As you probably already know, every year at the Netroots Nation conference, a group of very hard-working, compassionate and caring people step up to help our men and women in the armed forces in an impressive way. They spend the year raising funds and soliciting contributions and then, in a several hour frenzy of activity, they assemble CARE packages to be sent to our troops in harm's way around the world. It's like nothing I have ever seen. They call the project Netroots for the Troops.
Here's an interview with Daily Kos's TexDem (aka, Tony Gattis), chief cook and bottle washer at Netroots for the Troops at last year's Netroots Nation:
You can read my full write-up of the event with lotsa photos here: Netroots for the Troops - Here's what we did.
What we did was assemble 300 CARE packages, each of which contained the following items:
2 pairs of Mechanics gloves (L and XL)
1 sand scarf
1 pair high-quality, sand-proof sunglasses
can of coffee
12 disposable razors
baby wipes
adult flushable wipes
small pack of hotel sized toiletries
trail mix
beef jerky
skittles
mints
2 DVDs donated by Redbox
2 decks of cards
Here's me loading up one of the 300 boxes:
Read previous diaries on NFTT with lots more information HERE.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I need your help. If you are attending Netroots Nation this year, we are in need of volunteers to help staff the booth, assemble boxes, print labels and generally stage things for The Big Event on Saturday where we create 300 CARE packages for shipment to our troops.
Want to help? Please have a look at the NN11 schedule/agenda and let me know when you can help out by sending me a dKos message or, better yet, email me at eclectablog at gmail.. On Saturday morning, in particular, the day of the CARE package assembly, we will need "all hands on deck".
I am also looking for two assistants to help with volunteer coordination so that I can get away for some of the panels and workshops myself. If you are willing to take a bit of a (fun) leadership role, please let me know. I am VERY easy to work with = )
Are you a photographer? We also need someone to document our progress throughout the week including the CARE package assembly process on Saturday.
Finally, if you know of any other folks that would like to be involved, please pass this information along to them.
I will be putting together a Google Calendar in the next couple of days to help ensure we have complete coverage of the booth and for the assembly activities.
If you are attending Netroots Nation (less than two weeks away!), please consider joining me, TexDem, Velovixen, spedwybabs, Bill in Portland Maine, Michael Moore and a whole host of some of the coolest and caring liberals around for an event I like say is "Where 'Support the Troops' actually means something."
Can't come but want to help with a financial contribution? Consider joining the other Kool Kidz on Team Eclectablog by making a financial donation (click HERE). I'm just under half-way to my goal of raising $2,500 so I could use a Daily Kos "bump".
Thanks so much,
Chris/"Eclectablog"