10 Ways to Support Troops Year-Round
By Carolyn Blashek
Mar 25, 2008 - 9:39:32 PM
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Greetings!
With the excitement of the Holiday Drive and the
delivery of our
300,000th Care
Package
behind us, we are looking forward to our
2008 Patriotic Drive during the entire month of
May--Military Appreciation Month! Efforts to obtain new
products for the packages are already underway, and our local
volunteers
will start prepping
those products for the Assembly Line in late April. But we
need YOUR
help now! This Newsletter has 10 simple, yet very effective ways to
Support Our Troops now and throughout the year. Please take a few moments
to read and share them with your family, friends and colleagues. With your
continued generosity and thoughtfulness, we will put smiles on the faces of more
than
100,000 troops again this year!
Thank you for your kindness.
Love,
Carolyn
Blashek
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1. Write
Letters, Letters and
More Letters!
Our care package recipients often tell us that their
favorite item in the package is the personal letter written by a fellow
citizen from home. Operation Gratitude strives to include several letters of
appreciation in every package that we send, which means we needs hundreds of
thousands of letters! Teachers and Parents: We especially ask for children's
letters. Please include your address or e-mail in each letter so the recipient
can choose to write back. For more information about our letter writing
campaign, click
here. |
2.
Send us Your Easter
Candy!
Our Halloween Candy Collection was a huge hit--the
troops enjoyed the goodies themselves but also shared them with the children in
the communities they patrol. We particularly need Jelly Beans, Hard Candies,
Gum and Lollipops! Check your local stores for after-Easter sales too! Please
send your candy between April 14-May 15 to:
Operation Gratitude/California National Guard
17330 Victory
Boulevard
Van Nuys, CA 91406
Attn: Charlie
Othold |
3. Create Beautiful Craft Projects
Nothing expresses love and appreciation better than a
hand-made item from the homefront. These are great craft projects for school,
scout, social and community groups:
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4. Donate Your Vehicle: Cars 4 Causes
Support Operation Gratitude by donating your old
vehicles.
Cars 4
Causes
takes care of all the paperwork and
details, and will even pick up your car, motorcycle, boat or RV. Donations
through Cars 4 Causes are tax-deductible. Be sure to designate Operation
Gratitude as your "cause."
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5. Buy or Sell on
EBAY
Sellers can designate 10-100% of auction proceeds to go
directly to Operation Gratitude. Buyers can search and bid on items that will
benefit our organization. Buy and Sell on The World's Online Marketplace® with
millions of other users. To start supporting our troops through
Ebay, click on the Logo.
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6. Buy a New Cell Phone
PhonesForGood.com
is an online retailer offering
new cellular phones and service plans at better prices than traditional
retailers AND they will donate $40-50 to Operation Gratitude for each new
purchase. Send 5 Care Packages to Our Troops When You Buy a New Cell
Phone!
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7. Then Recycle that Old Cell Phone
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8. Search Online and Earn Money For Our Cause
GoodSearch.com
is a Yahoo-powered
search engine that will donate a penny per search to Operation Gratitude. Use it
just as you would any search engine, get quality search results and help us send
more care packages to the troops! The pennies will add up quickly! Just go to
www.goodsearch.com
and be sure to
enter Operation Gratitude, Inc. as the charity you want to support. Then add
that page to your Favorites and use it every time you do an internet
search.
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9. Check Out Our
GREAT
IDEAS
Page
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10.
Donate
Financially
Postage rates are going up-AGAIN! Each Operation
Gratitude package costs $10 to send. A donation of $50.00 will pay for 5
packages; $100 will cover 10 packages; $1000 will send 100 packages; $5000.00
will enable 500 troops to receive your expression of gratitude and support! Your
donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated.
Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all-volunteer
organization; all donations are tax deductible as provided by
law.
If you would like to make a donation
in
someone's honor or memory, please include the name and address of the
person you would like notified (in the "Message" field if donating by Paypal or
on a note if sending a check) and we will mail a beautiful tribute letter to
them; donors will receive a letter of acknowledgment for tax
purposes.
Please send
checks payable to Operation Gratitude to:
Operation
Gratitude
16444 Refugio Road
Encino, California 91436
To make a donation online, please click on the
Donate Button:
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Stay
Tuned...
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
SUPPORT!! |
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