Military Information – 1 December 2016
Spotlight Event
Announcements
Operation Stuff a Stocking: Helping Little Military Heroes for the Holidays! Operation Stuff a Stocking was created after receiving calls from the community wanting to know how they can show appreciation during the holiday season for the many sacrifices military families make to protect our nation. Through Operation Stuff a Stocking, the public can support military families’ “little heroes” for the holidays by selecting and providing gifts from established wish lists.
Target Audience: Enlisted service members E6 and below with children ages 0-17
Specific Goals Related to the Target Audience:
Provide financial relief for junior enlisted and non-commissioned officer families during the holiday season
Reach service members at military installations throughout our GSA
Communicate appreciation for service members’ duties and sacrifices
Program Details: Junior Enlisted Service Members and Non-Commissioned Officers throughout our geographic service area complete Registration Forms for their children requesting specific gifts totaling $50 each. USO Central Florida creates a Giving Tree in the USO Welcome Center at Tampa International Airport with each child’s individual requests. Any individual or organization chooses a child from the Giving Tree, purchases a minimum of $50 worth of gifts for the child, and returns the items, unwrapped, to the USO Welcome Center or any additional drop-site. Each child’s gifts are checked and approved by the USO and placed in a large, red Santa bag for delivery. The USO delivers all gifts via U-Haul truck to various pick-up locations throughout the GSA.
Proposed Timeline:
November 11th – Wish Lists available to the public
December 9th – Deadline for dropping off toys to USO Welcome Center
Contact – Amy Phillips, Center Operations and Programs Director Tampa/Gulf Coast Region
HCC Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program
Announcing two FREE programs for Veterans, Service Members, and Spouses:
Free Vetrepreneurship training for Veterans, Active Duty within 1 year of transition, Reservist, and National Guard:
The Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program offers tuition-free, online and on-campus instruction in the nationally recognized Lean Startup method. Designed to work around busy schedules, the program provides Veterans instruction at one of seven network partners’ campuses, including access to local resources such as business leaders, mentors, and much more.
We are currently taking applications until 15 December with the initial open house on 16 December to introduce the program, instructors, and welcome participants.
Another free opportunity for Vetrepreneurs AND their spouses and civilian business partners:
Operation Startup (OPSU) provides the Veteran start-up community with access to mentoring, educational programs, co-working, early stage business accelerator, events, and myriad networking opportunities. These services help mitigate factors that contribute to business failure, while increasing the likelihood of successful start-ups. Perhaps most importantly, the Operation Startup environment is sensitive to the needs of the military population, which helps facilitate a positive transition to civilian business conditions.
Point of contact for both programs is Valerie Ellis Lavin, vellis3@hccfl.edu, Coordinator, Veteran Entrepreneurship Programs at Hillsborough Community College.
