help for the holidays

This winter, an estimated 140,000 U.S. military personnel will be serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, in combat environments or in support of combat operations.  Some will be on their 4th or 5th deployments--spending yet another Holiday away from the loving arms of family and friends.  We want them to know that they are remembered, that we are thinking of them during the winter Holiday Season, and that we are grateful for their service. Since we can't all wrap our arms around them in person to show how much we love and appreciate them, Soldiers' Angels needs your help to make sure each one of America's heroes is Wrapped in Holiday Spirit.
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit & Blankets of Belief

Please help us make sure that our deployed Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines this Holiday Season know: "We haven't forgotten you, we support you, and we believe in you!"

Handmade <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=blankets-of-belief">"Blankets of Belief"</a> form the heart of the Soldiers' Angels Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages for the 2009 Holiday Season. These special Blankets are designed to tell America's service men and women, "We believe in you."  When deployed service members receive a Blanket of Belief, they know that somebody back home remembers them, that somebody labored over a handmade blanket with love and belief in them.   Along with the handmade Blanket, each Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care package includes a collection of yummy snacks, socks, and a holiday card with a personal note of thanks and support.
Many Ways to Help

    * Spread the word with a <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/uploads/wihs-tear_off_flier-2.pdf">general info flyer</a>, or a flyer about s<a href="http://soldiersangels.org/uploads/WiHS-cards.pdf">ending holiday greeting cards [pdf files]</a>.
    * Make a <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=blankets-of-belief">Blanket of Belief</a> (we have a no-sew-option!)
    *<a href="http://www.angelsstore.org/product_p/minhfhgiftbag.htm"> Donate a complete care package</a> (you can now donate <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=166&cntnt01origid=15&cntnt01returnid=15">in honor of someone</a>) or contribute <a href="http://www.angelsstore.org/product_p/sahotchcolatepk.htm">hot chocolate packets</a> toward care packages - select "Any Hero" for shipping address
    * Donate other care package items: gum, candy/health bars, Tootsie Rolls, and white or khaki athletic/boot socks.  Please include a note inside each box that contains your name, address, phone number, and an itemized list of contents with estimated value.  Click <a href="https://www.dollardays.com/soldiersangels/wishlist.html">here </a>to purchase bulk items at a discount rate and ship directly to Soldiers' Angels.

      Soldiers' Angels
      Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
      4408 PanAm Expressway
      San Antonio, TX 78218    
     
      Soldiers' Angels
      Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
      112 Greenhill Road
      Ramseur NC 27316
         
      Soldiers' Angels
      Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
      914 Tourmaline Dr
      Newbury Park, CA 91320

    * Help cover the cost of shipping 140,000 care packages overseas

     Soldiers' Angels
     Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
     1792 E. Washington Blvd
    Pasadena, CA 91104    
 
Soldiers' Angels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations are tax deductible. Please consult your tax adviser for details.

140,000 Care Packages!

Please help Soldiers' Angels place a gift and personal message of support into the hands of each deployed military man and woman this December.  Help us tell them, "We believe in you!"

We are committed to providing Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages to every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's around 140,000 gifts to purchase, assemble, and ship halfway around the world! This is a big challenge but with your support and our wonderful group of hard-working volunteers, it can be done!

...I am part of [an] Air Control Squadron deployed to Iraq.  I would like to thank your organization for the care package I received on Thanksgiving Day here in Iraq.  The contents were very thoughtful and useful, and I greatly appreciated it.  I would also like to thank the young ladies of Brownie Troop 547 in Buxton, Maine for their Christmas card.

Being away from our families and loved ones at this time of year is a definite hardship and this package has helped deal with the stresses of deployed life.  Thank you again and God Bless you. - Captain A.B.

"To those that have taken their time to prepare the packages for soldier's here in Iraq: Thank you so much for the kind Christmas thoughts. Please see the attached. Happy holidays!! - MSG Hyer

Tremendous thanks to Business Christmas cards leader <a href="http://www.gallerycollection.com/">Prudent Publishing</a> for their generous donation of cards for the care packages... for the third year in a row!


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Jump on Board Project Valour-IT

Seems it is all the rage to have an armed force Soldiers' Angels <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it">Valour-IT thermometer widget</a> on a blog or website right now! It is not too late to join in, the fundraiser does not end until November 11th.

1.There are a variety of items up for Valour-IT auction. Go bid on one of <a href="http://shop.ebay.com/spliffslips/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686">them</a>!

2. Go <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it">register</a> your blog or website to join one of the 4 teams and get your own thermometer widget.

3. Make a donation - no matter how small. Remember 100% of proceeds go directly to purchase & delivery of technology to our wounded heroes.

