Last week, San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Military Affairs and Leadership Development Lori Stinson was honored to emcee the recent Fiesta themed “Operation Shower” event sponsored by H-E-B and hosted at the beautiful JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. A former military spouse of 23 years and mom to five children, Stinson was uniquely qualified to offer support for this worthwhile event. “My children are 25, 23, 20, 18 and 12 now, but the memories of our many military moves are treasured,” relayed Stinson. “My hope for this event was that it refreshed their spirits and renewed their service and dedication to their loved one who has chosen one of the noblest professions in the world – to protect and defend our nation. Our goal was to let them know that their sacrifice of love and time does not go unnoticed by the civilian community.”
Operation Shower honors military members and spouses or partners of active-duty military members. Community support is key during this exciting and stressful time for moms-to-be who are oftentimes far away from family and support networks. Operation Shower is about celebrating, honoring, and showing love to military families and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide joyful baby showers for military families to ease the stress of deployment. With the help of sponsors like H-E-B, volunteers, and donors, expectant families receive hundreds of dollars’ worth of high-quality baby products and their unique “Shower in a Box”, as well.
Operation Shower was founded in 2007 when its Chief Shower Officer, LeAnn Morrissey, had the idea to send a baby shower in a box to four expectant military mothers whose partners were deployed at the time. The support she received during the process, the gratitude of the mothers and the morale boost for the fathers led her to realize that this was something worth doing again. Soon after, Operation Shower hosted its first unit-wide baby shower at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
By 2010, Operation Shower had partnered with the PGA TOUR and Birdies for the Brave for the first time ever and a year later had the honor of working with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to host a baby shower with Joining Forces. Another key partnership then began in 2012 with a grant from the Toys "R" Us Children's Fund. Over the years, Operation Shower has hosted over 75 showers for thousands of military families, both in the United States and more recently, abroad.