Operation Vacation sponsored by The Rotary Club of Austin & Killeen, Killeen Toyota, Austin Hotel Lodging Association, Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau and Greater Austin Restaurant Association hosted our July military family from Ft. Hood. SSG Enrique Elizalde, his wife and two children Liam (3 yrs.) and Levi (16 mos.) received a complimentary two night stay at the Hampton Inn Downtown including breakfast, a fabulous dinner on Friday nite compliments of The Hill’s Café and Saturday nite at the County Line on the Hill.
 

The family also got to enjoy such attractions like The Children’s Museum, Austin Park & Pizza, Dart Bowl and Taco Bell. We received an email from the family thanking us for allowing them quality time in Austin after a long year of duty overseas. Thanks to all of our sponsors for this great way to show our appreciation to our military. God bless America! Mary Reynolds

Operation Vacation once a month selects one soldier and his (her) family from Ft. Hood and sends them on a weekend vacation all expenses paid to Austin, Texas. Ft. Hood gives the soldier the weekend off and the program partners do the rest. The main requirement in the selection of this family is the fact that the soldier has either already served duty in Iraq/ Afghanistan or will be going there in the near future. The goal of the program is to provide recognition and quality relaxation time for these families who have willingly sacrificed their own needs to defend and service our country. The project in Austin started in the fall of 2007 through Rotary.