4. Tell everyone you know about Project Valour-IT! Create a viral email or put on you Facebook wall.

5. Buy a fabulous gift for yourself or for someone for the holidays from one of the businesses supporting Valour-IT. Or <a href="http://flagstillstandsforfreedom.com/Valour-IT_Raffle.html">buy</a> register for the opportunity to win a beautiful Christmas quilt.

Though either Army, Air Force, Navy/Coast Guard, or Marines will be declared the winner of the competition and will gain bragging rights until next year, our wounded heroes are the winners! Go Project Valour-IT!

TODAY Shelle and Patti declare war....Hairless for Our Heroes - Soldiers’ Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000

Hairless for Our Heroes

Soldiers' Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000

 

Pasadena, CA November 3, 2009 – Members of Soldiers' Angels' volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year's online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition, which helps provide America's wounded soldiers with voice-controlled laptops and other technology that supports their physical and psychological recovery. 

 

Divided among four "virtual teams," a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11.  If the teams of online fundraisers can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement. 

 

In just over four years, Project Valour-IT  has given 4,100 voice-controlled laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, and has supplied additional items that may be a surprising fit in a recovery regimen--Wii game systems and handheld GPS devices.

"This project changes lives," says Patton-Bader. "Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again.  Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports!  And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope.  With all that this project can do for our heroes, I'm happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!"

 

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence.  Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Details of the current fundraising competition are available at www.soldiersangels.org and www.valour-it.blogspot.com. Donations can be made online at Soldiers' Angels, or by sending checks or money orders to Soldiers' Angels, Valour-IT Fund, 1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104.  

 

Established in 2003, Soldiers' Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing aid and comfort to the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, veterans and military families. For more information, www.soldiersangels.org or 623-570-3903. Tax ID# 20-0583415

 

Flag Still Stands For Freedom Campaign Update

 

 

 

Flag Still Stands For Freedom! Greetings! Only a little over 2 weeks left in our Veteran's Day Campaign and I hope each of you have or will be this week submitting the pictures of the Veterans in your life as well as leaving a personal voice message for our troops. Through this Campaign, I have been honored to meet some amazing people who have turned the tragedy and loss in our Veteran's lives into something positive and powerful.  Below are just a few of them and if you go the Campaign website, you can read about even more! I am looking forward to hearing from more of you!   "Show Us Your Red, White & Blue" on Veteran's Day & EVERY DAY!   Regards, Laura Kennedy LauraKennedyLive.com Homes For Our Troops! Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2004. They are strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. It is our duty and our honor to assist severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and to coordinate the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently. The homes provided by Homes for Our Troops are given at NO COST to the Veterans they serve. I'm Already Home by Elaine Dumler Elaine Dumler, recognizes that the stress of separation is there even when the timeline is relatively short, she was particularly touched by what military families face with sustained absences.  Elaine is focusing on bringing her message and methods of family unity to military families throughout the country. Her website has some great guides and information both the active duty member and their families for dealing with the stressful situations of deployments. "Exit Wounds" by Derek McGinnis Hundreds of thousands of troops are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them in acute pain and facing the possibility of a lifetime of chronic pain.  Written by a wounded Iraq war veteran in collaboration with pain management experts at the American Pain Foundation, Exit Wounds and its companion website, offer veterans and their families need-to-know information. "Soldiers' Angels of Wisconsin" by Iris Wilde In This Issue Reporting For Doodie I'm Already Home Exit Wounds Valour-IT Raffle Suffolk County Homefront, Inc Quick Links Campaign Website Facebook Fan LauraKennedyLive Video Gallery Picture Gallery Join Our Email Newsletter Valour-IT Raffle The 2009 Soldier's Angels Valour-IT fund-raising competition started Monday, Oct 26th and will run through Nov 11th.  To add to the fun, I am raffling off this full sized  HANDMADE Christmas Quilt.  100% of all donations will go towards this very worthy cause. Click here to enter raffle! Suffolk County Homefront, Inc. Suffolk County Homefront, Inc is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting military personnel or units from Suffolk County deployed to hostile zones.  Their primary mission is to purchase equipment and morale items for their resident service members.   In addition to supporting deployed residents and units within Suffolk County, their organization, Suffolk County Homefront, Inc., is seeking to establish a means of welcoming our returning troops, aiding those who have been injured and honoring those who have died. We also believe in, and are committed to, acknowledging and supporting the veterans within our community from all generations who have also proudly served our country.

Rachel's Girls' School Project (UNCLASSIFIED)

My girls now have their own website! Thank you Soldiers' Angels and Spirit of America!
 
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/cgi-bin/soa/project.pl?rm=view_project&request_id=191
 
 
I am going outside to do cartwheels! :0) Send to your friends, they can donate through the web site too!
 
Xoxo
 Rachel
 
P.S. Rest assured: NO, I am still NOT going out to deliver the donations.
 

one week from now....

In one week-- TWO major projects start--- are you on board to fly with us wingtip to wingtip?

