A gold star mom, dad, spouse, fiancé, grandparent, sibling, cousin, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece has lost a loved one while serving for our everyday liberties… liberties that so many people take for granted.
Those lost during war are not faceless people or statistics. They are someone's loved family member.
Flowers for Heroes operates to serve the Gold Star Families of America who live below the levels of poverty. These families have young children who deserve a proper education. Their lives have been turned upside down due the sacrifices their loved ones made for our country. Without outside assistance, these families will have impoverished living conditions and will be unable to afford the necessities required to live.
Background of Gold Star
The origin of the Gold Star insignia goes back to 1917, when U.S. Army Captain Robert L. Queisser created a banner to honor his two sons who were serving in World War I(1). A service banner is decorated with a star for each family member in the military; a Blue Star represents living service members, and those who lost their lives were honored with a Gold Star.
The idea of the Gold Star was that the honor and glory accorded the person for his supreme sacrifice in offering for his country, the last full measure of devotion and pride of the family in this sacrifice, rather than the sense of personal loss which would be represented by the mourning symbols(2). It is through this symbol that the stories of those brave heroes live on and will never be forgotten.
Why Gold Star Families Needs Our Support
Recently, the majority of Gold Star families are a result of the male father figure being killed while protecting our American Freedoms. Losing a family member can be very straining on a child, especially if this affects the financial structure resulting the family living below the poverty level.
America’s current involvement with the conflicts in the middle east have taken the lives of too many good men and women. Our soldiers are older today than they have been in the past. The average age of those enlisted is close to 30 years old and over 50% are married with children. This has caused many of our fallen soldiers to leave behind families with multiple children.
The burden of living in a single-parent household is quite overwhelming for both children and parents alike. Our mission will alleviate some of this stress by proving the food our struggling Gold Star family’s need, allowing for positive improvements in other areas of their lives. It is crucial that these children are provided with the basic essentials of living that will allow them to continue to grow and succeed in life.
By providing the food that these families need, they are able to better focus their financial resources to other important expenses that will improve the lives of these children. Some examples of these common expenses include but are not limited to child care, clothing, education, and extracurricular activities. These are essential for the children to grow up in positive environment that will allow them to grow into successful and positive members of the community.
Ryan Joseph Cantafio joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17 as a high school student in 2000, at Beaver Dam High School, in Beaver Dam Wisconsin. Read more...
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Ryan Joseph Cantafio joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17 as a high school student in 2000, at Beaver Dam High School, in Beaver Dam Wisconsin. 
