USO Service Spotlight: Angela Tom

Angela Tom is originally from Sacramento, California, and grew up with a big family - six siblings! And, growing up near the Bay Area, she’s a huge sports fan and loves the San Francisco Giants and 49ers! In 2014, she graduated from Drexel University with master’s degree in Business Administration. Before coming to the USO, Angela worked at the University of California, Davis and the California Department of Education. Angela and her husband have been fortunate to call this beautiful island of Okinawa their home. The opportunity to uproot their lives to serve the military in a new country has given them the chance to travel to different countries, including mainland Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and South Korea just to name a few!

Fun Questions for Angela

What’s your favorite spot or activity on Okinawa: Any beach on the island, all are beautiful.

What are your favorite hobbies: traveling, anything craft-related - I love my Cricut, and kickball (shout-out to SOAKA & Pacific Ponies!)

Why do you love working at the USO? Giving back to the community has always been a priority in my life, so having this opportunity to be a part of this not for profit organization, that supports our military community aligns with my passion to serve. The best part about being a part of the USO Okinawa team is that I’m on the frontlines, supporting our families and single service members, and seeing the immediate impact when we offer our programming and events. We have something for everyone, ranging from holiday/special events, surprising units with special treats, deployments, activities for military children, and coffee chats for spouses. I love that every day we get to provide “A Home Away from Home!”

What is your favorite memory of working at the USO? One of my favorite memories is how, over the last two months during the pandemic, our team was able to quickly adapt our mission delivery by organizing drive-thru events to distribute different activity kits to our military community. Some of these kits included Easter egg decorating baskets, Disney DVDs, Koinobori activities, and Spa kits for military spouses. During these drive-thru events, families didn’t have to get out of their car, because we loaded it for them! Even during this challenging time, our mission remained constant by connecting service members and their families back to family, home and country.

Which program do you want to feature from the USO? USO Camp Foster’s Wake-Up Wednesday is a program created to provide breakfast on-the-go for our service members on their way to work. Usually on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, we set-up at one of the barracks to distribute drinks (coffee, hot cocoa, or water) and snacks (granola bars, bananas, etc.) for a little surprise boost to help get through the daily grind! If you want us to bring Wake-Up Wednesday to your barracks, email us at campfoster@uso.org.