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Spreading holiday cheer to Gold Star families

Posted at 12:23 AM, Dec 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-13 00:23:23-05

The children of fallen U.S. servicemen nationwide, Gold Star families, will soon get a visit from Santa’s helpers. It is all thanks to the vision and tireless efforts of a local family.

I caught up with Lyette Reback at a Wal-Mart store in Jupiter. Her volunteer shopping army included 6 of her 16 children. They bought presents, lots of them.

Lyette runs Believe With Me. She and her husband started the organization out of North Palm Beach four years ago following a chance meeting with a Gold Star mom. Lyette told me, “I made friends with a mother who lost her son in the Navy and when I would feel overwhelmed or overcome with the struggles we were having, I would think about her son and what he had done for us.”

The effort grows each year and the organization run events year-round to raise money to finance the giving. We saw other volunteers at the store who had enlisted in the cause.

Tracy Ward is one of them. Her firm, Keller Williams, wanted to help. She said, “I do it for America, support our troops, our fallen soldiers.”

It all adds up to a beautiful holiday effort, and every present will arrive at a home, up to 1,000 homes across the USA, with the same message, one of caring and lasting support.