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Help for the Holidays

This winter, an estimated 140,000 U.S. military personnel will be serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, in combat environments or in support of combat operations. Some will be on their 4th or 5th deployments–spending yet another Holiday away from the loving arms of family and friends. We want them to know that they are remembered, that we are thinking of them during the winter Holiday Season, and that we are grateful for their service. Since we can’t all wrap our arms around them in person to show how much we love and appreciate them, Soldiers’ Angels needs your help to make sure each one of America’s heroes is Wrapped in Holiday Spirit.

Wrapped in Holiday Spirit & Blankets of Belief

Please help us make sure that our deployed Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines this Holiday Season know: “We haven’t forgotten you, we support you, and we believe in you!”

Handmade “Blankets of Belief” form the heart of the Soldiers’ Angels Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages for the 2009 Holiday Season. These special Blankets are designed to tell America’s service men and women, “We believe in you.” When deployed service members receive a Blanket of Belief, they know that somebody back home remembers them, that somebody labored over a handmade blanket with love and belief in them. Along with the handmade Blanket, each Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care package includes a collection of yummy snacks, socks, and a holiday card with a personal note of thanks and support.

Many Ways to Help

• Spread the word with a general info flyer, or a flyer about sending holiday greeting cards [pdf files].
• Make a Blanket of Belief (we have a no-sew-option!)
• Donate a complete care package (you can now donate in honor of someone) or contribute hot chocolate packets toward care packages — select “Any Hero” for shipping address
• Donate other care package items: gum, candy/health bars, Tootsie Rolls, and white or khaki athletic/boot socks. Please include a note inside each box that contains your name, address, phone number, and an itemized list of contents with estimated value. Click here to purchase bulk items at a discount rate and ship directly to Soldiers’ Angels.

Soldiers’ Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218

Soldiers’ Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
112 Greenhill Road
Ramseur, NC 27316

Soldiers’ Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
914 Tourmaline Dr
Newbury Park, CA 91320

Help cover the cost of shipping 140,000 care packages overseas

Soldiers’ Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
1792 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104

140,000 Care Packages!

Please help Soldiers’ Angels place a gift and personal message of support into the hands of each deployed military man and woman this December. Help us tell them, “We believe in you!”

We are committed to providing Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages to every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s around 140,000 gifts to purchase, assemble, and ship halfway around the world! This is a big challenge but with your support and our wonderful group of hard-working volunteers, it can be done!

“I am part of [an] Air Control Squadron deployed to Iraq. I would like to thank your organization for the care package I received on Thanksgiving Day here in Iraq. The contents were very thoughtful and useful, and I greatly appreciated it. I would also like to thank the young ladies of Brownie Troop 547 in Buxton, Maine for their Christmas card.

Being away from our families and loved ones at this time of year is a definite hardship and this package has helped deal with the stresses of deployed life. Thank you again and God Bless you.”

Captain A.B.

“To those that have taken their time to prepare the packages for soldier’s here in Iraq: Thank you so much for the kind Christmas thoughts. Please see the attached. Happy holidays!!”

MSG Hyer

Tremendous thanks to Business Christmas cards leader Prudent Publishing for their generous donation of cards for the care packages for the third year in a row!

Soldiers’ Angels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations are tax deductible. Please consult your tax adviser for details.

Soldiers’ Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000

Posted earlier this week to the Soldiers’ Angels Network blog:

Members of Soldiers’ Angels’ volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year’s online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition, which helps provide America’s wounded soldiers with voice-controlled laptops and other technology that supports their physical and psychological recovery.

Divided among four “virtual teams,” a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11. If the teams of online fundraisers can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement.

In just over four years, Project Valour-IT has given 4,100 voice-controlled laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, and has supplied additional items that may be a surprising fit in a recovery regimen–Wii game systems and handheld GPS devices.

“This project changes lives,” says Patton-Bader. “Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again. Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports! And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope. With all that this project can do for our heroes, I’m happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!”

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence. Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Details of the current fundraising competition are available at www.soldiersangels.org and www.valour-it.blogspot.com. Donations can be made online at Soldiers’ Angels, or by sending checks or money orders to Soldiers’ Angels, Valour-IT Fund, 1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104.

