{"id":766117,"date":"2026-05-01T14:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/766117\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:40:17","slug":"news4jax-navy-federal-uso-launch-help-on-the-homefront-drive-for-jacksonville-service-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/766117\/","title":{"rendered":"News4JAX, Navy Federal, USO Launch \u2018Help on the Homefront\u2019 drive for Jacksonville service members"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 News4JAX is partnering with Navy Federal Credit Union and the United Service Organizations to launch \u201cHelp on the Homefront,\u201d a monthlong drive in May to collect care packages and essential items for service members and their families in northeast Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Jacksonville is home to one of the nation\u2019s largest military populations, and the campaign aims to support enlisted service members with items they may not easily be able to buy while deployed or preparing to deploy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cHelp on the Homefront is going to be a month-long celebration. Military Appreciation Month is one of our favorite things here at Navy Federal,\u201d Shareef White, a Navy Federal branch manager, said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">He said the credit union is asking members to donate personal care items, travel-size toiletries and snack foods to support enlisted service members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">USO staff said donated items will be assembled into individual care packages and handed directly to service members who are leaving on deployment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cIf they\u2019re leaving on a deployment, we will actually hand them directly to the service members as they\u2019re going, so that they can take that with them,\u201d Zola Foret, USO senior center operations specialist, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThese are items that they can\u2019t easily just go and purchase,\u201d Erick Lallemand, USO operations manager, said. \u201cSo it\u2019s really meaningful for them to be able to have these items on hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Donation boxes are available at Navy Federal branches across Jacksonville. Organizers say volunteers and community members can drop off items during branch hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Suggested items include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p><b>Snack items:<\/b> granola bars, fruit snack packs, macaroni and cheese, cookies, cup-of-soup, ramen noodles, Pop-Tarts, instant oatmeal, trail mix, canned chicken or tuna<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p><b>Personal care and hygiene:<\/b> toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, deodorant, disposable razors, shaving cream, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, eye drops, lip balm<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Travel-size toiletries and washcloths<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">News4JAX reporter Andrea Snody who serves in the Army National Guard said such donations provide more than supplies. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWhen I was deployed overseas, I relied heavily on the USO for items I needed, or even a simple morale boost,\u201d Snody said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Organizers say the goal is to give service members a piece of home while they\u2019re away \u2014 one care package at a time.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 News4JAX is partnering with Navy Federal Credit Union and the United Service Organizations to launch&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":766118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[177174,5229,3188,723,314468,7310,1802,12013,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-766117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-4-your-service","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-help-on-the-homefront","tag-jacksonville","tag-military","tag-morning-show","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116499842857137047","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}