The totals are coming in for the Project Valour-IT fundraiser, which is now over. The diligent staff at Soldiers Angels are still tallying up the mail-in donations, which could of course change the leaderboard, but this is how it currently stands:
Army: $53,023.00
Marines: $39,673.00
Air Force: $25,638.34
Navy/CG: $20,081.75
Non-team donations $29,954.82 While all the money goes into the same pot, I am very proud to see my Army team win with quite a substantial lead -- we had twice the number of donors as any other team!! And even more importantly, Soldiers Angels has already raised an astonishing $168,370.91! After adding in the mail-in donations, it's entirely possible that they could break $200,000.00.
Please make sure to especially say thanks over at Blackfive, the Army Team Leader, who also has a list of all the blogs on the Army team.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this fundraiser! And GO ARMY!
If you aren't familiar, here's a little background:
Project Valour-IT began when Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss was wounded by an IED while serving as commander of a tank company in Iraq in June 2005.
During his deployment he kept a blog (an online personal diary, opinion forum, or news analysis site-called a milblog or military weblog when written by a servicemember or about military subjects). Captivating writing, insightful stories of his experiences, and his self-deprecating humor won him many loyal readers. After he was wounded, his wife continued his blog, keeping his readers informed of his condition.
As he began to recover, CPT Ziegenfuss wanted to return to writing his blog, but serious hand injuries hampered his typing. When a loyal and generous reader gave him a copy of the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred software, other readers began to realize how important such software could be to CPT Ziegenfuss' fellow wounded soldiers and started cast about for a way to get it to them.
A fellow blogger (blog author) who writes under the pseudonym FbL contacted Captain Ziegenfuss and the two realized they shared a vision of providing laptops with voice-controlled software to wounded soldiers whose injuries prevented them from operating a standard computer. FbL contacted Soldiers Angels, who offered to help develop the project, and Project Valour-IT was born.
In sharing their thoughts, CPT Ziegenfuss and FbL found that memories of their respectivefathers were a motivating factor in their work with the project. Both continue their association with this project in memory of the great men in their lives whose fine examples taught them lasting lessons of courage and generosity.
A great charity, without a doubt.
Now, to make things fun...
Soldiers Angels has split up the donations into four teams: Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. First team to $60k "wins". Of course, all the money goes to the same place, but it's so much more fun this way. ;)
Michelle Malkin is on the Marine Corps team, Hot Air is on the Air Force Team, Captain's Quarters is on the Navy team, and I, of course, have joined the Army team (headed up by Blackfive), along with Major Ziegenfuss. The Army team, by the way, is winning!! Go Army! :)
What's interesting, as Michelle noted, is the noticeable lack of lefty blogs. Where's their support for the troops now? What about the head Kos Kid himself, Mr. Markos Moulitsas, who loves to remind us constantly of his service in the Army? Why hasn't he joined the Army team and made a donation? He certainly hasn't made any posts about it (a search for Soldiers Angels brought up two stories, neither of which were about the fundraiser. Project Valour-IT brought up zero results.). There's plenty of posts about protesting the war though, of course. Support the troops, indeed.
But in any case, go join the team of your choice (or just join the best team, Team Army!). Give, give, give! It's for a GREAT cause!
The holidays are coming up, and I'm sure many of you are starting to save for the gifts you'll be giving your families and friends.
But what about those who won't have a holiday with their family? What about those who might not get a gift? Soldiers Angels is there to answer the call, and they have set themselves a goal of sending out 140,000 Christmas packages this year. It's their Holidays for Heroes drive, and it is one I'm familiar with, having participated in it last year. I just received an e-mail letting me know they were getting ready to gear up again:
Soldiers Angels will be sending 140,000 Christmas packages to our troops over in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, with 70,000 coffee mugs which we have already bought.
