Wreaths Across America (WAA) and Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (CKFF) formalize project
Bond Of Mutual Respect, Gratitude And Faith
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Since first meeting the Wreaths Across America (WAA) team and Worcester family last fall, Taya Kyle, Founder and Executive Director of Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (CKFF), has been impressed with WAA's "ripple effect of kindness." It quickly became apparent both national nonprofits shared the same patriotic mission of honoring and respecting our military, veterans and their families.
Taya Kyle is the wife of Chris Kyle, Navy SEAL and author of the New York Times bestseller American Sniper, which inspired the 2014 movie. After her husband's death, Taya founded the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation to honor her husband's life and legacy. In her book, American Wife, she shares insights about supporting military families. While their loved ones are deployed, military spouses are serving on the home front, keeping things operational and caring for the rest of the family.
Even though Morrill Worcester, founder of WAA, didn't serve in the armed forces, his original donation of 5,000 wreaths for veteran graves at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 has grown into a national movement. For WAA's 25th anniversary in 2016, more than 1.2 million wreaths were placed at 1,228 locations, with the help of over 800,000 patriotic volunteers.
Taya was aware of WAA's efforts because she had agreed to present the WAA Ceremonial Wreath at the Austin State Capitol for the Texas Funeral Directors Association's 11th annual WAA event last December. Afterwards, WAA arranged for a private wreath placement by Taya and her children at Texas State Cemetery, where Chris is buried, along with 3,000 other veterans and prominent Texans.
The CKFF promise, "THEY FIGHT FOR US; WE FIGHT FOR THEM" captures the dedication of Taya and Team CKFF to fulfill Chris' vision of stronger, more empowered service marriages and families. CKFF's signature programs include Revitalization Retreats, Empowered Spouses Retreat and Date Night Out to honor the service and sacrifice of our military, veterans, first responders and their families.
At the 2nd Annual Chris Kyle "Birthday Bash" in April 2017, CKFF awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to the University of Texas (UT)-Austin and Baylor University to launch the Foundation's newest project, Mastering Your Marriage. This one-of-a-kind approach combines retreat and respite with innovative new tools to help military, veteran and first responder couples to begin thriving in their service marriages while facilitating important training and research for licensed practitioners.
Chris Kyle Frog Foundation and Wreaths Across America have agreed to collaborate with support of their respective programs. What this relationship means is, that when a $15 wreath is sponsored for placement on a veteran grave, via CKFF (bit.ly/CKFFsponsorshipsWAAwreaths), $5 will be returned to CKFF. Besides Texas State Cemetery, wreaths may be also sponsored at over 1,200 WAA-participating locations, including Arlington National Cemetery, for placement on Saturday, December 16, 2017.
Taya Kyle knows how much it means to have a wreath placed on a loved one's final resting place. A CKFF-WAA wreath sponsorship will embody the "ripple effect" of kindness that she describes.
For more information, please visit www.chriskylefrogfoundation.org or www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.
SOURCE Wreaths Across America
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