Vikings, United Heroes League Continue Support of Military Families

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Gallegos added: "I joined pretty young, so this has always kind of been a lifestyle for me as well, because I joined when I was 17, so more than half my life, I've been in the service."


She said her training has helped her adjust.


"Some days are better than others, as far as balancing everything, but getting them out and socializing and being able to still have that has definitely been helping a little bit," Gallegos said. "Definitely, the resiliency factor and just being able to take stuff as it comes and work through it. Having this experience has helped us adapt."


Matthews agreed that his training has helped him adapt, a benefit of service that began with his desire to give back.


"I feel like I was very fortunate. Sometimes, being born in America, we don't realize all of the freedoms that we have," Matthews said. "Through service, you start to realize those things, that freedom isn't free and we have a lot of opportunities here that we wouldn't have if we were born somewhere else."


Vivian noted: "I don't think the kids realized how much they loved school. They miss it."


She and Matthews have adjusted to helping with the home schooling and have "been getting through it OK."


"We go through a lot of ups and downs in military service and really preach adapting and overcoming the situations that come," Matthews said. "So as challenges come, it's a new challenge, but you deal with it the same way: take it in, see what's there, apply some logic to it and move forward."


United Heroes League President and Founder Shane Hudella, who retired as an Army 1st Sgt., described the way his training has helped the nonprofit adjust to a year unlike any other.


"Most of our staff here are military veterans, and one of the key things you learn when you serve is you have to improvise, adapt and overcome," Hudella said. "It's very cool to see the Vikings adopting that as well. Even though players may not be able to be out in the community in person, they figured out a way. The Vikings, along with the players, figured out a way to still give that special moment to military families."


The Vikings also delivered a $10,000 grant to help the nonprofit provide football equipment free of charge to military families, a big lift multiple times over.


"United Heroes League exists to help military families build confidence, friendships and engagement through sports," Hudella explained. "The way we do that is we give military kids, especially, everything they need to play the game they love, so free equipment and grants to help with fees, interactions with some of our pro ambassadors and tickets to pro games and youth camps.


"This year, with COVID-19, we've had some pretty remarkable challenges," he added. "Back in March when the virus hit, a lot of corporate America really closed their checkbooks, and donations have been down significantly all year for us. With the craziness of 2020, it's been hard for a lot of nonprofits, us included. We we're really amazed and really grateful when the Vikings stepped up big to provide a grant to our foundation so that we could ensure military families still had everything they needed for their kids to play football. … Keeping the kids active is a great way for them to cope with some of the challenges."