We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charles Strange. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charles below.
Charles, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
My son Michael was an extremely generous person. He would help anyone in need and was the kind of guy who included everyone…if someone were sitting alone at a table, Michael was the guy who would invite him to join the crowd. Michael always wanted to show his love and concern for others. He taught me alot.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
The Michael Strange Foundation is a non profit serving America’s Gold Star Families. Our Foundation offers weekend retreats for the families of our fallen military. These retreats give families the opportunity to come together, share their stories, talk about their loved ones and know that they are never alone. Families are provided with lodging, travel, meals and counselling at no cost to them. Many families have suffered their grief alone, they thought there was no one else who was going through the emotional trauma they were experiencing, the heartache and loneliness that they felt, and no one else understood their pain. Our retreats allow them to meet other families who have experienced the same tragedy and to make and build lifelong friendships. They realize they are not alone.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The beginning of this Foundation was the hardest because I had just lost my son. But I was determined to meet others and share my experience with them and to hear how they dealt with their loss. So I think perseverance is most important. After that I think that you have to be able to be compassionate and to understand that everyone grieves differently, so compassion and understanding are imperative. In order to be able to provide these weekend retreats at no cost we need to fundraise. So I need to be able to ask people for help. That is sometimes difficult but it is a necessity. I need to communicate to others the importance of these retreats. We feel that our Gold Star Families have already paid the ultimate so we always want to make it easy for them to spend a weekend working on healing. It is important to communicate our mission to others.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always looking for people who would like to help our Gold Star Families. Whether it be a financial donation, a donation of goods or services, a donation of their talent (counsellors, volunteers to help at the retreat, etc). We run at least two retreats per year with 20 to 30 families attending from all over the United States so we are always looking for people who want to be a part of the weekend or the fundraising for the weekend. If interested you can call 215-983-4470 or email [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: michaelstrangefoundation.org
- Facebook: Michael Strange Foundation
Image Credits
2 Photos provided by US Navy
