Again, this year, Netroots For The Troops seeks to make a tangible thank-you in our small way to the troops who are still serving, before they become veterans. Our mission is two-fold: shipment of CARE packages to U.S. 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.
Our goal for 2010 is $100,000 (cash or in-kind donations). So far, we've raised $24,591, 25 percent of our goal. So there is a long way to go.
NFFT 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.
If Team Wild and Crazy Czech Girls meets its goal then CA Berkeley WV should dye the hair:
- gold to honor the late father-in-law and The University of Michigan and Wolverines!
- blue to honor the daughter, future Army wife, and West Virginia University
- crimson to honor the future son-in-law, Captain Q, and The University of Alabama
(If $500 of the team total comes from Stanford alums I will kick in another $50 and call it red, but I still don't have to like John Elway. I hope to be saved by Bears.)
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My father-in-law grew up in a Democratic household in Chicago. His father Jaroslav worked at the Western Electric plant and was very involved in local politics. My father-in-law, his younger brother and their sister were raised with the buzz of precinct politics in the house, something my spouse remembers was still there when they rode the train to Chicago to visit each summer.
Both of the sons of this new immigrant served in the Army, not making it their career, but doing their duty when called. My spouse was born in the Army General Hospital in Frankfurt au Main, Germany, before the Korean Armistice. They were part of the expansion of opportunities of the first generation, and the expansion of the middle class in the middle of the last century. Both of them took their undergraduate degree from The University of Michigan onto advanced degrees, one a doctor and one a lawyer. When they left for boot camp their mother sent them off with handwritten recipes from her Czech kitchen. As our children start their own households, they are given a copy of these same recipes.
Jaroslav had come through Ellis Island in from Kourim, in July 1921. He came with his mother, sister and two brothers. Another older sister was already in Chicago and had married a widow with children. One of those daughters became my spouse's grandmother (yes, his sister was his mother-in-law). When the lists of passengers of the various ships from European port were cataloged and made available at ellisisland.org I learned a few details that the family had forgotten. There is almost two hundred year difference from when my family arrived.
Jaroslav apprenticed as a teenager as a waiter in Sarajevo with an uncle. He learned to love the physical act of preparing the dining room for family and holiday meals. Out came the damask tablecloth, the polished silverware and the blue-rimmed place settings from the old country, and each element laid out the old customs to be layered with new ones. He was lucky to be there for these celebrations. He was in Sarajevo when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, and as a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Jaroslav could be conscripted into its army.
His reaction was to try to make his way to Hamburg in order to join that older sister in Chicago. After all, this was not the Bohemian's war. It did not work. He was in. Jaroslav's community was waiting for their sons to be forced to leave.
After being "wounded" in the arm [the stories from the two sons diverge a little here], Jaroslav spent the remainder of the war moving from hospital camp to hospital camp, managing to stay one step ahead of being found out and returned to the front. Cossacks, the other kind, that he met in his "travels" were regular visitors to the house in Chicago.
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Here’s other ways you can help:
• 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 that could donate products, see below* for a list of potential items. It takes time to get throught he corporate processes, so we need to hear from you ASAP!
• The cash from individuals – donate here – will enable us to buy the things we are unable to obtain through corporate donations and help pay the costs of shipping them to our troops.
• $10 donors to Patric Juliett's team receive an ebook of Tales from the Larder.
• At the NFTT 2010 Personal/Team Fundraising Pages, you can set create a Personal NFTT 2010 Fundraising Page. This gives you a means to approach your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and colleagues 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.
• Sign up for a diary! Our goal is to post two diaries per day until NN10, which doesn't start until July 21. 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.
• 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:
• 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.
• 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.*
We realize that you may want 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
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.
Since March 1, 2010, monthly donations are no longer being deducted. Please consider donating the difference here.