RECENT ACTIVITIES

THANK YOU to those in our community who support us and our troops!!

Swearing in of new officer’s 08/20/2023

Deployment Crash Course @ USC Upstate 01/28/2023.

Picking up Girl Scout nuts 01/10/2023

Shipping out packed boxes to our deployed troops. 11/14/2022

Decorating our Christmas tree for the annual Bon Secours Festival of Trees. 11/13/2022.

Gathering our items for our pack-out on 11/12/2022

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A local elementary school had an item drive to honor one of our sweet moms whose military son sadly passed away earlier this year. 11/9/2022

We had a table set up at The annual Veteran’s Upstate Salute @ Fluor Field downtown Greenville on 11/06/2022. Our new president had a chance to give an interview about our chapter on a local TV news channel.

Some BSM’s attended Greenville County’ Memorial Remembrance Ceremony on May 30, 2022.

We had a table at the Armed Forces Celebration in downtown Greer on May 20, 2022.

At the Charles Judge Stand down in March we donated female hygiene items to a local women’s veteran’s group, Battle Bettie’s for which they were very grateful.

BattleBetty Foundation

Thank you Berit DiVito and the amazing ladies of Blue Star Mothers – Greenville Upstate Chapter for their donation to help us continue supporting #WomenVeterans

#BattleBettyWVC #WomenVets #SpartanburgSC #UpstateSC #HomelessOutreach #HomelessVeteranSupport

A couple of our BSM’s attended the ceremony and took a tour of the Warriors Again house in Spartanburg on April 27,2022.

And it’s a wrap for another pack-out! We are so grateful, more than we can put into words, for the Prisma Veteran’s group for all of their help. April 8,, 2022

Our Spring Pack-out on April 2, 2022. We were happy to have some of our Dad’s (and son’s) come out and help us out this year!

Our president along with a few other BSM’s participated in the annual, local Hero’s 5-K walk/run in Greer on March 26,2022.

Some BSM’s ladies participated in the Spartanburg Charles Judge Stand Down on March 18,2022. It was a great time to mingle with veterans and serve them donuts & lunch. We also had a table with personal items that the veterans received for free.

Our annual Girl Scout cookie pick-up was March 30, 2022! We are so grateful for the support of the Mountain -to- Midland Girl Scout troop. We are also very grateful for the Prisma Hospital veteran group for helping us load up and unload the truck. They make quick work and save us ladies very sore muscles.

We had some donations given to us after our pack out but it worked out great because we also got some last minute names so with those donations we were able to send out more boxes.

Thank you to the following organizations for your donations. Thermo Fisher Scientific SC Women’s Employee Resource Group, Angel Tree from St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, in Spartanburg and finally Prince of Peace Catholic School in Taylors chose our BSM’s group to be a recipient of their TAG DAY collection. TAG Stands for Teaching About Giving. They gave us a check from funds they raised along with some sweet notes and cards from their students 3rd grade and below.

NOVEMBER WAS A CRAZY BUSY MONTH FOR US WITH MANY ACTIVITIES AND A PACK OUT.

November 16th, with the help from the veterans from Prisma Hospital, we were finally ready to ship of our boxes with hopes that they would receive them before Christmas. Thank you guys you saved us a lot of hard work. You are greatly appreciated!

Also, on November 16th some of our ladies decorated our Christmas tree at the Hyatt, downtown Greenville, for the Bon Secours Festival of Trees. Thank you Wendy for doing such a great job decorating and organizing this event this year.

On November 14th, some of our ladies participated in the Piedmont Veterans Celebration & Parade.

November 12 & 13 some of our ladies picked up items that were donated by Fairway Ford. Then we went to the church to sort through all our donations to be ready to be packed up and shipped out. We boxed up 113 + boxes! A big shout out to all the dads who showed up to help, even if it was for a little while, you all were a huge help and we greatly appreciate all of you!

On November 11, some of our ladies participated in some local veteran ceremonies. One at the Veterans ceremony at County Square, Greenville and one at USC Upstate in Spartanburg where they participate in a Quilts of Valor presentation.

November 11, some of our ladies picked up some items that Greenville Tech had collected for us.

