USO Great Lakes find Success in First Drive Thru USO No-Dough Dinner

In honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day and Military Appreciation Month, USO Illinois hosted its inaugural Drive Thru USO No-Dough Dinner for our service members and their families on Friday, May 8th. The event was held in partnership with the Gary Sinise Foundation with support from PepsiCo. The Drive Thru No-Dough Dinner served over 350 military members and their families and by the 5PM start time, there were over 50 cars lined up and ready to receive their individually packaged meals! In addition, USO’s Mobile Unit, Big Blue, stopped by for a visit to hand out USO swag and spa care packages for Military Spouse Appreciation Day. USO Illinois has pledged to do four Drive Thru No-Dough dinners in June and four in July to ensure our military and their families continue to receive support from the USO Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has made a huge impact on the lives our military and their families. Travel restrictions, spouses deployed to the frontlines of the pandemic, and the lack of access to needed supported – now is the time to step up for our military communities,” said Chris Schmidt, USO Illinois Executive Director. “Our teams have pivoted operations to ensure we are still supporting our men and women in uniform and their families with the programs and services, like our USO No-Dough Dinners, that they have come to expect from the us.”

USO No-Dough Dinners are a year-round program, offered at the USO Great Lakes Center, that provides the civilian community an opportunity to express their appreciation by supporting homestyle dinner events that offer free meals the evening before payday to service members and their families.

Thank you to Gary Sinise Foundation and PepsiCo for their continued support!