Washington: Former US first lady Michelle Obama was awarded the Tom Hanks Caregivers Champion award for services to military caregivers at Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Heroes gala on Thursday.
The gala honoured the people who care for military families. It is a part of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s efforts to bring awareness to the nation’s military caregivers, offering them both financial and emotional support.
During her speech at the event, Michelle said she first became aware of the difficulties that children and spouses of those in the military face when her husband was first running for President, reported People magazine.
She said, “Not just the emotions of having your loved one in harm’s way but the difficulties of building a career as you’re being sent from base to base, the juggling of managing a household all alone, the underlying sense that no one outside the military community could really understand what you’re going through. And I pledged then and there that if my husband was elected, I’d do what I could to support these spouses.”
Earlier, the 55-year-old started a tradition of hosting military families at The White House during the holiday season.