MarineParents.com's Purple Heart Family Support™ hosted a successful Sunday night dinner at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, MD on June 22, 2008. Seven volunteers from MarineParents – all family members of Marines - served 100 meals, both at the hospital and at the Mercy Hall barracks, to Marines, their families, and some of the doctors and nurses who care for OIF/OEF patients.

With the decreasing inpatient count at the hospital, MarineParents switched the Saturday lunch to Sunday dinner this past month in order to bring meals to the Mercy Hall barracks as well as the hospital. Many Marines stay in the Mercy Hall barracks while receiving outpatient treatment and going through the process of returning to or separating from the Marine Corps. The night's menu included burritos, salad, chips and salsa, and sodas. For the MarineParents volunteers, a highlight during this meal was seeing a Marine who was an inpatient at the hospital after he was injured overseas in Fall 2007. He remembered the volunteers and the meal they brought to him and his family then. This Sunday – eight months later – he served as the volunteers' escort around base, helping to bring food to the wounded warriors in the hospital now. Additionally, one Operation Pal Marine received food at the barracks - which allowed the MarineParents volunteers the opportunity to meet him for the first time. Upcoming Sunday night dinners at the Naval Hospital are: July 13, August 3, and August 17. Dinners are funded solely by private donations to Purple Heart Family Support™.

Purple Heart Family Support™

	Upcoming Events: Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital Upcoming dates for lunches at Bethesda are at this time being handled on a week to week bases We're working with The Heart of a Marine Foundation to fund and schedule a 3nd lunch date for three months in 2007. If you would like to make a donation to help support the cost of our monthly lunches at Bethesda, click here. Past Events: September 15, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital Purple Heart Family Support™ volunteers provided lunch to the family members of ill and injured Marines and Corpsmen at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD on Saturday, September 15th. Click for News Article March 24, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital On Saturday, March 24, 2007, The Puple Heart Family Support™ provided a catered lunch for families of Marines currently hospitalized at Bethesda. Click for News Article January, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital The Puple Heart Family Support™ volunteers brought in a catered lunch for families of Marines hospitalized at Bethesda. We served over 100 lunches to family members and Marines. Click for photo slide show... Supporting Injured Marines Opportunities for the public to support injured Marines are offered through Operation PAL®. Click here to learn more... Donations for Monthly Lunches If you would like to make a donation to help support the cost of our monthly lunches at Bethesda, click here. We appreciate your support of our Marines and their families. MarineParents.com, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity eligible to receive tax deductible donations.

Our mission is to provide support to the families waiting at the bedside of their injured or ill Marines and Sailors by providing lunches and fellowship during the weekends at hospitals around the United States and to encourage support of our wounded military personnel in communities throughout the United States.

Our current focus is Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland and we hope to provide additional support at additional locations as funding through donations allows.

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