Georgia (Soldiers) on My Mind ---- UPDATED 08-07-07!

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Fear not! For all of you who've already readied your shopping list, I've got the address where you can ship all those stocking goodies:

Det-1 HHC 1-108th, ATTN: SOLDIERS' ANGELS, 6784 W. Church Street, Douglasville, GA 30134

Thanks, Diane! (see, I told you she was organized!)
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Candy canes? DONE!
Tissues? DONE! !
Lip balm? DONE! ! !
Non-chocolate candy? DONE! ! ! !
Toothbrushes? DONE!!! :-)
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When I first joined Soldiers’ Angels, I was a Georgia Angel. There are some terrifically enthusiastic Angels at work in the Peach State, and I’m still on their e-mailing list so I hear what they are up to. They always have plenty going on, because, well, Georgia has a BUNCH of Army bases. And you know what? By next Christmas, there will be around 20,000 Georgia-based soldiers overseas.

So what are my Georgia Angel buddies up to? They’re halfway through a year-long prep to ship 20,000 Christmas stockings to those 20,000 soldiers. Angel Diane has got the lead and is fabulously organized. I decided to post about this for two reasons: 1) to inspire you, and 2) to prompt your participation if you’re interested. I think it’s going to be one of my main Soldiers’ Angels holiday projects.

Home base for this effort is in Douglasville, GA, which is about 20 miles west of Atlanta. If you’re going to be in that area on July 4th, they’ll be collecting items at the Armory from 9am to 1pm. The Armory is along the parade route, so bring your donation and then stake out a spot to watch the festivities!

What can you donate? A list of what Diane is collecting is below. The “still needed” numbers will change when Diane does her July inventory, but this gives you an idea of what’s to be done. So, how EASY would it be to do a small collection or buy something each week until you had a box full of donations to send?

Candy (chocolate) (still needed: 60,000)
Candy (non-choc) - DONE!
Mini Candy Canes - DONE!
Hot Chocolate (still needed: 17,000)
Snacks (still needed: 18,000)
Socks (still needed: 5,223)
Toothbrushes - DONE!
Lip Balm - DONE!
Tissue Packs - DONE!
Pens (still needed: 14,000)
Christmas Cards (still needed: 39,162)

Short on cash? Then have I got a deal for YOU.

How about committing to writing a few Christmas cards? No, don’t just sign your name. Write a note. You could even make your own cards and throw a “Christmas in July” party so that some friends can write a few notes, too.

As someone who barely managed to coordinate and assemble 270 holiday goody bags for delivery to a Navy ship last December, I totally understand the need to collect these items for TWENTY THOUSAND stockings long before December! Heck, assembly and packing take TIME. Trust me. But! it’s well worth the effort! I shipped my 23 packages full of goody bags to that Navy ship late one night in December. It was last minute by the Post Office’s holiday shipping schedule, so it all had to go Priority Mail. The National Capitol post office is open until midnight during the week, so I went about 9:30pm to ship my packages. Done! And it all arrived in time for a little extra cheer somewhere in the Pacific on Christmas morning (I’ve got the emails to prove it!).

But anyway, I was in that post office about a week ago and happened to have the same postal worker help me again, though with just one care package this time. I said, “You might remember that you helped with a bunch of care packages for a Navy ship back in December…?” He said, “Oh, yes, I remember YOU.” LOL! I was pleased to tell him that the effort had been a spectacular success (more on that in a later post, but yes, that’s a pic from the post office last December – gotta love picture phones!).

So make yourself a to-do list with “Georgia Soldiers” at the top and write down what you’re going to do before August 10th. Buy some items to ship to Diane? Make some cards or write some letters?

I’ll be back later in the month with details on how to get your contributions to Angel Diane.

Ready. Set. Go! :-)