Many of us asked our neighbors for their leftover Halloween candy and boy did they give!! This is just a small amount of what was given.

Thank you, Lucero, for picking up boxes for us to ship items to our troops. Thank you Home Depot for your contribution in donating the boxes to us.

We had some local schools this year donating and raising some money. Pelham Road Elementary and Mountain View Elementary Schools donate both items as well as very sweet notes and pictures. A first grade class at Mountain View raised money to help ship one box and one of our Blue Star Mom’s kindergarten class collected items. The AFJROTC at Blue Ridge High School collected items to be donated.

On November 9th the local Girl Scout troop donated 168 cases of nuts for us to send to our troops.

November 7th some of our ladies went to pick up a large item donation at Tyger River Park in Duncan.

Also on November 7th, some more of our ladies participated at the annual Veterans Upstate Salute at Fluor Field downtown Greenville.

On October 17, we met at My Fellow Countrymen were we learned more about what they are doing to help our local veterans succeed in life.

The Xi lota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. at USC Upstate in Spartanburg arranged an event called “Red Tails” for students to come a make care packages for our troops. They did both purple(for the gals) and orange(for the guys) gift bags filled with toiletries, etc. Thank you for thinking and supporting our troops!

On July 28, 2021, a couple of our ladies had the opportunity to meet with the folks at Park National Bank for them to donate a check from money that they raised for us.

THANK YOU, Park National Bank!!

On July 27, 2021, a few of us ladies attended the Korean War Memorial Service at County Square, Greenville, SC. It was such a pleasure for us to represent the local Blue Star Mother’s at this beautiful ceremony and to meet and talk to many veterans. There was Korean music and a dance performed.

A member of the Korean consulate in Atlanta, GA was there to present medals of thanks to the Korean Vets in attendance.

Quilts of Valor was also there to present gorgeous quilts to the veterans. What a wonderful way to show appreciation to a group of veterans who tend to be forgotten.

In mid May a group of us got together on a Saturday morning and early afternoon to work hand in hand with a local charity, Rebuild Upstate, to help fix the floor of the home of a local veteran. The homeowner is an elderly Navy Veteran. He loves working in his yard and his pup. His floors in his mobile home are starting to cave in. We need to fix them so his home is safe again.

Our Project Walkthrough: You’ll cut out the bad section of the subfloor down to the floor joists and see if the floor joists need to be repaired. Then you’ll put down new subflooring as needed. Your Site Leader will provide further instruction on your build day.

We had a great day working together and it was such a pleasure to help a local veteran in this fulfilling way. We left sweaty and sore but satisfied that this veteran will now have a secure living space in his home. We look forward to working in the future with Rebuild Upstate on other projects helping our local veterans.

Our Girl Scout Cookie Pick -up and Pack out. March 17 & 20 and April 20, 2021.

Thank you to Prisma Health, our local National Guard and a few local Veterans who came out to help do all the heavy lifting. Y’all were a big lifesaver and we appreciate you more than you will ever know!

We asked friends, neighbors and businesses to gather and donate candy and other treats for us to deliver to local veterans for Valentine’s Day 2021.

Last but not least, we participated again in the annual Bon Secours Festival of Trees. This is one of favorite activities to participate in. We didn’t win this year but one of these years we are going to win!

On November 19, a group from the Military & Government Liaison Office at Prisma Health came with a truck to load up our boxes and to deliver to the Post Office to be shipped out. After our experiences of trying to do that job ourselves we were VERY grateful for their help!

On November 14, we had our sorting and Pack Out to send out packages to our deployed troops overseas.

We also did a 5K walk on November 9, supporting our local women veterans, Battle Betty’s. It was so much fun to be able to get out and to be able to get together on a gorgeous fall day to support our women vets.

Because November is typically focused on our Veterans, it was very busy month for our BSM’s group. We participated in a couple of activities that supported our local veterans. We had a table set up at the annual Upstate Salute Veteran’s event at Fluor Field on Sunday, November 8.