Established in 2003, Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing aid and comfort to the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, veterans and military families. For more information, www.soldiersangels.org or 623-570-3903. Tax ID# 20-0583415

If a soldier was a starfish

Posted to the SA Network blog, a great “why we do it” allegory:

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise, to walk by the ocean’s edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the morning dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin. As I approached, I realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night’s tide, stopping now and then to pick up starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea.

I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. “The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back into the sea.”

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond eyesight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth’s plan became clear to me and I countered, “But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference.”

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, “I made a difference to that ONE.”

Can you make a difference? www.SoldiersAngels.org

Blankets of Belief

Last holiday season our heroes loved receiving their homemade blankets from Soldiers Angels, and it we’re doing it again this year! In Iraq winter nights are quite cool, and temperatures in Afghanistan can reach -20 degrees Fahrenheit!

Will you make just one blanket to help ensure that our heroes know we BELIEVE in them? Will you share this project with your family, friends, scout troops, sewing guilds, and church teams? Blankets can be either sewn or quilted, and we even have instructions for no-sew blankets!

For instructions, shipping information and a downloadable flyer, please visit www.soldiersangels.org, then click “Blankets of Belief.” For questions or comments, contact BoB@soldiersangels.org. Knitter and crocheters, please email crochet@soldiersangels.org to learn how you can get involved!

We thank you for your past support and ask you to please send your love again this year with a BLANKET OF BELIEF… and thank you on behalf of the troops we serve!

And don’t forget Rule #1: Have fun!

Dee Jerge
Vice President, Sewing Team

Can you write an extra letter or two?

Got some spare time? How about joining the Letter Writing Team and sending mail to soldiers who are waiting to be adopted and have never received any mail from anyone!

The Letter Writing Team (LWT) is made up of registered Soldiers’ Angels who enjoy writing to our heroes, and who know how important it is to hear your name called at mail call. (Sadly some soldiers get no mail at all from back home!!!) We select names from those that submit themselves through the Soldiers’ Angel website and have indicated that they would like to receive additional support. These soldiers are also assigned an Angel to provide ongoing support, but our team provides them with some extra cards and letters.

How it Works

You may sign up for as many days in the week as would like to write letters. On each day you sign up for, your assigned LWT Team Leader will send you (via email) a new name and address to write to. You are only asked to send one card or letter to each address you receive, but of course may send more if you like.

Please remember that for security reasons, all our soldiers’ addresses are confidential to Soldiers’ Angels and can only be shared with other registered Soldiers’ Angels, not outside Soldiers’ Angels.

Please note that members of the Letter Writing Team must be at least 18 years old.

You can introduce yourself as a Soldiers Angel and member of the LWT, thank the soldier (or Sailor, Airman or Marine) for their service to our country and let them know a little about yourself, your family, and anything else you would like to share (they all seem to enjoy hearing about everyday “back home” activities). We only send out regular mail addresses to LWT members, but you are welcome to include your email in your letter and you may get an email back.

Please do not include anything that could be deemed disrespectful by the soldier or could possibly make him/her feel uncomfortable. We are solely here to let the soldier know that there are people back home that care about them and their families, plus appreciate the sacrifices that they and their families make during this time.

Upon receipt of the required information, you will be assigned to one of the LWT Team Leaders and be notified as to who it is. If you are new to SA, this may take up to 72 hours. If you are currently a registered member of Soldiers’ Angels, you will receive your LWT “Team Leader” within a few hours, depending on when information was received at Soldiers’ Angels.

Your LWT Team Leader is the person who will send you the name or names on the day or days that you have requested a soldier’s name to write to. The LWT Team Leader is also your point of contact for changes to your days, adding/dropping the number of names to receive each designated day, needing to drop from the LWT, not receiving names as requested, and other questions that you may have. If the question is not related to the LWT, then you will be directed to the appropriate person or group for assistance.

Join the LWT on our website www.soldiersangels.org.

May is Military Appreciation Month

Courtesy of the Soldiers’ Angels blog:

As an all out effort to support National Military Appreciation Month, held in May, Soldiers’ Angels is asking Americans to show their appreciation for our military by adopting a deployed service member at www.SoldiersAngels.org.

