Welcome to Blue Star Families of Richmond. We are a chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America - a group of mothers and families of active duty military and veterans of the United States military, as well as our very special Gold Star Families. Our mission, in short, is to provide support to one another and our military.
My name is Kristi Oliver; I am the Mom of an active duty Navy sailor, Michael, and I am proud to serve as President of our Richmond chapter. As the mom of three boys, I knew how to deal with bumps and bruises. I knew how to deal with teenage moodiness and attitude. I did not know how to deal with my child, at twenty years old, boarding a plane to fly to a country halfway around the world, where he would be risking his life, and where I could not protect him. I recently told a friend, as her son began basic training, “Welcome to the proudest, hardest, scariest time of your life!” The life of a military mom is an experience that can only be understood by those who have “been there, done that.” Blue Star Families is a wonderful group of women who have children in (almost) all branches of the US military, both active and veterans. We also proudly support our Gold Star mothers, whose children lost their lives in service to our country. I have formed great friendships with so many because of this bond that we share and the love we have for our children, our military, and our country. Blue Star allows us to support each other as we each navigate our personal journey with our military child(ren) and to support the military in our community, through our outreach programs.
Our mission at Blue Star Families of Richmond is to “provide support to one another and our military through service projects and volunteering to raise awareness of the needs of our military and veterans.” We are able to fulfill this mission in many ways. Volunteering for various organizations serves our mission by (a) providing us time for fellowship, so that we may learn about each other and give support when needed, and (b) supporting our military by either providing them with needed supplies or promoting awareness of present needs. We have partnered with schools (while also sharing information about military service), local YMCAs, and local businesses to collect items for care packages that we send to our military children serving overseas and deployed through our Treats for Troops program. Members of our group have attended and/or participated in remembrance ceremonies and honor celebrations at the Virginia War Memorial. We have joined with Jill’s Blankets to make blankets for veterans receiving cancer treatment at the Richmond VA Medical Center. We also make and serve dinners for homeless veterans at a local shelter; they really do appreciate the home-cooked food, and when they learn who we are, it means even more! One of my favorite events is decorating the Christmas Tree at the Virginia War Memorial - it is called the Hero Tree because it holds ornaments with the names of our military children. The children of our Gold Star Mothers are celebrated with beautiful gold ornaments. If you haven’t visited during the holidays, please make the time to go this year - it is a wonderful sight to behold! We also enjoy holding social events - each of us has a different story, but they all share a common thread, and I can’t wait to hear yours!
Please feel free to contact me or any of our board members for more information about upcoming events or how to join this amazing group of military moms and families. If you would like to donate to the group or support our group, please reach out to me at the email listed on our contact page. Also, if you are aware of any opportunities you feel that we as a group could join to help our local military, please let me know.
I look forward to serving our amazing military families, our military men and women, our veterans, and our community as your Blue Star Families President.
God Bless America and God Bless our Military Children!
Kristi Oliver
Chapter President, VA2
[email protected]
My name is Kristi Oliver; I am the Mom of an active duty Navy sailor, Michael, and I am proud to serve as President of our Richmond chapter. As the mom of three boys, I knew how to deal with bumps and bruises. I knew how to deal with teenage moodiness and attitude. I did not know how to deal with my child, at twenty years old, boarding a plane to fly to a country halfway around the world, where he would be risking his life, and where I could not protect him. I recently told a friend, as her son began basic training, “Welcome to the proudest, hardest, scariest time of your life!” The life of a military mom is an experience that can only be understood by those who have “been there, done that.” Blue Star Families is a wonderful group of women who have children in (almost) all branches of the US military, both active and veterans. We also proudly support our Gold Star mothers, whose children lost their lives in service to our country. I have formed great friendships with so many because of this bond that we share and the love we have for our children, our military, and our country. Blue Star allows us to support each other as we each navigate our personal journey with our military child(ren) and to support the military in our community, through our outreach programs.
Our mission at Blue Star Families of Richmond is to “provide support to one another and our military through service projects and volunteering to raise awareness of the needs of our military and veterans.” We are able to fulfill this mission in many ways. Volunteering for various organizations serves our mission by (a) providing us time for fellowship, so that we may learn about each other and give support when needed, and (b) supporting our military by either providing them with needed supplies or promoting awareness of present needs. We have partnered with schools (while also sharing information about military service), local YMCAs, and local businesses to collect items for care packages that we send to our military children serving overseas and deployed through our Treats for Troops program. Members of our group have attended and/or participated in remembrance ceremonies and honor celebrations at the Virginia War Memorial. We have joined with Jill’s Blankets to make blankets for veterans receiving cancer treatment at the Richmond VA Medical Center. We also make and serve dinners for homeless veterans at a local shelter; they really do appreciate the home-cooked food, and when they learn who we are, it means even more! One of my favorite events is decorating the Christmas Tree at the Virginia War Memorial - it is called the Hero Tree because it holds ornaments with the names of our military children. The children of our Gold Star Mothers are celebrated with beautiful gold ornaments. If you haven’t visited during the holidays, please make the time to go this year - it is a wonderful sight to behold! We also enjoy holding social events - each of us has a different story, but they all share a common thread, and I can’t wait to hear yours!
Please feel free to contact me or any of our board members for more information about upcoming events or how to join this amazing group of military moms and families. If you would like to donate to the group or support our group, please reach out to me at the email listed on our contact page. Also, if you are aware of any opportunities you feel that we as a group could join to help our local military, please let me know.
I look forward to serving our amazing military families, our military men and women, our veterans, and our community as your Blue Star Families President.
God Bless America and God Bless our Military Children!
Kristi Oliver
Chapter President, VA2
[email protected]