Contribute to the Largest Shipment of Care Packages to Our Troops - EVER! (Updated)

Update: Did you notice that they had to change the scale?

After raising a little over $1M in one day, the donations have kept coming. Now they're at one and a half MILLION dollars.

That's 50% past their goal. Way to go America!


******
They cracked a million bucks! Not bad for 8 hours work, huh?

If you missed out on the fun, they're still taking donations thru July 2!

*Another* degree of freedom for our vets - YOU can help for FREE (HT: Blackfive)

I couldn't have planned this.

In a terrifically opportune follow-up to my post below (about funding a trike for Sgt Bob of Iowa), Major Daniel Gade passes along a request for your help for wounded vets and other mobility-challenged folks that are using Segways to get around town.

I'll let Maj Gade fill you in:

"As many of you know, I was seriously wounded in Iraq in 2005, and lost my right leg. I am not alone: the war has produced more than 800 amputees of various degrees of severity, and many more with burns, joint fusions, and other issues resulting in decreased mobility. For many of us, the solution to our mobility issues- the thing that enables us to get around our college campuses, places of work and worship, golf courses, and other locations, is the Segway. A Segway is to a person with a mobility problem as a guide dog is to a person who is blind.

...

However, for a variety of reasons, certain venues which allow wheelchairs (Federal law requires it) choose not to allow Segways.

...

But you can help: On Tuesday the 18th of June, the Department of Justice released a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" which seeks public comment on whether Segways should be accommodated in the same way as wheelchairs when they are operated by a person with a disability. You can help by simply contacting the Department of Justice and stating that disabled veterans and others with mobility issues should be accommodated in all circumstances, whether they use a Segway or a wheelchair. It would be best to express your views in your own words rather than quoting me, but only because "form letters" are counted by DOJ as single comments rather than separate ones. "

Read the whole thing HERE (HT: Blackfive).

Follow the two links at the Blackfive post and get on board to help these folks attain the quality of life they deserve. If motorized wheelchairs are permitted, I can't see how Segways can be excluded. It's really not that different from making an exception for seeing-eye dogs where pets are otherwise not permitted.

Thanks, Major Gade, for your service and for bringing this opportunity to our attention.

A new degree of freedom for one of our wounded vets?

Maybe you'd like to help one of our wounded veteran's get one of these?

So he can do stuff like this?

He got to take one these "trikes" for a spin on day two of this year's Face of America Bike Ride from Washington, DC to Gettysburg, PA.

I can't really imagine what it's like to have an injury that permanently changes how one gets around in the world. The closest thing I've experienced would be a sprained foot, but, yeah, not even close.

So how would you like to help give this vet a new degree of freedom with his very own trike?

It just so happens that I met this veteran during the FOA bike ride. He wouldn't remember me, but I remember him because his borrowed trike wasn't available until the second day of the ride, and I didn't realize that he would be riding until I saw him rolling down the road. [I don't have any pictures - they're all on Lauging Wolf's camera...]

I also didn't find out that this trike-riding veteran is from Iowa.

It just so happens that an Angel from Iowa that is assisting with this Trike Project is one of my best Angel buddies (though like many Angels, we've never met in person!). Angel Michelle and I adopted a Navy ship for a holiday project in 2006. Small world!

My Trike Fund check will go in the mail on Monday - how about you?

All donations are being handled through a special bank account and a designated bank officer in Maryland near another trike-rider who is working this effort on that vet's behalf.

That caring cyclist who rode with the veterans in the FOA ride managed to find a trike that will only cost a total of $3600 to purchase, modify, and ship to Iowa. Any funds raised in excess of those needed to purchase and ship the trike to Iowa will be donated to Soldiers' Angels.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

Send checks to:

** UPDATE: ACCOUNT CLOSED

Thanks to anyone who donated!! Sgt Bob is now enjoying his new trike!

Not for Nothing, Take 6

The surge.

Some amazing before and after pictures. (HT: Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette)

They made a difference.

Others are talking about it more and more, without hesitation or qualification. (HT: Mrs. G's Dawn Patrol at Mudville Gazette)

If you'd like to support those that continue their work in Iraq or others serving in our armed services, adopt a troop through Soldiers' Angels today.

Memorial Day Weekend

I'm off to Seattle for the long weekend, so I thought I'd do this post now. I'm dragging my computer along, so I may do an additional post on Monday, but I'm not sure about access.



I'm looking forward to my visit out west (a friend's wedding, hanging out with my mom and younger sister, spending time with a college friend), but I do regret that I won't be able to pay my respects at Arlington on the Day. I'll miss watching Rolling Thunder rumble into town for their annual POW/MIA awareness ride to the White House. And I'll miss joining other Soldiers' Angels to hand out the little American flags at the Memorial Day parade along Constitution Avenue in DC.

I did pack my shirt, though, so whatever my friend Patty and I do on Monday, I'll have suitable attire. Whatever you do, I hope you'll pause to remember why Memorial Day is a national holiday.

In case you missed it last year, here's the text from the back of the shirt:

FALLEN… BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Winchester ‘01

Zellem ‘91

Blecksmith ‘03

“An inestimable prize, the understanding that health, good fortune, long years, domestic tranquility, all the attributes of personal happiness, do not make a life well lived if we are afraid to risk it all for the love of something finer, something bigger than our own desires.” - Senator John McCain

May we always remember and honor those who served. God bless and God speed.

Operation Fresh Air 2008 - Part 1

I think we could all agree that too much time inside... is just too much. For me, even exercising in a gym is punishment. I'll bundle up in layers, but please, just let me go outside for a walk, okay?

So perhaps, more than others, I was excited when I read about Operation Fresh Air last year.

Some military wives (mostly of the Marine variety, I believe!) in the DC area conceived of Operation Fresh Air, an opportunity for those recovering and rehabilitating at our DC-area military hospitals to spend a day fishing at a Virginia State park. I don't fish much, but how cool is that?

The events, OFA I and OFA II, were very popular with those who had a yen to get outside, and this year was no different. Despite a sprinkle (okay, shower) or two, the guys that came to fish yesterday never left the dock. Folks had to carry food out to the pier so they'd eat! I joked that Chicken Parmasean sandwiches might have been a bit better than chicken parm over spaghetti, but it was still yummy and the fisher-guys adapted. Just as some of them do for other things. They are such an inspiration, and it's such a pleasure to be able to help in any small way with an event that they clearly enjoy so much.

Someone caught an eel, which was suitably gross for the young boys. Check.

Someone flew a kite along the pier. Check.



Someone caught a fish 10 minutes before it was time to climb back on the bus. Check. Check.

Several little someones giggled and played and spent time with dad and mom, fishing, playing on the beach, munching on tasty fixings, and just generally chilling out.

Please note, for those who made donations through Soldiers' Angels for OFA last year, there were funds left over so yesterday's main course was your gift.

THANKS.

I missed this to attend yesterday, but it was a decent trade, I think.


A special thanks to all the great staff and volunteers at Leesylvania State Park for their support of the event!




Oh yeah, and another of the founding wives that I hadn't met before was there, though I didn't know it :-).

Ahem. Ahoy! Write an Email to a Sailor?

Thanks to Neptunus Lex for the update and reminder. Details HERE.

Send your email to the USS Russell, and be quick about it, k? You got this assignment, what, a month ago?