This year more than any other, our service men and women need to know they are truly appreciated for their role in protecting and defending our nation’s freedom. It doesn’t take much time to become involved with Soldiers’ Angels.

To Adopt-A-Hero go to the website www.SoldiersAngels.org and click on the ADOPT button. Your commitment each month is simply a letter a week and a small package each month. Join our team. Our nation’s heroes need you. Soldiers’ Angels is the place to start to show your appreciation.

WHEREAS, The freedom and security that citizens of the United States enjoy today are direct results of the blood shed and continued vigilance given by the United States Armed Forces over the history of our great nation; and

WHEREAS, the sacrifices that such members of the United States Armed Forces and of the family members that support them, have preserved the liberties that have enriched this nation making it unique in the world community; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress, in two thousand and four, passed a resolution proclaiming May as National Military Appreciation Month, calling all Americans to remember those who gave their lives in defense of freedom and to honor the men and women of all of our Armed Services who have served and are now serving our Country, together with their families; and

WHEREAS, the months of May and June were selected for this display of patriotism because during these months, we celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Military Spouse Day, Loyalty Day, Armed Forces Day/Week, National Day of Prayer, Memorial Day, Navy Day, Army Day and Flag Day;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Patti Patton-Bader, Founder of Soldiers’ Angels, do hereby proclaim the period May 1, through June 14, 2009 as a special time to show appreciation for our Military and proclaim it as NATIONAL MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH

Patti Patton-Bader
Founder, Soldiers’ Angels

The Sack Lunches

This was posted to Wingtip 2 Wingtip yesterday. Snopes has it listed as “undetermined” as to whether it’s a true story or not. However, I think that this story’s larger message about showing appreciation for members of the armed forces is a good one.

Feel free to copy and share!

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read and perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. ‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan .’

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base ‘

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’

‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. ‘This is yours with thanks.’

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Aircraft Pilot coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base.. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.’

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers… As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a co uple of meals. It seemed so little.

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to his country for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’

That is Honor, and there are way too many people who no longer understand it.

Kids love ink pens

This morning I received an email from Caren Vink at Soldiers’ Angels HQ:

It seems that the kids in Afghanistan and Iraq want nothing more than a ink pen. A pen to a child in Afghanistan and Iraq is like a scholarship to these children. They desperately want to learn but,
without a pen, they simply won’t.

Will you help a child with their dream of owning their very first ink pen? Trust me, freedom to write is a very big deal. Anyone interested in helping these poor children would be simply wonderful.

The pens don’t have to be new but still in good condition. Clean out your junk drawer, everyone has extra pens. Ask your local businesses, banks, stores, if they would donate pens. Dollar Stores are a great place to find great deals on pens.

When our men and women in uniform give a child a pen or other school supplies, they are helping these countries by befriending the younger generation who in years to come will view the military as friends. Hopefully when they get older they will help us help their country.

If you can add, some spiral notebooks or pads of paper would be nice to toss in the package, too.

Thank you very much!

Caren Vink

If you would like to help out, please send supplies to our SA Warehouse at this address:

Soldiers’ Angels
112 Greenhill Road
Ramseur, NC 27316

Bama Angel in the news!

Posted to Baldwin County Now is a story about one of our own Bama Angels, Nancy Anderson.

DAPHNE, Ala. — Nancy Anderson is doing her part to help American soldiers stationed in Iraq feel a little closer to home. Through Soldier’s Angels — a support organization for U.S. service personnel — Anderson has committed to knitting 70 pairs of slippers for servicewomen.

Read the whole article here.

Way to go, Nancy!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Soldiers’ Angels!

Dear Service members near and far, and families so dear to all of our hearts: a thought and pray for all of you this Thanksgiving Day and every day.

You’ve Made A Difference

As Thanksgiving Day approaches,
Our blessings we recall;
The things we are most thankful for,
We recollect them all.

You are really special,
In all you say and do.
You’ve made a difference in our lives;
We’re thankful now for you.

By Joanna Fuchs

With love and support,

Soldiers’ Angels

May No Soldier Go Unloved,
May No Soldier Walk Alone,
May No Soldiers Be Forgotten,
Until They All Come Home.