Among the many pre-Fourth of July celebrations offered this year in the Bayou City, I commemorated America’s birthday with friends, family, and volunteers of Grace After Fire at a Sugarland Skeeters baseball game. It was a great evening to attend an outside event. The skies were overcast, and the temperature was a tolerable 88 degrees.

This June 28th game, a faceoff with the Highpoint Rockers of North Carolina, was advertised as a “Guaranteed Win” for all. This “good luck” promotion was part of a campaign to turn Sugarland’s AAA baseball record into a winning streak this season.

Houston native and former Major League Baseball (MLB) player James Loney coaches and plays for the Sugarland Skeeters. Loney was named as the coach of the Skeeters in February 2019. He is an Elkins High School alumnus and a former MLB player for the LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets.

The Skeeters arranged the game as a fundraising event for Grace After Fire (GAF). Custom-designed patriotic team jerseys were printed for the team and offered for sale. All proceeds from the sales of the patriotic jerseys were contributed directly to GAF to support its vision: “Helping women veterans help themselves.” Specifically, GAF provides support to women veterans and to their immediate families.

Grace After Fire

GAF, a nonprofit organization, is committed to aiding women veterans in a way that guides them through the transition back into family life, back into achievements in the work place, and back to their pursuit of happiness. Activities such as Table Talk™: Color Me Camo, a peer-to-peer program, as well as other events offered by GAF give women veterans a safe place for fellowship and a chance to mend their lives via a path they choose.

Mea Williams, CEO and President of GAF, described this veterans’ organization in a recent interview with writer-documentarian Chloe McFeters. Williams explained that “many women veterans face the challenge of finding a sense of belonging. It’s hard sometimes to go back into a community where the people have not served and don’t quite understand the mindset of those who have served.”

Williams followed the discussion with this summary: “Grace After Fire helps with the challenges that veterans face, such as finding a sense of purpose; identifying a career that fits the skills learned and practiced in the military; and finding a support system of people who ‘get it.’”

Williams herself served in the United States Navy for more than six years in Norfolk, Virginia. She began her military career as part of the crash and salvage team on board the USS Bataan, then later followed her interests into journalism.

Many volunteers in GAF, like Williams, are also women veterans who want to help others start anew. These veterans, as well as many others, were recognized from home plate.

Recognition from Home Plate

The Sugarland Skeeters game presented an ideal time and location for Williams to say “thank you” from the home plate. At the start of the event, Williams recognized those who have served, the veterans who were present, and also those who have contributed to the mission of GAF.

Veterans honored at the event included Shavonne Broom, U.S. Army; Suni Williams, U.S. Navy; Erica Spence, U.S. Navy; Tana Kellner, U.S. Air Force; Terry Bonner, U.S. Army; Amelia Peacock, U.S. Marine Corps; Trasa Bass, U.S. Navy; and Sarah Morgan, U.S. Navy.

Additional honorees included Freddie Allen and Joe DaMico of Baker Hughes; Mark Mulqueen, Dave Clemen, and Brian Freedman of Boeing; Susan Jasoszewski of Catholic Charities; and Dr. Wyona Freysteinson of the Stark College of Nursing at Texas Woman’s University.

Boeing and Baker Hughes have both previously hosted fundraisers for GAF.

Dr. Freysteinson is presently participating in research designed to help women rebuild their self-image after sexual trauma.

The Skeeters hosted and catered a buffet-style dinner for honorees and special guests in the Insperity Club. The Club is centrally located on the top floor of Constellation Stadium and provides the perfect atmosphere for dining and watching an event from the “sky box.”

Guests selected from a smorgasbord of foods: fish, pork, chicken, roast beef, casseroles, salads, and, of course, the all-American favorite for baseball games—hotdogs!

Private suites were also made available for the GAF guests and honorees. Each suite, approximately the size of a hotel room, provided a private restroom and covered seating with a direct view of the field. GAF added special patriotic décor to welcome guests.

Added Features for the Evening

Ed Farris, president of the National United States Armed Forces Museum, and his team coordinated a unique display of military vehicles in the entryway of Constellation Field for the public to see and touch. I noticed many interested guests step close to the vehicles for a good look, and some sat on the vehicles’ seats.

GAF distributed signed copies of their team photo (above) to all who attended. The GAF team showed themselves to be truly in a “League of Their Own.”

Ellen Sheehan, owner of the Photographer’s Learning Studio, and her students were in charge of the official photographs for the event. Sheehan’s studio provides the Sugarland Skeeters with complimentary photo services, while the Skeeters’ games provide Sheehan’s students with opportunities to take photographs during fast-action and live sporting events.

Bonnie Rosensteel, still on active duty, was another contributor to the success of the event. She closed the event with a heartfelt rendition of “God Bless America.”

If there is anything that I have learned about coordinating events, the most important point is that it takes more than just a few people to make an event successful. The military display, the signed photos, the gratis photography service, and the national anthem were each a home run!

Guaranteed Win for All

By the end of the game, the Rockers had outscored the Skeeters. However, the game was far from a loss for the Skeeters. Sugarland successfully pulled off its “Guaranteed Win” promotion at Constellation Field that evening. Grand finale fireworks lit the sky, and everyone went home as winners with complimentary tickets to any Skeeters game this season.

Thank you, Sugarland Skeeters! You really know how to load the bases for special causes in the Bayou City!

And thank you to all who serve and make sacrifices to keep our freedoms in America. Happy Birthday, America!

Sponsor and Volunteer with GAF

GAF needs sponsors and volunteers. If you are interested in sponsoring or volunteering, contact Mea Williams directly at mea@graceafterfire.org.

If you are a woman veteran in need of assistance from GAF, visit https://www.graceafterfire.org, select “Become a Member” on the home page, and fill out the request form.

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