David Kane is a veteran that has served in the armed forces for 20 years as a corpsman in the Navy who, along with his family, has been given a home to live in rent-free in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by Operation Homefront partnered with Pillsbury.
In addition to the Operation Homefront partnership, Pillsbury hosted a nationwide donation campaign that saw purchases of any frozen or refrigerated Pillsbury products via Instacart, a $1 donation went to Operation Homefront amounting to $30,000.
The drive is to promote further awareness and donations, and popular Pillsbury holiday products will feature limited-edition custom packaging with the Operation Homefront logo and branding through mid-December.
It can be very difficult for families in the military with their spouse away on deployment, often for months on end. David and Amanda Kane know all too well about the hardships families face in the military.
“We got pretty lucky that our children are still young, and he didn’t go overseas while I was alone with the kids. He was on small, short-term deployments,” said Amanda Kane, wife to David, speaking to The Dallas Express.
“Towards the end of his time in San Diego, he had duty every three days, so every three days, he’d be gone for over 24 hours and at times would be unreachable,” Amanda explained.
Pillsbury’s partnership with Operation Homefront allowed Operation Homefront the ability to purchase five homes over the last four years that have helped military families take advantage of The Transitional Homes for Veterans program.
This allows Pillsbury and Operation Homefront a way to provide rent-free housing to multiple families in a crucial time of transition.
“The Transitional Homes for Veterans program provides veterans with rent/utility-free housing while giving them the opportunity to utilize both employment and financial counselor services to help achieve stability and long-term post-military success,” said Tiffany Seelen, Senior Manager, Brand Experience for Pillsbury told The Dallas Express.
“Veteran families gain the knowledge they need to become successful homeowners and work to improve credit scores, pay off debt, and accumulate savings in order to own their own home,” Seelen explained.
Typically, a family will live in transitional homes for one to three years as they work toward independence, according to Seelen.
When the family is selected, they are assigned a case worker and a financial counselor that works with the families to create financial, educational, employment, and personal goal plans.
Pillsbury and Operation Homefront have given many military families the help and resources to aid in the difficult transitional process of civilian life.
“It’s an amazing program,” said Kane to The Dallas Express. “Thank you doesn’t feel like it’s enough. What Operation Homefront does for veterans and active-duty families is simply amazing, from programs like this to back-to-school drives where you can go and get a backpack with some simple school supplies, sometimes those little things are enough to make a difference in someone’s day,” Kane added.
“We are extremely grateful for everything that Operation Homefront and our active duty and veterans have given for us,” Amanda told The Dallas Express.
David, Amanda, and their children have found the dream home they wanted, a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-car garage, one-story home that suits their son Andrew’s wheelchair needs.
They expect to move into the home in early December.
Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day, is a day that lives on in history because an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.