We're celebrating Ten Years of Service to Marines and their families!

MarineParents.com, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization based in Columbia, Missouri. The organization has been providing support and services to military personnel and their families across the United States and around the globe for ten years. The outreach programs and services of the organization are far-reaching and focus on deployed personnel, injured military, and families at home. The organization houses and manages a retail and production facility with online sales for Official Marine Corps Licensed products. The organization provides opportunities for civilian communities to support the troops through several outreach programs. A primary function of the organization is dissemination of information to families and providing them with a place to connect and share® through online social networking.

“I’m no less frightened, but a lot less alone” is a sentiment shared by many military family members when they experience a place to connect and share® at MarineParents.com.

MarineParents.com was founded on January 21, 2003 by Marine parent Tracy Della Vecchia as a way to provide support, information, and services to Marines and their families. Almost from its inception, the mission quickly expanded to include opportunities for civilians to support the troops. Many programs are now expanding to provide services to military personnel in all branches of the service.

In ten years of service from January 2003 through January 2013, the organization has made a huge impact in support of Marines, military personnel, and their families. The programs are designed to assure the support provided garners help from the American public while maintaining the privacy of military personnel.

• Collected product, packaged, and shipped over 35,000 care packages sent to Marines and military personnel in combat zones while maintaining the Marines privacy.

• Involved thousands of Americans around the US in sending more than 80,000 cards and letters sent to injured Marines and military personnel.

• Served over 27,000 meals served to injured Marines, service members, and their families at military medical facilities on the east and west coast.

• Provided support and networking to more than 300 Gold Star Family members.

• Process over 1,600 support requests each week from recruit or Marine family members through the online support services by volunteers who have undergone 40-hour training programs in privacy and security.

• Support provided to hundreds of injured Marines and military personnel through casework and group events.

• Provided materials and resources to hundreds of family members of injured troops to aid during recovery.

• Peer-to-peer connections made and support provided to hundreds of thousands of family members through online communities and networking opportunities

• Invested 1.1 million in ten years delivering direct support to our Marines, their families and other military personnel, with over half that invested in the last two years.

Tracy Della Vecchia, founder and executive director, runs the day-to-day operations from the corporate office in Columbia, Missouri with staff, volunteers, and a volunteer Board of Directors from around the country:

• 9-person working board of volunteer directors residing in several states
• 14 full-time and 4 part-time staff, plus 4 interns
• Over 100 contracted volunteers in specific outreach programs around the country
• Over 700 additional volunteers per year working during project-specific events

In addition to a moderated, OpSEC-compliant Marine Family Network (MFN) MarineFamilyNetwork.com, chat rooms and several informative web sites, there are five outreach programs that support Marines, military personnel and their families and encourage involvement in troop support activities in local communities:

• The Care Package Project™ sends thousands of care packages to combat-deployed troops 4 times each year.
  CarePackageProject.com

• Operation Prayers and Letters™ offers support to injured Marines in the form of letters and prayers from the public
  OperationPAL.com

• Purple Heart Hero Support™ offers support and resources to injured Marines, military personnel and family members
  PurpleHeartHeroes.com

• Gold Star Family Support™ and Operation Freedom Ballot™ offer support to family members whose Marine or service member has been killed in action.
  GoldStarFamilies.com

• Team Marine Parents™ is a fundraising initiative to support Marines, military personnel, their families, and the outreach programs of the organization.
  TeamMarineParents.com

Additional services include information and support during Boot Camp, Combat Recovery™ and life After The Corps™. All services are offered free to families, Marines and military personnel.

Statistics in this document last updated January, 2013.