Catching Pokémon & Making Memories at Quantico West

If you’ve ever attended or planned a USO program, you know there are many big picture ways to summarize events. Where was the event located? How many people attended? What activity was offered? What food was provided?

We host and execute thousands of events at the USO, and it’s easy to sum them up quickly by those big details– to have one great success and then the next day wake up and gear up for the next.

But for those who have attended these events, you know while the big details matter, it’s the little details that are remembered most by all involved.

The Quantico West team recently hosted for the 2nd year a special Pokémon Day for their military families. The big details: they maxed out their reservations at 130 guests. They gave away over 30 raffle prizes. They hosted a Scavenger Hunt to find Pokémon throughout the event.  And, there were plenty of sweet treats to go around – of course!

The Internal Comms team connected with Taisha Jacobs, Center Operations Specialist who coordinated the event, along with dedicated USO Volunteers: Kate Scoffield, a retired Marine, along with Major Ryan Moore and Major Melvin Jacobs, both Marines actively serving at Quantico.

The group collectively shared many highlights from the event: bonding over the kids' excitement, how children big and small couldn’t wait to catch Pokémon at the event, and how many dressed up in costume – including some parents. They talked about how Quantico is a unique duty station, where there isn’t just an existing community to join there, that the USO is truly a beacon that creates those moments of connection and home for those assigned there. The volunteers echoed one another’s sentiments about joining the USO for the opportunity to give back, to create memories for service members and families, especially our littlest patriots – providing smiles when they need them most.

Taisha also shared that she had been on a several month-long hunt herself leading up to the Pokémon event, trying to find the newly released “Prismatic Evolutions” Pokémon set. They were exceptionally hard to find, but she knew they would make the event even more special to raffle some decks off to attendees. Though after months of searching she was not having much luck. Major Moore, as it turns out, has his own little Pokémon side-business collecting and selling cards. So, after weeks of Taisha searching, Major Moore ended up arriving with three Elite Trainer Boxes (ETBs as the Pokémon Trainers call them) of Prismatic Evolutions willing to donate and raffle them off to deserving kids at the event. A moment Taisha said made the day just that much more special for those who came.

When Taisha shared how much it meant to create those memories for families at the event, it was evident the deep sense of pride and care Major Moore also felt in being a part of these moments for our service members and families. He even shared how it certainly wasn’t just him who made the event special, but that Taisha’s efforts are truly what did it. He expressed how Taisha was there with her new daughter in tow, when she could have easily delegated and handed the reigns to other teammates and volunteers. But Taisha wanted to be there to see the event come to life, to be there for all those details that matter most.

Congrats to the Quantico West team for another memorable event, and for creating those meaningful moments both big & small along the way – not just for those we serve, but for each other.