During the summer, I am often trying to find fun low-cost activities to keep my kids busy and have fun as a family. This summer, I found out about an amazing offer to military families.
An organization called Blue Star Families has an initiative with the National Endowment for the Arts that provides free admission to hundreds of museums all over the United States. I learned that this offer is open every summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day and that in addition, many museums continue to welcome military families at no cost throughout the entire year.
Participating Museums
There is an easy to browse through list of participating museums at at the Blue Star Families website. Museums that are part of the program simply require you to show a military ID and you get admission for the service person as well as all dependents.
We live near Chicago and my family took advantage of admission to the Morton Arboretum, the Dupage Children’s Museum and the Chicago Children’s Museum. I was amazed at the generosity of the participating museums and we look forward to utilizing the program next summer as well!
Website Resources
In addition to the Blue Star Museums initiative, the Blue Star Family organization provides numerous resources for Military families.
According to the website, the mission of the organization is to “Support, Connect and Empower Military Families.” The website truly should be utilized by all military families.
Discounts & Scholarships
There is an extensive list of helpful links and resources with all things related to the military. There is an outstanding list of national U.S. Companies that provide deals and discounts to military families.
Another useful link on the website is a list of college scholarship opportunities available to members of the military as well as spouses and dependents.
Programs for Kids
In addition to the helpful resources, Blue Star families have several other amazing programs. Books on base is another recent Blue Star initiative that sounds fantastic. Through sponsors and donors, the organization is providing books and reading material to military children living on post, or attending schools that have a lot of military families.
Individual families can request that their child be a recipient by going to Blue Star website. There is also a program called “Operation Appreciation” where letters can be sent to show appreciation to military members as well as families.
If you are a military spouse, you should definitely check out Blue Star Families for resources and to start taking advantage of the excellent programs in place to support military families!