Welcome to Operation Comfort:
Our Mission: Operation Comfort provides support to our service members who have been wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq and are receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC). Our Goal is for our wounded military, who have given so much for our country and the world, to see in tangible ways that we appreciate their sacrifices and that we want to help them recover as quickly and completely as possible.
Operation Comfort has served the wounded military personnel at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, since 2004. Remodeling eleven waiting rooms for the families and creating a tranquility room for burn staff members has been a well received by both the families and the burn staff members. Operation Comfort tries to bring some of the comforts of home to our recovering heroes of all services. who have been seriously injured in the military campaigns: Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2009 Operation Comfort remodeled the Marine Annex, by painting the walls, putting in hardwood floors, installed an IKEA kitchen, built an outdoor living area including a gazebo and outdoor cook area, as well as landscaping including a dry creek bed.
Operation Comfort believes there are several different levels to recovery and sports plays an important part in the recovery process. We have developed a comprehensive sports program for our wounded heroes. In our cycling program we have different cycles the wounded troops can ride; hand cycles, trikes, road bikes, a recumbent, and a tandem. Practicing twice a week mileage ranges from 20-70 miles. Joining up with Help for Heroes, a non profit in England which helps wounded British troops, our wounded troops have ridden over 700 miles on hand cycles next to the British wounded troops. They have fought side by side and now they ride side by side.
Operation Comfort sponsors Amputee Softball, as well as a full league each summer at Time Warner Cable Park. Another sport is sled hockey and our team has been adopted by the San Antonio Rampage Hockey Team . Practicing at the Ice & Golf Center at Northwoods the San Antonio Rampage Sled Hockey Team prepares for the five tournaments played across the nation. Our team won the 2010-2011 Midwest Sled Hockey Championship and ranks #3 in the nation. Three of our sled hockey players have been chosen to be on the USA National Sled Hockey team and one on the USA National Developmental Team. Playing against National Teams of other countries such as Canada, Japan and Norway gives the players a great sense of accomplishment. In 2013 the Paralympic Team will be chosen from the national pool of players which play in the 2014 Paralympics, two weeks after the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. These players have fought for their country and now will have the chance to play for their country. When the Star Spangled Banner is played, it will mean more to them than anyone in hearing range.
Partnering with Amazing Surf Adventures we sponsor one to two surf trips to California each year, where the amputees learn how to surf. Those who are missing both legs do handstands on the surf board taking the waves. By the end of the day everyone is up on the surfboard surfing their hearts out. Exhausted at the end of the day, they rest well and are up and ready to surf again the next day.
Recognizing that some wounded troops are interested in working on cars, Operation Comfort offers a program called "Automotivation" where wounded service members can get out of the barracks and go and work on cars at the Lonesome Dove Land and Cattle Company,a ranch outside San Antonio. The owner has been very kind to us by extending the invitation and the space in which the guys can work on cars. The wounded troops who are in our Automotivation program have been invited to show they two vehicles they have built, a 1957 Dodge Power Wagon used by the Army as a Weapons Carrier, and a 1966 Cobra Kit car at the 2011 SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Manufactures Association) in November. The Automotive team has worked very hard on these vehicles and will show them with pride and accomplishment. A big thanks goes out to Chief Automotive Technologies, Sterling Autobody Centers and Vehicle Service Group for their support in our Automotivation program.
One of our core programs is family financial assistance to our wounded service members and their families. We work closely with the case workers at BAMC and the case workers at Audie Murphy VA hospital to identify those who are in need of assistance.
We have upcoming events in various stages that are intended to encourage our wounded service personnel to prepare for the next productive stage of their lives as well as provide a diversion while they undergo rehab. Check out our Calendar for all of our latest events. You can also read through our programs to get a better idea of what Operation Comfort is doing.
IF ANYONE SHOPS AT TOM THUMB OR RANDALL'S GROCERY STORES, GIVE THE CASHIER THIS NUMBER 12351
AND ONE PERCENT (1%) OF YOUR TOTAL PURCHASE WILL BE DONATED TO OPERATION COMFORT.