Mother’s Day will be special to Vickie Durfee and Lisa Miller because they’ve helped thousands of moms like them.
5 years ago, they started Full Circle Home, an effort to give gifts at the holidays to the mothers and wives of service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These aren't just any gifts. Each one is sponsored by a donor, hand-packaged and wrapped with a love note tucked inside from the service member. Durfee and Miller wanted it to be personal because it is personal for them. Durfee's son served in Iraq. Miller's son was injured in Iraq and is now serving in Afghanistan.
This week, remarkably, their work caught the attention of Washington. The USO invited them down to work on their Mother’s Day packages and Thursday they were invited to the home of the Vice President. There, they wrapped gifts right alongside Jill Biden and Michelle Obama. They called the experience “surreal” and are overjoyed that both the Mrs. Obama and Biden were impressed by their work and want it to continue.
Most importantly, they’re impacting women for whom this effort started. The following is an excerpt from a thank you note to Durfee and Miller:
“Boy was I surprised when it was addressed to me. I opened it and I immediately started crying (and I don't cry very often) because what I found inside reminded me that I wasn't forgotten.” Full Circle Home.
Ginny Ryan
News Anchor
