You may remember me from the late Capitol Hill News Open Thread with the very capable and newly graduated with advance degree Casual Wednesday. Now another kossack, jlms qkw, asked for volunteers for this series.
It will be my honor to contribute. The woozle has gone and fallen for a troop.
We are waiting for them all to come home. I'll share a story from my spouse's family tomorrow.
After being part of the German-speaking brethren in Pennsylvania, my family moved south. They crossed the Potomac River and stopped. That took about fifty years.
They served in the Civil War. One relative was sent home to recuperate after being wounded in the First Battle of Bull Run. Two years later he was a victim of a deadly raid at his house. The family story is that everyone knew who the robbers were. The Shenandoah Valley traded sides many times, and in 1864 General Jubal Early was harassing the B&O Railroad. There is a stone across the street from our house, in front of the middle school on the hill, noting the spot in the campaign where cannon was set up to shell the tracks.
They served in World War I. There is one name on the dedication stone at War Memorial Park, up the knoll, where the flag proudly flies. Everyone though he had died in the prisoner of war camp in Europe. The family story is that he took two years after his release at the end of the Great War to return to the United States. No one talked about it much.
They served in World War II. My great-uncle served in the Navy during the Atlantic campaign. He served in the Pacific. During his six years, he also found his wife of sixty years and they started their family. My father joined the Navy as soon as he graduated from high school. He wanted to learn to fly so they sent him to Pensacola. Then the Navy figured my dad's eyesight was not really good enough for flight school. He served out his enlistment, returned home and went to college, where he met my mom.
They served in the Korean Police Action. Another great-uncle was just under the upper age limit of the time. Off he went, leaving the shoe store to my great-aunt. She had helped her brother raise three nieces after their parents died of TB during the Depression. She helped raise my father after his mother was gone when he was thirteen. And she ran the store until her husband came home. She always stepped up to fill in whatever the family need was her entire life. At the end of her life, as the fog set in, she was still waiting for him to come home.
My new sign line comes from this: Celtic Thunder is the name of a traditional Irish band formed in 1977. The band recorded a self-titled album in 1981, the first of three albums, the year we hired them to play at our wedding reception.
We still need to remind them that we care. Please donate. Thank you.
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Our goal for Netroots For The Troops 2010 is $100,000.00 (cash or in-kind donations).
We realize that you would like to donate something tangible to go inside the packages that will be mailed to the troops. Unfortunately, accepting in-kind donations from individuals is not practical in terms of storage and handling of the items. Instead, we will only be accepting corporate donations or cash from YOU to purchase items for the care packages this year.
We are accepting hand-written or typed letters. See Lusty's diary for details. Mail hand-written letters to Lusty, email typed letters to jlms qkw, at jlms_qkwATxmissionDOTcom
Here’s how YOU can help:
1. Please contact TexDem or VeloVixen if you know someone who might be helpful in securing the corporate in-kind donations. To help you think of companies who could donate products, see below* for a list of potential items. Put your thinking caps on and let us hear from you. It takes time to get through the corporate processes so we need to hear from you ASAP!
2. We are accepting cash from individuals and beg ask that you donate here to contribute to this worthy cause. Your donation will enable us to purchase the things that we are unable to obtain through corporate donations, and will help to pay the costs of shipping them to our troops. Netroots For The Troops is a project of Netroots Arts and Education Initiative (NAEI), a 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
3. $10 donors to Patric Juliett's team receive an ebook of Tales from the Larder.
4. Netroots For The Troops is introducing NFTT 2010 Personal/Team Fundraising Pages. It will empower each of you to multiply your personal donations by creating a Personal NFTT 2010 Fundraising Page. Through this page you will be able to approach your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and colleagues etc to donate to NFTT via your page. We're asking you to sign up to personally raise $1000.00. If you were a small donor last year but wanted to do more, this is a way for you to increase your donation via your contacts.
5. Sign up for a diary! Our goal is to post two diaries per day until NN10. That’s a lot of diaries! Don’t worry---we’ve made it easy for you. We’ve got a template set up, and all you need to do is add a small introduction telling us why you are donating, sharing a story of someone you know who has served or is serving, or any other thing you want to share that might help motivate others to donate. Please contact jlms qkw if you are interested in posting a diary.
6. Do you know a service member who would like to receive a care package? Email your request to: info@netrootsforthetroops.com before June 25, 2010.
Please include all of the following information. Unfortunately we will not be able to process any incomplete requests:
Rank:
Last name:
First name:
APO Address Line 1:
APO Address Line 2:
APO Address Zip:
7. Help us assemble the packages in Vegas. It's fun! More information will be forthcoming for those of you who are going to be in Vegas and would like to help there.
8. Please consider joining the NFTT FaceBook Group. Invite your FaceBook and non-FaceBook friends.
The following list contains some of the things we would like to include in the packages. Please let us know if you know someone who might be helpful in securing these corporate in-kind donations. (Please DO NOT send these items yourself! We have no way to accept them. Instead, your cash donation is the very best way to help make this happen on the ground in Vegas.)
* Baby wipes
* Mechanix gloves
* LED flashlights
* Gel shoe insoles
* Goop Cleaning Gel
* Powdered energy drinks
* Gel energy food packets
* DVDs and CDs
* Letters to the soldiers
* Sand scarves & cool ties
* More suggestions coming soon
Books for Soldiers
Soldiers love to receive books, but due once again to the logistics of collecting and storing them prior to NN10, books will not be included in the packages that NFTT will put together this year. Other organizations are more specialized in the collection and distribution of books to Iraq and Afghanistan . If you are interested in sending books, please consider checking out the Books For Soldiers website. It is run by DKos's very own StormBear and is a great resource for giving.
Netroots For The Troops mission is two-fold: annual shipment of CARE packages to US soldiers and Marines serving in hostile regions of Iraq and Afghanistan for the duration of their deployment, and on-going financial assistance for veterans and their families upon their return to the states.
Netroots for the Troops is a project of Netroots Arts and Education Initiative (NAEI), a 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
As of March 1, 2010, monthly donations are no longer being deducted. Please consider donating the difference here.