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BY XANDE ANDERER
Most soldiers carry a letter they hope no
one will ever read.
The military encourages everyone in combat zones to compose
a letter to be delivered to their loved ones should they
fall in battle. It’s a final goodbye of sorts, words
they never had the chance to say aloud, a modicum of comfort
for the loved ones left behind. Some are addressed to unborn
children, others to small children too young to remember
them.
The letters are painful to read. The sad fact is that
more than 4,200 families have read those bittersweet letters
and more than 8,500 children have lost a military parent
in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This December, 1,600
of those children and their families will converge on the
self-proclaimed happiest place on earth—Disneyland—for
a welcome, if temporary, escape from their grief.
The event is the third
such trip made possible by Snowball Express, an all-volunteer
charity. Its mission is to provide happy memories and camaraderie
for the children of servicemen and women who have died in
the Global War on Terrorism.
This
year’s all-expense-paid trip includes visits to
Disneyland and the Universal Studios theme park and a day-long
event called “A Day in the Life of California.” All
travel, hotel, and food costs are free. “They don’t
pay one penny,” explained the event’s chairman,
retired USAF Lt. Col. Roy White, a Southwest Airlines pilot. “They’ve
already paid everything they need to pay to this country.
The purpose of the trip is to let the children know their
sacrifices aren’t forgotten.”
Members of VVA Chapter
785 in Orange County, California, are doing all they can
to ensure there are many more trips in the future. Former
Chapter 785 President Bill “Monsoon” Mimiaga
is a Snowball Express trustee and VVA’s liaison to
the organization. He speaks of the group’s work with
the enthusiasm of an evangelist: “This is something
greater than all of us. The amount of goodwill from ordinary
people from across this nation is awe inspiring. You can’t
help but be transformed by it.”
The chapter has been
involved from the very beginning. The first Snowball Express
event took place in December 2006, when 900 family members
from all across America came to Southern California for an
unforgettable trip to Disneyland. It was there that the children
and widows discovered for the first time they weren’t
alone and they weren’t forgotten.
As
one mother later wrote: “My husband had only been
gone two months, and I had not seen my son smile since the
day we got the news. Standing in line at Disneyland, he looked
at me and said, ‘Mom, I guess we can still have fun
even though Dad is gone.’”
In 2007, more than
1,100 participated in Snowball Express. They were welcomed
to California with a dinner and a concert by actor Gary Sinise
and his Lt. Dan Band. They spent the next day as guests at
Foothill Ranch, the 42-acre home of sunglass maker Oakley,
Inc. There they were entertained by sports demonstrations,
a pirate-themed playland, exotic animals, a computer music
lab, celebrity visits, and free food and gifts. Once again,
Disneyland was the perfect finale.
Events
of this magnitude require large numbers of volunteers, and
Chapter 765 members love to “get their hands dirty.” They
are the ones who greet participants as they arrive at John
Wayne, LAX, and Long Beach airports. They drive the vans
back and forth to the hotels. They serve as “hotel
captains”—part chaperones, part concierge. You
can even find chapter members dressed as Elmo and other kid-friendly
television characters. Word has traveled fast, and nearby
VVA chapters have been eager to volunteer.
“In southern California, everyone knows the name ‘Snowball’ and
everyone wants to chip in,” Mimiaga said.
The key to
Snowball Express’s success is its sponsors.
American Airlines has donated the use of charter aircraft;
and its pilots, flight attendants, and ground crews have
donated their time for the weekend. Many other companies,
such as Oakley Eyewear, Quiksilver Surfwear, Panda Express,
Taco Bell, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott, Best
Western, Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, JetBlue Airways,
and Disney also have contributed. Local clubs, churches,
and schools also have donated resources. “It simply
could not have happened without them,” White said.
The
recent distressing economic news would be a convenient excuse
for companies to scale back their involvement, but the opposite
has happened. American Airlines, for example, has increased
the number of chartered aircraft at Snowball Express’ disposal
from three to six. The hotel industry has donated an unprecedented
$500,000 worth of hotel rooms.
White says the reason is simple: “We believe we are
being good stewards of our donors’ money.”
“It speaks volumes that so many corporations want to
participate, and participate to the extreme level they do,” Mimiaga
pointed out. “There are so many worthy causes out there,
and companies are extremely choosy about where they donate
their money these days.”
Last year the children also
received gifts from clothing company Quicksilver and Oakley
sunglasses, along with American Express gift cards to use
at the Irvine Spectrum Shopping Center, where many vendors
offered the children a 50 percent discount. UPS shipped these
gifts directly to the children’s
homes free of charge.
Snowball Express knows its strong ties
to VVA will help to spread the word to new families. VVA
president John Rowan agreed. “Our network of local
chapters located in communities across the nation will help
spread the word about this special week for the children
of the fallen,” Rowan said. “We
want to make sure that no children are left out because the
word has not reached their families.”
Chapter 785 members
hope this will open the door for VVA members to feel confident
to donate, participate in, and organize Snowball Express
activities in their communities. “What
better way is there to live up to the VVA founding principle
of ‘Never again will one generation of veterans abandon
another’?” Mimiaga asked. “We simply can’t
let the same thing happen to this generation of military
families that happened to ours.”
Snowball Express is “interested
in long-term mentorship of these kids,” he said. “We
want to help these families become stable, functioning family
units again.” That
is why participating families are invited to come back year
after year. The hope is that they will forge new and lasting
bonds and that they will find comfort in those who are going
through the same emotions.
Planning is already under way for next year’s event,
which will be held in Texas. The new location is more centrally
located and reduces the number of air miles required to fly
in participants, allowing more families to participate. It
also enables Texas-based companies to participate in the
same way the California companies have.
“Anytime you have an infusion of new blood into a project like this,
it is only going to make it better,” Mimiaga said. “I’ll
hate to see it move away from California, but we understand that we were the
catalyst for something great—something bigger than ourselves.”
Snowball
Express also has plans to publish a book with stories told
by the children, parents, volunteers, and donors about what
the trips have meant. The book will be sold as a fundraiser
and also will be given to each Snowball Express family as
a souvenir.
For more information, contact Snowball Express, 2973 Harbor
Blvd. #401, Costa Mesa, California, 92626-3912; 714-662-2033;
www.snowballexpress.org
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©2006-
2011, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8719 Colesville Road, Suite 100, Silver Spring, MD 20910