Happy Spring

We have had a busy March and there is lots to share. Two weeks ago we kicked off our first Lunch and Learn in a new series we are hosting for our North Carolina families. During the next year, we will be offering these lunches across the state as a means of not only sharing our programming, but also introducing them to a variety of regional resources. We had a great time doing so in Raleigh spending the afternoon with some new and familiar faces. It is important to us not only to host these lunches and provide these connections, but we want to take it a step further by forming social groups so the conversations can continue beyond these events. If you are a spouse in North Carolina be on the lookout for a Lunch and Learn in your area and let us know if you are interested in joining a Social Connection Group. Thank you to all the organizations, (especially Veterans Bridge Home) and spouses who attended this first event. I am also excited to share that we have partnered with Coastal Credit Union Foundation and will be providing new opportunities for our families. We are very grateful for their support of our work and recent grant. We love working with companies and organizations that share our interest in financial literacy. Thank you too to Wegmans for their support of this event and for providing us with a grant. Our next stop in this series will be in Greenville, North Carolina on Wednesday, June 26th. Details are coming soon as we are busy planning with our friends from Survivor Outreach Services.

We are also working on a new virtual group for our spouses that will focus on professional, social, and emotional well-being. We are excited to introduce some fantastic speakers and presenters to our spouses. The “Growth Group” will launch in the fall and we will also be sharing more details soon.

On April 9th in honor of Gold Star Spouses Day, some of our team will be sharing our stories and work with our friends at the Navy's Gold Star Program. This is a virtual event that we hope our families will check out. We are busy working on several new offerings for our spouses and their children as we continue to evolve our programming.

I recently had the honor of attending the Celebration of Life for Colonel Ken “Kid” Gardiner. It was a very special memorial to pay tribute to this amazing Marine, Husband, Father, and Friend. Thank you to all who donated to us on behalf of Kid. We are very grateful and continue to pray for his family. 

For anyone looking for a way to give back, we ask you to check out the Annual Sugar Bear Virtual Memorial Run taking place on July 22nd. This year we would like our friends to select a hero from our Honor Wall and take part on behalf of them and the family they leave behind. Funds raised from this event will be split between our Sugar Bear Foundation and the Marine Corps Association Foundation, and will go directly towards our programs. We hope you will take part in this event, share it within your communities, and help us give back in Sugar Bear’s name. This support helps us not only sustain our mission, but also raises awareness of our Gold Star/Surviving Families and continues Sugar Bear’s legacy of service. If you would like to get more involved please reach out to our Admin@thesugarbearfoundation.org. Thank you for the opportunity to share.

We are grateful for our friends who support our work and the families and heroes who have given their all to our country. 

Thank you,

Jennifer Carazo 
Gold Star Wife/President

February Updates

I have to start this month off by thanking Cathedral Catholic High School National Honor Society for their recent ergathon fundraiser for us. It was a great success and we are so grateful for the funds they raised for our programs. Their spirit and drive will go directly to helping our families and we are incredibly grateful for these young men and women. Thank you too to the coaches and parents who helped with this event and the local Jersey Mikes who donated some awesome food. I was personally touched by the time and work that went into this fundraiser and the impact it will have on our work. Thank you!

We have another fundraiser on the horizon and it will be very special as well. Registration will open soon for the Sugar Bear Virtual Memorial Run and this year we are asking our friends to select a hero from our Honor Wall and take part for them and their family, share pics on social media, and use the #SugarBearMemorialRun hashtag. In doing so, you not only help us raise money for our programs, but also awareness of these heroes and their families. If you would like to get on the interest list for this upcoming event or have an idea to help us fundraise with the Virtual Run, please contact our Admin@thesugarbearfoundation.org.

We have another fantastic opportunity for our spouses. I am very excited to share we are working with The Panther Group Service to Success Program which helps the military and now Gold Star/Surviving Spouses with employment opportunities. This program understands our needs and has a lot of fantastic opportunities for our spouses to explore. If you are looking for work, transition your career, or just make a change please reach out to us.

We have two upcoming events for our spouses. The first is a Love After Loss Virtual Workshop this coming Tuesday, and for our North Carolina spouses, we will have a lunch and learn in Raleigh. We hope you will join us! If you would like any information about any of these events, or programs or would like to fundraise for us please contact our Admin@thesugarbearfoundation.org.

Our Team is currently updating our programs so we can best serve our families, but as we continue to grow, we know we cannot do it alone and are very grateful for all the support we receive to give back in Sugar Bear’s honor. 

Thank you,

Jennifer Carazo 
Gold Star wife/President

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. How is it almost 2024?! We had a fantastic time attending the RF-LAMBDA Holiday Open House in San Diego. We are so grateful for this company’s generous support, not only with this event, but throughout the year. They are truly making a difference in the lives of our families. Thank you also to our friends from the San Diego USO and Hiring Our Heroes for your support and time at this event. 

This year flew by and our team is busy preparing for 2024 and all that we want to provide for our families. Spouses, please be on the lookout for some fantasic new workshops, programs, and in-person events. In San Diego, our spouses will be able to take part in our new Growth Group headed up by our amazing Coach, Susan Hannifin-MacNab. These get-togethers will provide social, emotional, and professional support.

In North Carolina, we will continue with our Lunch and Learn offerings (the next will be Tuesday, January 23rd) in Raleigh. These events provide spouses, guardians, and providers with more information about our programs, to get registered with us, and to meet some of our team. Additionally, we will be offering more workshops focused on employment, personal finances, and emotional healing. 

