Military mom’s Web site grows

Military mom’s Web site grows

By Leroy Standish

ADELANTO Janice Enkoff says inspiration for her Web site, www.support4ourtroops.com, came in a dream.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Army Reserve Spc. Annie Cruz, was stationed with the 349th Medical Unit in Lanstuhl, Germany.

Thoughts of her daughter and troops in Iraq were constantly with her as she worked at her part-time job as a cashier and took Web design courses with the idea of starting an Internet business.

“What I wanted to do was support our troops to boost their morale, because my daughter got very depressed over there,” Enkoff said. “I just had a dream and I came up with the name.”

The Web site went on line in October and was fully operational by the start of this year. It now lists more than 400 merchants offering almost everything a soldier and his family could want. It has clips of patriotic music, pictures of military families and a promise by Enkoff to donate a portion of her earnings to soldiers in need.

“What I wanted was a place for people to go and find a lot of stuff,” she said. “A one-stop shop plus they are helping the troops at the same time.”

The site also has a message board allowing visitors to leave greetings, links to various foundations and links to various military organizations.

When Enkoff started her cyber adventure she was working as a cashier at various horse racing tracks around Southern California.

“I am really new at this stuff,” she said. “I know there are a lot of things I could help with.”

She is in the process of setting up a non-profit 501(c)3. Once the Internal Revenue Service clears the paper work she will have that posted as a link on her site.

LeRoy Standish may be reached at 951-6277 or [email protected].