Local Yellow Ribbon Community group takes off

MARSHALL - When the city of Marshall was named a Yellow Ribbon Community this past fall, it wasn't so much a goal achieved as the beginning of a lot of work to help local troops, Denise Schneekloth said. In the months since September, a variety of community volunteers have continued to work on building a formal support network for military servicepeople and their families.

There's still a lot for community members to do, said Schneekloth, the facilitator of Marshall's Yellow Ribbon Community committee. However, the response so far has been encouraging.

"We are amazed by the community and how supportive they are," she said.

Marshall was officially proclaimed a Yellow Ribbon Community on Sept. 11, as part of the statewide Beyond the Yellow Ribbon campaign. In order to become Yellow Ribbon Communities, cities have to submit an action plan to provide comprehensive support services for military servicepeople and their families.

Marshall's Yellow Ribbon Community group formed in spring 2011.

"It was too important of an issue for us not to be a part of," Schneekloth said. While the National Guard unit based out of Marshall is not currently deployed, there are still area soldiers who are serving overseas, or who are trying to get back into civilian life.

The Marshall Yellow Ribbon Community group's first official meeting was held in December, and another is coming up in February. Schneekloth said the committee is continuing to develop its action plan, as well as working on future projects.

"Different aspects of the community are pulling together," Schneekloth said of the group. The Marshall action plan calls for representatives from several key areas, from social services and veterans organizations to local businesses, city government and public safety. Different groups can commit to providing different forms of support for local soldiers.

For example, Schneekloth said, the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce will be working with local businesses to help find employment and training opportunities for military personnel, "To be supportive of those folks when they come back from deployment." Faith-based groups and some local churches have offered counseling for military couples and families. Marshall schools have provided space for re-integration events for area troops and allowed Yellow Ribbon Community organizers to form support groups for youth in military families, she said.

Some parts of the action plan may need to be updated or changed as the work goes on, Schneekloth said.

Future projects the group will be working on include building a list of civic organizations that may be interested in doing volunteer work for servicepeople or military families. The Chamber of Commerce is also working on plans for a local military appreciation week to be held this spring, Schneekloth said.

"It's nice to see the mix of people come together," Schneekloth said of the group's efforts.

"We're also looking to do some visual things in Marshall," she added, which will include signs identifying the city as a Yellow Ribbon Community.

A Yellow Ribbon Community committee meeting will be held on Feb. 8, at the Marshall National Guard Armory, Schneekloth said. She encouraged people or community groups who are interested in being a part of Yellow Ribbon Community efforts to visit the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon website, beyondtheyellowribbon.org. Contact information for the Marshall community group can be found at beyondtheyellowribbon.org/marshall.

Source: http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/531756.html

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