Congratulations to The Stano Foundation, a nonprofit in Wesley Chapel, for being applauded by Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.
The Stano Foundation is an organization dedicated to supporting troops of all branches, both active duty and veterans. It was founded by Paula Stano in 2015, two years after her son, Jordan Viches, joined the Marines at age 17.
“It was through my son that I learned that not everybody is supported in the military, not everybody has family,” says Stano.
While she initially only sent care packages to Viches when he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, Stano began putting on drives to be able to send Viches’ friends — and eventually other troops — basic necessities.
Before Stano knew it, the foundation had a group of dedicated volunteers who would meet up once a quarter at the Rotary Club of Zephyrhills, where they filled the packages — which roughly consists of 48 items.
“We truly put the ‘care’ into care packages,” says Stano.
When someone applies or nominates someone else to receive a package, they are asked on the foundation’s website for the top five things from home they miss. Stano and her team try to incorporate those requested items into the care package.
Stano says she’s incredibly grateful for the impressive growth the nonprofit is having. In its first year, The Stano Foundation sent out 64 packages. Now, the total packages sent to date is 5,339.
“This is kind of my way to not only give back, but feel connected to my son even though he wasn’t here at the time,” says Stano.
There’s multiple ways you can support The Stano Foundation.
Monetary donations can be mailed to The Stano Foundation, P.O. Box 7811, Wesley Chapel, FL 33545. They also have an Amazon wish list for highly requested items, (https://tinyurl.com/59374kye), that will be sent to the nonprofit.
For people who can’t make a monetary donation, but still wish to support the foundation, Stano says she always needs handwritten thank you cards to include in the active duty members’ care packages. All she asks is that you don’t have glitter in the letter, and address the letter with “Dear Troop” or “Dear Hero.”
If you’d like to volunteer, head on over to the nonprofit’s Facebook page, The Stano Foundation, as all volunteer opportunities are listed there.