Like everyone else, our BSM’s group has had to be creative in 2020 to raise money, do item drives and our annual Fall Pack Out. Many donated funds through our campaign on our website to Adopt a Box for $35.00 and for that we are truly grateful. So the months leading up to November we were busy trying to get our name out more into the community, explaining who we are and what we do. It paid off! Our Pack Out wasn’t as large as in years past but it was bigger than we anticipated looking at our budget over the summer months. It was exciting for all of us watching not only monetary funds coming in but local businesses and other groups, on their own initiative, having item drives.

Businesses and Groups like Greenville Tech, The Korean War Memorial, The Greenville Drive, Prisma Health, Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Upward Stars Basketball team and St. John Methodist Church all had item drives and donated those items to us. Lowe’s in Simpsonville, donated boxes and packing tape as well as Home Depot. We thank you all for your generosity!

Another such business was Fairway Ford. They decided to have an item drive and loaded up the back of a pick-up truck full of great items to send to our deployed military overseas. Thank you Fairway Ford for your generosity!

Two days later we ladies really got our work out done for the day! Again, we didn’t have the helpers that we normally would have to help us but we got it done. Between only having three of us for most of the time carrying 125 boxes,(weighing b/w 20-25 lbs), up three flights of stairs, and loading the truck between heavy rain showers, we were able to get the boxes all loaded up and delivered to the post office where we had to then unload the truck. Thankfully, one lady’s husband and one other lady were able to come and help us finish up towards the end, which was a huge help!! We had sore muscles, we were soaked and we were tired but considering what our brave deployed troops go through on a daily basis it was worth it and we know our troops will love getting these packages.

We waited as long as we could getting the boxes of Girl Scout cookies shipped out to our deployed troops. Don’t worry, we practiced social distancing, and we wore masks and gloves when possible. It was a bit tough going this time around because we didn’t have any of the helpers that we usually have to help pack up boxes. And since our storage area is small we could only have so many ladies there to help out. We packed up 125 boxes of cookies and other goodies for our troops. We were hot, sweaty and very tired by the time we finished but we know our soldiers will enjoy them!!

Many hands made light and quick work on March 24, 2020 when we filled up a 16 foot truck with 450 boxes of cookies that were donated by the Mountain to Midlands Girl Scout Troop. The truck was then transported to where we store our items and we unloaded the cookies along with a bunch of Mac & Cheese bowls from Lowe’s Foods.

Sadly, because of COVID-19 restrictions we don’t know exactly when we will be able to gather again to pack up and ship out packages to our troops.

Thankfully, some of our mom’s who have children deployed, and one who has a child getting ready to graduate from the Air Force Academy, were able to send out some boxes to their loved ones. We were also able to share some boxes with local homeless and homebound Veterans.

In March, one of our BSM’s represented our chapter at the Memorial Stand Down event in Spartanburg. She took our donations, that included both men and women’s socks & underwear as well as personal hygiene supplies, to give away to the homeless Vets who attended the event.

In January, 2020, we were able to make the public a little bit more aware of our local chapter by having a fundraiser at Sidewall Pizza in Travelers Rest. We didn’t do too badly and to top it off we got to eat some yummy pizza! Thank you, Sidewall!!

Our BSM’s Christmas tree, at the annual Festival of Trees at downtown Greenville, was decorated by these talented ladies. They extended their fun by getting some hot chocolate and walking around admiring all the other decorated Christmas trees. Great job ladies!!

OUR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PACK – OUT ON NOVEMBER 18, 2019.

WE HAD MANY WHO GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTED ITEMS AND MONETARY GIFTS, WE SHIPPED OUT 125 BOXES TO DEPLOYED TROOPS!

Chick-fil-A contributed more than 500 packets of sauces.

Esurance of Greenville collected and donated Ramen Noodles and other items.

Lowe’s Market in Five Forks donated cereal bowls and packages of Goldfish.

Two local elementary schools contributed, Pelham Rd Elementary made Thank You cards to be added in boxes and the families of Mountain View Elementary’s K5 students collected and donated Chap Stick, Playing Cards and Protein Bars.

Mountain View UMC collected and donated Advil, Tylenol, Cough drops, & individual packets of instant coffee.

Two local High Schools also contributed. The Blue Ridge High AFJROTC collected and donated nearly 500 items. This was extra special because one of our mom’s son is an Alumni of this AFJROTC.