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An American Soldiers"Date Night"

 Program Outline:

An American Soldier's "Date Night" (AASDN) has been created to honor and reward soldiers who have either just returned from a tour of duty or those who are embarking upon a tour of duty. With AASDN and its parent agency Community Commitment an evening of fun and relaxation will be created for Louisiana men and women who are willingly serving our country.

Our program design is as follows:

An active Louisiana soldier/reserve officer completing or preparing to depart for an assignment away from the continental U.S. will be provided with a special night of dinner and a possible hotel stay with their desired loved one. AASDN will take care of securing and paying for the transportation, meal, and hotel stay. All AASDN dates will occur within the New Orleans Metropolitan Area.

How do we choose families/soldiers for the AASDN?

The military personnel to receive the service must be within a three (3) month window of returning or leaving for a tour of duty and must have completed an application and phone interview with an AASDN worker. Applications for the AASDN can be downloaded from the www.communitycommitment.net website or can be obtained via mail/fax by contacting Community Commitment at 504-861-0202. Once all of the information has been obtained the AASDN recipients will be contacted and given a date for their "Date Night." All participants will be required to complete and mail in a service completion survey within one week of receiving their date.

Testimonials of the AASDN Kick Off February 14, 2011.

#1

My name is 1SG Haliburton, Gwen and I'm with HHC 199th BSB. I'm thankful that Community Commitment Inc. has initiated a program like this. My husband and myself drove to New Orleans on Valentine's Day and wasn't sure what to expect. Once we arrived we were immediately greeted by Nicole Bouie with open arms telling us thank you for your service. Our evening continued to excel with roses, stretched limo, dinner at a wonderful restaurant and then a wonderful night of listening to jazz at a jazz club and then ended the evening at a historic hotel. Every place we went the people were very appreciative to the service members. After spending a year in Iraq it was wonderful coming home to my family. However, having a 4 year old makes it a little difficult for my husband and I spend time together. This program gave us a wonderful reunion. My husband is retired military and he had nothing but great things to say about the program. I think this program is a wonderful program for the military and I strongly encourage Commanders and First Sergeants to utilize this program for their soldiers. I think this would be a great program as well for soldiers who lost family members or suffered some challenges while deployed. I think this would let them know how much the community appreciates their sacrifice.

#2

Thanks to Community Commitment my wife and I were able to enjoy a beautiful and romantic dinner cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez as well as a night at a quaint Bed and Breakfast on Valentine's Night. Upon our arrival at the Bed and Breakfast we were warmly greeted by Nicole and Ursula and we were each given a half dozen long stem roses. A photographer then captured our memories at the House by having us pose throughout the house together as well as in a limousine which then brought us to the riverboat for our dinner reservations. After dinner aboard the boat we were met by the limousine again which then brought us back to the Bed and Breakfast for the conclusion of our Date Night.

We feel that this Organization is doing a wonderful thing for Soldier's and their loved ones by offering this program. After being separated for such a long period of time it is good to spend quality time together to re-connect. This program offers that time to accomplish this without the daily chaos of life at home.

Shelley Landry and Morgan