Ellyn Caprara: Bringing Our Warriors Home

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a great pleasure to talk to Ellen Caprara.
Ellen works with Warrior Foundation Freedom Station to coordinate support
services with the Navy Wounded Warrior Program, UH specifically or
at least in part of travel services like the home
for the Holidays flights, which we absolutely love. Ellen, welcome.
How are you? I'm good? How about yourself? We're terrific things.

(00:20):
Can can you help us understand why it's so powerful
and important, um to either get the warriors home for
the holidays or have family, uh, you know come to
their side when necessary. Yeah, absolutely so. This program we especially,
you know, love and support and are so happy when
this time of the year comes around. You know, these

(00:41):
sailors and service members they're going through some of the
toughest times of their lives with what they're doing, and
a lot of them can't afford to go home or
you know, it's just the circumstances aren't right. And to
be able to, you know, provide them with that opportunity
to fly home for the holidays and to see their

(01:03):
families and friends, it's so powerful and so meaningful, and
it just you know, it means a lot to them
to be able to have that experience and it's it's
just again, we love this time of year because we
can offer them this and it's just it's wonderful and
we we we we love that the Wounded Warrior Foundation

(01:23):
Freedom Station provides this for us. And just our sailors
are you know, we we get them asking around this
time when you know, when the when the when the
program starts. So it's it's just it's very impactful and meaningful. Yeah,
we've heard the stories over the years when you finally
get to go up to you know, a man or
a woman and say, hey, you're gonna wake up in
your own bed on Christmas. That's pretty awesome. And and you,

(01:45):
I know you you generally calculate how much it costs
per person, what's like our average. I've always thought this
is a good way for people who want to donate
to kind of picture where their money is gonna go.
How much do how much do I need to donate
to make sure somebody can go home for the holidays?
Do you? And look in between I mean the flight range,
you know, because people fly as close to San you know,
the quick flight to you know, from San Diego to

(02:07):
San Francisco, but a lot of them have families on
the East coast. So you're looking probably about two dred
and fifties five D probably per ticket for a round
trip ticket. Um, I'm thinking around there. Some might be less,
some key a little bit more, but I think that
that's a pretty good range. Well, and gosh, the returns
are I mean invaluable, just you know, to to have

(02:28):
the support of family and maybe old bodies around and
or my god, when when some of these service members
are going through multiple surgeries and rehabs in the rest
of it, to have mom and dad come visit or whoever.
I mean, that's gotta you can't put a price on that.
You can't put a price on that. And again, they're
going through some of the toughest times right now, and
to be able to have to see their family over

(02:50):
the holidays there, have their family come over the holidays
is you know, words don't describe how how important that
is to them, especially in their whole healing process as
are going through their medical and everything. So it just
it is, it is fantastic to be able to provide
that opportunity to them. Well, Ellen, we're going to see
how much money we can raise and how many tickets

(03:12):
we can buy, and how many families we can put
back together for the holidays are just when they're needed most.
So thanks a million for what you do. Absolutely thank
you for having me on Armstrong and Jetty