Blue Star Mothers Today
Prior to December 2011, membership in the Blue Star Mothers was open to any woman in America whose child is in the United States Armed Forces or who has served in the United States Armed Forces or had an honorable discharge. Stepmothers and adoptive mothers are eligible for membership under certain circumstances. Blue Star Dads and others who wish to serve through the BSMA may join as Associate Members. Associate members do not vote or pay dues.
At National Convention in 2010 a resolution was passed by the convention body changing eligibility for membership. The resolution was taken to Capitol Hill and in August of 2011 a bill was introduced to Congress, followed soon after by a matching bill in the senate. Both Bills passed and on December 13, 2012, President Obama signed the Act and the eligibility for membership was expanded to include Grandmothers, Foster Mothers, all Step Mothers and female legal guardians. Membership is also now open to American Citizens living in other countries.
Blue Star Mothers is made up of local chapters, which are organized into departments. Five members are required to start a local chapter. Just as when it was founded, the Blue Star Mothers continues to concentrate on providing emotional support to its members, doing volunteer work with veterans in general and veterans’ hospitals in particular, and generally fostering a sense of patriotism and respect for members of the Armed Forces. In addition, local chapters carry out individual projects of their own choosing.
Blue Star Mothers do much more than volunteer in VA hospitals and outreach centers. They work in physical and emotional rehabilitation, help with medical supplies, transportation, food, clothing and friendship, gratitude and love.
Blue Star Mothers have been active in civil defense since 1942, doing things like finding food and shelter for people devastated by hurricanes and floods.
Blue Star Mothers do not have a permanent headquarters, so the headquarters travels with the national president.
There were about 30,000 members during World War II and several thousand during the Korean War and Vietnam War. By July 2006, membership had grown to 164 chapters nationally. California has the most, but Minnesota, Ohio and Oklahoma follow close behind.
As of August 1, 2011, there are over 5,000 members and 225 chapters. The 69th Annual convention of Blue Star Mothers of America in August 2011 was held in Washington DC. The presiding Officer Wendy Hoffman, National President 2009-2011.
Read more about this topic: Blue Star Mothers Club
Famous quotes containing the words blue, star, mothers and/or today:
“Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn,”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. Little Boy Blue (l. 1–2)
“What is this flesh I purchased with my pains,
This fallen star my milk sustains,
This love that makes my heart’s blood stop
Or strikes a sudden chill into my bones
And bids my hair stand up?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“If mothers are to be successful in achieving their child-rearing goals, they must have the inner freedom to find their own value system and within that system to find what is acceptable to them and what is not. This means leaving behind the anxiety, but also the security, of simplistic good-bad formulations and deciding for themselves what they want to teach their children.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Nothing an interested foreigner may have to say about the Soviet Union today can compare with the scorn and fury of those who inhabit the ruin of a dream.”
—Christopher Hope (b. 1944)