Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers’ Angels and favorite Mom

Charity founder wins favorite mom award

She says she’ll put winnings toward troops
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 13, 2008 16:29:11 EDT

Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers’ Angels, has been named America’s Favorite Mom and has won $250,000 — which she intends to use to benefit more troops.

Patton-Bader was named the winner of the contest on an NBC-TV show Sunday honoring the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day. Although she is mother to a soldier currently deployed in Iraq and another who was previously deployed, Patton-Bader is, in effect, a mother to many more troops and their families because of her army of Soldiers’ Angels volunteers, who have sent hundreds of thousands of packages to deployed troops as well as helped the wounded.

When she found out she’d won the grand prize, Patton-Bader said, she was shocked, but at the same time, she knew the honor was not hers alone. “When I stood there, there also stood all the mothers who have raised heroes, and all our boots on the ground, and all the people who support them,” she said.

“I was glad this was bringing some attention to the troops,” she said. “All the work, all the sacrifices troops have made. People understand. They get it. They’re in there supporting the troops.”

The $250,000 will go back to the troops, expanding her work in a new direction, she said. She is looking for property for a retreat for troops when they return from the war zone.

“The end goal is a piece of property where we can put up cabins, or mobile homes, a place where they can come to relax, fish and ride horses ... just have fun with their families,” Patton-Bader said.

By the afternoon after the TV show, she said, she had seen another benefit — an uptick in the number of people wanting to adopt troops.

“Our database had a waiting list of over 1,000 troops waiting to be adopted, and now it’s less than 800,” she said.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_militarymom_051308w/