Remembering the Military During Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is named after two among of the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide (second only to Christmas), but it is not just an American holiday. In fact, Norfolk celebrates Jack Valentine, in Denmark and Norway Valentine's Day is known as Valentinsdag, and in Turkey it is called Sevgililer Günü, which translates into "Sweethearts' Day".

Valentine's Day marks a time when some civilians may be proposing, others celebrating anniversaries in romantic places, and even more using the date as an excuse to finally ask out a special someone, but not all many couples will have a chance to celebrate together. There are men and women who will be separated from their loved ones because of serving their country overseas or perhaps have lost their life due to service. This Valentine's Day, WhatisAverage.com would like to say thank you to these men and women and the organizations that support this cause.



Spotlighting organizations serving those who serve

We owe this ability to freely celebrate almost any event in our lives to the service men and women who have given their lives or are currently serving overseas to protect that freedom. An organization I'd like to spotlight in our first philanthropic initiative of 2010 is The Gold Star Wives of America (GSW). The GSW is a non-profit organization of military widows/widowers whose spouse died while on active duty or from service connected disabilities.  This military survivors organization has been serving war widows from all conflicts and service connected disabilities since it was founded in 1945. I recently spoke with representatives of the south central region chapter and they explained that they have noticed a lack of awareness among the Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans and are excited to be spotlighted in hopes of spreading the word to our Veteran families.

Promotion for participants

In addition to the Veterans who have given their lives to service, WhatisAverage.com would like to help couples currently separated due to service of their country a little less painful this February 14th by bringing memories of family to them. I spoke with the same group of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Baghdad, Iraq from my previous initiative to get some good initial ideas for this month's featured survey, "What are some good gifts for couples that will be separated during Valentine's Day?" Please visit the survey and provide input while spreading the word to other Veterans' families who are affected. All proceeds from this survey will go The Gold Star Wives of America and you can donate directly to their organization by clicking here.

To encourage participation and show our appreciation for these families, WhatisAverage.com is giving away the top recommended product to two randomly selected families who are registered on the site and who will be separated due to service to their county on Valentine's Day. Our hope is that we can make this separation a little less painful by giving them gifts like a digital photo frame, a pre-paid cell phone, or a flip video camcorder. We will also randomly select another registered member to receive the top recommended product on Valentine's Day.  To kick off this initiative, we will be randomly selecting registered members daily to receive free iTune's gift cards from WhatisAverage.com from February 1st through the 14th.  You must be a registered member of WhatisAverage.com and a US citizen to participate. No purchase necessary, please see complete details on the site.

Thanks again to the service men and women of this Country. You can help spread the message by posting a link to this story on Facebook, Twitter or your own personal blog. Contact Dan at Dan.Coomes@WhatisAverage.com if you or your business would like get involved.