By Brian O’Malley
After 1,200 nationwide nominations and a national vote yielding more than 86,000 votes, River Hills resident Holly Vega has been named the 2019 Armed Forces Insurance Marine Corps Spouse of the Year®. Vega is currently stationed with her husband, Javier Vega, Lieutenant Colonel, attached to MARCENT.
Now in its 12th year honoring the dedication and sacrifices of our nation’s more than 1.1 million military spouses, Armed Forces Insurance is proud to recognize military spouses from all six branches of the Armed Forces making a difference in their communities.
Vega has served the military in numerous volunteer capacities to include family readiness volunteer coordinator, liaison for international spouses and L.I.N.K.S. mentor with Marine Corps Family Team Building. She is most known for her work with children. Having three of her own, Vega has eagerly volunteered as a Girl Scout Troop Leader, PTO chairperson, school military children’s club co-leader and DODEA school board member. Spending time with her family and being a role model for family values is what makes her heart happy.
Speaking of hearts, Vega is also a healthy heart advocate and co-leader for Military Hearts Matter through the American Heart Association (AHA).
“My family means the world to me and being involved in their lives is incredibly important. Our love only grows stronger as we move and grow in different locations,” said Vega. “It has also helped us gain a greater appreciation and love for all of the military families we have met along the way, and I look forward to connecting with other like-minded spouses through this award program. I hope to encourage mentorship across the board and empower spouses to be who they are and recognize how their unique and individual gifts are all important to our military community.”
As a branch winner, Vega is now a step closer to being named the overall 2019 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year® (MSOY). Through a combination of popular vote and judging panels, the nominees have been whittled down to base winners and then six branch winners.
After the final vote conducted on March 7-8, the overall winner will be announced at an awards dinner on Thursday, May 9 at Fort Meyer in Arlington, VA in conjunction with National Military Spouse Appreciation Day, which occurs on Friday, May 10.
To learn more, please visit www.msoy.afi.org.
