Today at Fayetteville Technical Community College, Governor Josh Stein announced that North Carolina is becoming a Do Your Part State, a joint initiative between Blue Star Families and the National Governors Association. Recognizing that community support for military families is crucial to military recruiting and readiness, this initiative helps states identify, prioritize and implement the most effective policies and programs to support military families.

Blue Star Families is a national nonprofit organization that supports military families – known as Blue Star families – through the challenges of military life by helping connect them with the communities where they live during their servicemembers’ military assignments. 

During a ceremony held at Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC), Stein signed an official proclamation designating North Carolina as a Do Your Part State. 

During his address, Stein highlighted some of the legislation voted into law  by the state to support military families including four bills recently signed into law that support service members and their families. These bills help military spouses transfer their professional licenses from out of state, make it easier to remotely renew drivers licenses, aid parents in enrolling their kids in public school and help military students afford tuition in the University of North Carolina System. By participating in the Do Your Part initiative, North Carolina renews its dedication to bettering the lives of service members and their families.

FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells was able to welcome the guests to campus, designated a Military Friendly School for 2024-2025, by highlighting the College’s military forward initiatives such as the Veterans Center located on campus, the Fort Bragg Education Training Center located on Fort Bragg, military scholarships and ongoing engagements such as military appreciation events and Veteran support efforts. 

Dr. Sorrells also highlighted current education programs taking place on campus and ongoing workforce development projects. 

“We have a number of partnerships directly with Fort Bragg, one that we're very proud of was Project Pathfinder, which is a project that we were working with the Army Research Center out of [the] Pentagon [and] the XVIII Airborne Corps to really help them train an AI system to identify intelligence from satellite imagery. We have a dedicated lab, where we had 40 to 45 students in turn, they came here every day and worked for 25 hours labeling intelligence,” shared Dr. Sorrells. “We've also partnered with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center

 to initiate NC BioWorks. And this past year, we've trained 43 soldiers in bio work and connected them to employment in North Carolina.” 

Before moving on to the proclamation signing, retired U.S. Army Lit. General Gwen Bingham, chair of the Blue Star Families Board of Directors, was able to share some final thoughts. 

“We are so proud and grateful for the stalwart leadership and vision of our co-founder and CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet. Because of Kathy's vision, more than 16 years ago now, Blue Star Families has grown to become the nation's largest organization supporting military families in places where they serve. To that end, we are incredibly proud of the Do Your Part initiative. This initiative isn't just about families. It really benefits everyone,” shared Bingham.