TOPEKA, Kan. - To honor businesses that support employees who are members of the National Guard and Reserve components, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a proclamation on Monday, Sept. 15, naming the week of Sept. 14-20, 2008, as Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week.

"The men and women of our National Guard and military Reserve components are a special kind of citizen," said Sebelius. "They have jobs in restaurants, auto shops, insurance companies, the medical professions, law enforcement and any other job you can think of. When they are called away to state active duty or to serve at the federal level, they leave a hole in their workplace. Quite often, deployments can be a hardship not only on the families they leave behind, but on those business owners who employ them."

"I am so proud of those Kansas business who get behind their National Guard or Reserve employees," she said, "who keep their job waiting for their return and offer other support to them and their families."
"Without the support of employers, we couldn't be nearly as effective as we are," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general. "It gives our soldiers and airmen a certain peace of mind knowing that their boss has their back when they are deployed."