BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

We have been hopping at all of our branches!  Reporters are calling, inquiries are coming in, and volunteers are popping out of the woodwork.  Donations are pouring into our branches again - it's a great thing!  We've also been hearing back from troops who have already been receiving our holiday gifts! We're posting the letters from them on our web site as time permits. We're running behind with our administrative tasks and responding to the 1,000+ e-mails/day we receive! 

Just a few things to mention:

1)   Thank you to the Band SHOVELHEAD, CLUB 645, Charlie Company Marines, Pilar Cyr, Dave O'Hagan, John Scanlon, Sue Chechoski, Kristy Tiede and others who coordinated my surprise birthday party and Bob's Birthday party on Saturday night.   Bob and I were both born on December 1st. I turned 29 (again) ... We had a great time and have posted photos of the night in our online Photo Album.

2) I had a special visit from 1stSgt Ben Grainger (C Co. 1/25 Marines of Plainville, CT) who is back home from Fallujah, Iraq.  He stopped by our Headquarters to bring us donations from local vendors! I was honored he decided to collect items on our behalf.  It was great to meet him after having supporting their unit during their deployment in Iraq. Welcome Home, Ben, and Semper Fi to you and all your brothers.

3) For those of you who are looking for more to do and who love to shop, I have a few more special requests from 5 troop units in Iraq:

Becky Ramey (USAF) has asked us for more stockings as well as glue glitter and some small indoor lights for their unit.    

Tom Lamb's 1,300 troops (JTF) need artificial Christmas trees (3' or 4' are perfect), non-breakable ornaments, decorations, and holiday candy.  

Joseph Traweek's (US ARMY) unit needs sanitary items such as hand sanitizer and baby wipes and warm clothing and winter socks. 

Brandon Garner (USMC)  has asked for sweatpants, sweatshirts and thermal underwear as well as used XBOX games for their unit.  Sizes for thermals are anywhere between medium and large and they have 20 Marines who need these.  According to Brancon, it is VERY COLD  there now and his Marines need games to divert their attention and unwind. 

SSG Nathan Brasel (US ARMY)   has asked us for coffee and the things that go with it: stir sticks, creamer, snacks, and cookies to go with the coffee.  He says, "It's really the simply things that go a long way in this area. Thanks again for all your help..."

4) A note on SILLY STRING: I've seen the news article (sent to me at least 6 times today) on an American troops using silly string to detect trip wires around bombs.  I know you want to help, I LOVE the idea, and commend our troops for being clever, however Give2TheTroops CANNOT ship cans of silly string as the contents are flammable and under pressure and could explode while being shipped overseas. Additionally, the military has not approved its use, and there is the matter of cleaning up the string after its use which the military needs to address. Additionally, every unit has its own mission - not all deployed troops are in buildings and looking for trip wires.  Until it's approved, we cannot ship silly string as we follow the Dept. of Defense guidelines.  
5) Wrapping Presents At The Mall - Fundraisers:  
Thank you Kristy Tiede, Carol Kana, Susan Perrone, Sally Pezanko, John Scanlon, Sue Chechoski and the other volunteers who are running this fundraiser! I appreciate the initiative you've taken - and the money will pay for postage to get our boxes over to our men and women in combat! You Rock!

Thank you all so much for supporting our troops & our Mission!

Love,
Andi