die hard Astros fans and when I told them what their Father’s Day gift was, they were so excited they had tears in their eyes. I cannot thank The Crew enough for doing this. Y’all are an amazing group and we greatly appreciate what y’all do for military families like us!”

CCMK is proud to offer programs like these that provide families to re-connect both socially and emotionally. For more information on Bringing Families Back Together, visit www.comfortcrew.org/programs.