If you’ve ever seen an episode of N.C.I.S., you’ve no doubt heard the expression “Semper Fi,” which is short for Semper Fidelis, the motto of every United States Marine. The translation of this Latin expression is an eternal and collective commitment to the success of our battles, the progress of our Nation, and the steadfast loyalty to the fellow Marines we fight alongside.
Allow me to introduce you to a memorable Marine mom named Molly Ambrose, who is one of approximately 600 Marine Moms in Minnesota. In 2015, Molly’s son Nick enlisted in the Marine Corps. Soon, Molly began to package and send “care kits” to Nick. One day, a fellow Marine mom invited Molly to attend a once-a-month get-together for Marine moms, which she attended.
About 45-65 moms were at this meeting, each of them willing to work in concert with one another stuffing care kits to send overseas. Molly could appreciate the concept but knew she worked better alone, so she set out to do just that. She named her company Semper Fi Flo and began to ask for donations. One of her first donations came from local elementary schools. Imagine her surprise when she received 800 pounds of candy! After that, Molly convinced the “My Pillow” company to donate 50 travel pillows for her boxes. In the spring of 2017, My Pillow donated another 336 travel pillows and even took care of boxing up and shipping charges to the tune of $8,000.
Once “just a mom,” Molly needed to think bigger. She could no longer continue to purchase most of the items herself, so she turned to Facebook. Word quickly got out, and soon, she hit another home run! Molly has maintained her service to the Marines and expanded her services to include the Army, Navy, and Air Force! Somedays, she drives to five locations a day throughout the metro, filling up her vehicle with items to send overseas.
As more people learned about Molly’s incomparable talent in securing items for hundreds of veterans, she began to get calls from veteran service officers in a variety of communities. Often the VSO’s conversation would start with, “Hello, is there any way you can offer relief to a family in our community that has lost their home to a fire?” Sometimes, it was simply a family that needed food and clothing for their children. Often, it was a family struggling to pay for heating their home, or worse, to help them with a house payment to keep the eviction notice at bay.
Today, Molly, her husband, Tim, and her nine board of directors work with 128 military families in our immediate area. She has shipped over 6,000 packages overseas, and yet this ever-ready bunny forges on! “My son once asked me, now that I am out of the Marines, why do you continue to do this? I just said because it’s my mission.”
I enjoyed learning about “Mission Night Owl.” Molly tells me, “During the Christmas season, we have so many local veteran families who rely on us to help provide their families with a good Christmas. So, we make deliveries during the night when we know that mom, dad, and the “littles” are asleep. Like most successful missions, we focus on our target, which is their front door. We make the drop, and then we disappear without ever being caught,” says Molly. If you would like to donate to Molly’s ongoing mission, go to Facebook and type Semperfiflo into the search bar. Learn more: https://semperfiflo.org/
Note from Rebecca A. Hahn: This is the first of four articles annually that will showcase the good deeds of our neighbors. We'd love to hear if you know someone or an organization that is giving back. You can send your ideas and comments to our editor or me personally, Rebecca A. Hahn, care of Lauren Beaubaire at lauren.beaubaire@citylifestyle.com.