I know the holidays can be a difficult season for our families, especially those who are new to the Survivor Community. The Sugar Bear Foundation has lost a dear friend, Colonel Ken “Kid” Gardiner, and we are praying for his family and will be sharing more about his life and service in the coming months. For any of our spouses, whether you are a few months or years out, if you are feeling lost and not sure what is next… want to focus on your physical, and emotional health… looking for parenting support… need help finding a job, or not sure how to relaunch a career, please reach out to us (Admin@TheSugarBearFoundation.org) as we are here to help! A new year can mean a new you and we have the Team to help you get started, create some new goals, and sustain them. With our robust and holistic approach, we have all areas covered, from your physical health to your financial stability. Take that first step with us! So reach out to us to get started or learn more. 

I also invite our families to check out our Resources as we have some excellent partners and supporting organizations that you might not know about and can provide assistance. We add to this list often and have included some new wonderful employment links that are focused on remote positions that are perfect for our families.

We are very excited to launch our new partnership with Cummins and offer our college-age students and spouses (who are attending school, and/or are looking to return to work) our Career Mentoring Program. For those interested in receiving mentoring please complete the application. This will be a process as we try to make the best matches between mentees and mentors, and might take some time, but we are thrilled to help families get started. 

Thank you to our friends from the Patriot Military Family Foundation for their recent grant. We are most grateful for their support as it helps us sustain and grow our impact. We hope our friends will consider making a donation to the Sugar Bear Foundation for their end-of-year giving. We rely on your support as we continue to grow and provide for the spouses and children who have given their all! As always, if you have an idea to help, want to get involved, or host a fundraiser, I encourage you to reach out to us.

Thank you in advance for helping us continue Sugar Bear’s legacy of service as we assist Gold Star/Surviving Spouses and children with career, educational, financial, and wellness support.

Happy New Year! 

Jennifer Carazo 
Gold Star wife/President 

November Updates

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and is off to a great holiday season. When someone experiences a profound loss in their life, the holidays can be absolutely tortuous. I am especially mindful of these feelings with all of the recent losses within the military community. That knock at the door can profoundly change the trajectory of one’s life plans, and dreams are gone in an instant. The ability to move forward can be blocked with immense fear and anxiety. 

I know in the first few years after losing Sugar Bear I was a mess. I struggled with making the holidays festive and happy for our children (they had been through enough with losing their dad), but I could barely muster the strength to find the holiday spirit. I wondered if I would ever feel that sense of happiness much less gratitude for all that we had. It took time and the eventual realization that the very person I was mourning would want me to embrace the season, count my blessings, and find a sense of peace with his loss. So inevitably that is what I did. I began to focus on all that I had especially my time with Sugar Bear and the fruits of our marriage (our two beautiful children). I also cherished all of the people in my life like our many, many friends from the Marine Corps and military community who were by our side and are still there today. It was at that time that I made a very serious shift in my thinking and also began to focus on life, rather than loss.

Sugar Bear and I had a wonderful life together. I was able to see him achieve so many of his dreams and he died doing what he loved. In my heart, I knew he would be the first to say he had had everything and he actually always made it a point to tell me so. Over the years my level of gratitude has grown exponentially and goes beyond my children, family, and friends. The opportunity to form the foundation and continue Sugar Bear’s legacy of service has been an absolute gift! Yes, his loss has changed my life. It did not go as planned, but through the grace of God, incredible friends, and my parents, I have been able to carve out a new life - one that I know would make Sugar Bear very happy too.

This holiday season and throughout the whole year, I am so grateful for the work we are doing. First off for our incredible board and team. They are the best and I greatly appreciate their guidance, insight, time, and talents which continue to help us grow. And we are growing! We are now serving hundreds of families throughout the United States with various forms and levels of support and the number increases daily.

Our team is also growing and I am very excited to welcome our new health coach - Sarah! Sarah and I met years ago when she was working with another nonprofit and we instantly bonded. She is a perfect fit for us as she has worked within the military community and more importantly with survivors. She is also a busy mom. We are excited to not only offer her programs, but she will greatly add to our approach of serving our families in a holistic manner. Spouses can meet Sarah virtually and our other amazing coaches during our upcoming webinar this week on Thursday, November 30th.

We are also getting ready to launch a new career mentoring program for our spouses and college-age teens and have an incredible new partner. We look forward to sharing this new opportunity very soon.

For our San Diego families, we can’t wait to see you all at the RF-LAMBDA Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 10th. We are incredibly grateful for this company and their ongoing support of our educational programs and the impact they are helping us make.

Thank you to all of our sponsors as your support enables us to both sustain and grow all of our programs. As such I hope all of our friends will consider the Sugar Bear Foundation this Giving Tuesday as we focus on assisting our families find a new path after losing their service member. To gain a mere glimpse of the sacrifice they are making, I invite you to visit our Honor Wall and learn about their incredible loved ones and the commitment these heroes made to preserving our freedom.

I hope my story will serve as a reminder of all that can be and the many possibilities for our Surviving Spouses and children when there is support, continuity, and programs that can provide transition and opportunities for growth. For our spouses, please reach out if you have questions, want to register for an event, or would like to take one of our surveys as we are constantly working to provide the best means of support.

As always thank you to our friends who are helping us continue Sugar Bear’s legacy of service by giving back to the families who have given their all! Your support is needed and greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays! 

Thank you,

Jennifer Carazo 
President/Gold Star Wife