It is ONE WEEK UNTIL DAY OF THE DEPLOYED--please print a copy of the proclamation and send it to a deployed service member (in 2009) and honor them and their family.
 http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=416&cntnt01origid=15&cntnt01returnid=15
 
Also, Project Valour-IT kicks off on October 26 and runs until Noveber 11.
http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it
 
 
Please join us wingtip-to-wingtip in these initiatives to support our heroes.
 
 
Follow us on twitter--
www.twitter.com/soldiersangels
www.twitter.com/valourit
 
 
Have a great #MilitaryMon,
Soldiers Angels team

 
 
 
Shelle Michaels
 
"May No Soldier Go Unloved"
 
Soldiers' Angels National Communication Officer
ShelleMichaels@SoldiersAngels.org
www.SoldiersAngels.org
 
Ladies of Liberty Team Director
LadiesofLiberty@SoldiersAngels.org
www.SoldiersAngelsLadiesOfLiberty.com
 
ACT NOW. GIVE MORE. SHOW SUPPORT.
 
 
 

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Angel receives “gold tipped wings” in leadership expansion within Soldiers’ Angels

Angel receives "gold tipped wings" in leadership expansion within Soldiers' Angels

 

Soldiers' Angels Ladies of Liberty is a progressive fast-paced support team that focuses on the needs of deployed female servicemembers. The team understands that females are instrumental in the Global War on Terrorism and makes special efforts to support these women in their missions while showcasing appreciation for their service to America. Team Ladies of Liberty assists with supplies for female troops' unique health and hygiene needs, and help them experience a few pampering moments to rejuvenate and "be good to themselves."

 

This program originated in a University of North Dakota Women's Studies class taught by Shelle Michaels in the 2006 summer session. The students originally adopted 24 females from the North Dakota Army National Guard (1-188th ADA JLENS and SECFOR). This project was advanced to the national level within Soldiers' Angels in May 2008 and now hosts ten mini-teams with thousands of volunteers supporting thousands of deployed and wounded female servicemembers.
 

Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers' Angels says, "One of the best ways to gauge the success of an organization is when leaders can turn projects over to volunteers that have grown along with the team, being an integral part of the success and advancement of the team they have participated on." With that said,  Shelle Michaels, Ladies of Liberty team director announces the passing of the Angel leadership to Diane Fairben, the first Angel to volunteer to work with ladies of Liberty.

 

Fairben, joined Soldiers' Angels in 2005 as a way to "pay it forward" after the death of her son Keith Fairben, an EMT who died on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Centers fell to terrorists. Diane says, "So many people joined the military after 9/11, and I feel a closeness with them all, I just wanted to do more to support them."

 

Currently living in Floral Park, NY, she was born and raised on Long Island and has been married to Ken for 36 years. Fairben also serves as an EMT with the local volunteer fire department since 2003. Within Soldiers' Angels, she is also on the Living Legends and Letter Writing teams.

 

Shelle Michaels, also the national communication officer says "the timing is perfect for Diane to step into leadership. She has given the team guidance and has proven her capability and readiness to step into this role within the organization." This tradeoff of the halo allows Michaels more time to focus on the national communication outreach for Soldiers' Angels but notes she "will stay in a mentoring capacity to Fairben for as long as support is needed."

 

Soldiers' Angels is a volunteer-led nonprofit with 200,000 volunteers with over 30 different teams supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Through special projects, dedicated teams and individuals supporting our troops, Soldiers' Angels make a visible difference in the lives of our service members and their families. If you would like more information about Soldiers' Angels please view the details available at www.SoldiersAngels.org. To contact Diane Fairben please email LadiesofLiberty@SoldiersAngels.org and Shelle Michaels is ShelleMichaels@SoldiersAngels.org.

Facebook = $$

Are you on Facebook?  You can help Soldiers' Angels win up to $50,000 in America's Giving Challenge!

All you have to do is donate as little as $1 a day—the goal is to get the highest number of unique donations, not necessarily the highest total.
 

National Communication Officer Shelle Michaels explains:
 

To win, between now and November 7th we have to get the most donations to our cause (every person can donate once per day and have it count as a unique donation). We can also win daily awards of $1,000 and $500 if we can get the most people to donate in any 24-hour period. The great thing about this Challenge is that it doesn't matter how much you give, but instead how much you do to encourage friends and family to get involved in our cause. We all need to come together and start promoting the cause if we want to win.

Each of us has tons of friends on Facebook and we can ask to donate to our cause. But let's think big too—can you put our cause in your email signature, can you throw a party and get people to donate through the cause when they enter, can you organize other people to go out and fundraise from all of their friends? As you reach out to your friends be sure to tell them why this cause matters to you. The possibilities are endless so let's talk about what we can do to win on the Wall of the cause or by replying to this bulletin. 

 http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=427&cntnt01origid=15&cntnt01returnid=15