These mugs will be filled with a hot chocolate packet, a hot apple cider packet, an energy bar or a cereal bar, a pair of white tube socks, 120 minute AT&T global phone card (regular phone cards won't work), and a Christmas card
The other 70,000 Christmas packages will be the same as above, except instead of mugs, they will be Christmas Stockings These will be sent to the CSH's (Combat Support Hospitals) for the doctors, nurses, medics and other personnel that take care of our wounded, and also for the patients that are at these CSH's on Christmas Day
We have to have all of this completed by October 31 so that we can have the month of November to get all of these packaged and sent off so the troops can receive them by Christmas.
Obviously, these goods do not appear out of nowhere. You can help bring the holidays to some of our heroes by donating any of the items needed, or money for postage. To find out how you can help, and where to send your supplies to, contact Bonnie at saalertteam@gmail.com.
A package of socks from Wal-Mart would only cost you a couple of bucks. You can get phone cards for $20. You can help bring the holidays to the heroes overseas who might not otherwise get one, if you can just open your heart. You won't even have to break the bank to do it. Soldiers Angels is a fantastic organization, one of the most hardworking and selfless groups you will find anywhere, and every little bit will help. So don't be shy -- help bring the holidays to the men and women making the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
Soldiers' Angels was started by a self-described ordinary mother of an ordinary young man turned hero, Sgt. Brandon Varn. Brandon was deployed in Iraq and has since honorably completed his mission and has returned back to his proud and loving family.
In the summer of 2003, he wrote home expressing his concern that some soldiers did not receive any mail or support from home. Being a caring and loving mother, she decided not to allow a situation like that to continue. She contacted a few friends and extended family to ask if they would write to a soldier or two. Within a few short months, Soldiers' Angels went from a mother writing a few extra letters to an Internet Community with thousands of angels worldwide.
With more and more merchants donating services, money and items for packages, the Angels reorganized as a 501 c 3 non-profit so all donations would be tax deductible. Soldiers' Angels currently supports tens of thousands of American Service Members stationed wherever we raise our nation's flag, and that number continues to grow daily. Soldiers' Angels are dedicated in supporting our military during and after their deployment.
In December of 2004 a worldwide support forum was created in the hopes of providing a place where the needs of our heroes could be fulfilled.
In July 2006 this ordinary mothers youngest son, Bretton Varn started Boot Camp and looks forward to serving his country.
May God Bless Our Troops
I joined Soldiers Angels a few years back, and my first "adoption" was Cpt. Chuck Ziegenfuss -- or, more specifically, his unit. He was injured in Iraq (I'm happy to say he's recovered well, his blog has regular updates on his condition as well as general military happenings), and became a partner in Soldiers Angels Project Valour-IT program, which supplies voice activated laptops for injured veterans.
The organization has grown far beyond a service to send letters and care packages to our troops. They offer multitudes of teams and programs dedicated to helping not just those fighting, but their families, as well as injured veterans and the families of fallen heroes.
As I'm sure you can see, it is a fantastic organization.
And right now, they could use your help.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail, asking for angels to donate $5-$10 towards injured veterans and their families:
I work with Patti, helping her with the many, many wounded and their families when they need help of one kind or another.
You just cannot imagine how many of these e-mails we get from case workers, counselors, VA case workers, and then, we get them from the soldiers or wives themselves.
They have fallen through the cracks and just need help to survive.
Angels, we need your help. We don't want you to send Soldiers Angels all of your money, but even $5.00, $10.00, etc.
I personally am issuing a challenge to each and everyone one of you: a challenge of $10.00.
Angels, please help us help them.
So, what do you think? Can you spare five or ten bucks to an extremely worthy organization dedicated to serving our troops? It's not a lot of money to ask, but if everyone donates a little, it can make a huge difference in a soldier's life -- and the life of his/her family.
Show that you're willing to do more to support the troops than just slap a sticker on the back of your car.
Please send all donations to:
Soldiers Angels 1792 E. Washington Blvd Pasadena, Ca 91104
*You can also visit the Soldiers Angels website to donate via PayPal.*
War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -- John Stuart Mill
Feel free to e-mail me at cassyblog@hotmail.com about anything you'd like; you can also add me on MySpace or Facebook. I welcome all questions and comments; criticism and praise. However, for anyone planning to send hate-mail: keep in mind that anything you send me may end up getting published. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you!
