Regular Missions
Regular Missions:
The Troop Group maintains a regular mailing schedule of weekly newspapers and church services to service members in Iraq, Afghanistan, and where ever else there is a need. We mail boxes of food items, socks, entertainment, and personal care on a regular basis. Any soldier who asks for something special can be assured we will do our best to find what ever he or she asks for within reason as our funds are not unlimited. We are always looking for new ways to serve those serving us and new sources of donations to insure our troops get the best care possible from us.
Church Services:
Shepherd of the HIlls Lutheran Church records one Sunday service on CD each Sunday for us. Donna burns one copy, more for larger groups, for each person on our support list on her home computer. Since Donna is at most 8am Sunday services, she takes notes in her bulletin on what is going on and who is speaking at the service. She then copies the bulletins and sends the CD, the bulletin with notes, words to any hymns not printed in the bulletin, and a gallon resealable plastic bag for storage in a padded envelope to each person on the list. Teh responses from our service men has been very positive.
"Hi Donna,
I got a Church service and Newspaper yesterday.
Thank you for all you do.
God Bless,
Dave"
Dave was in Iraq and recently returned home.
This was from A. H. In Iraq:
"Praise The Lord Sister Donna, Certainly you can post my information for the congrgants, and I would love to be able to receive copies of your services. We just arrived in country and we are still trying to get organized and so some of our guys havn't beren able to attend one of the services and so this would be a great opportunity to have the annointed word at their disposal. I look forward to ministring with you. By the way, just a bit about me, I'm a medic in the US Army and a Baptist minister in The Lords Army, so it gives me a wonderful opportunity to help men heal both physically and spiritually. God Bless you and yours............."
And this from F. G. currently in Afghanistan:
"Donna,
I have received your last three church CD's and they were outstanding. I also received a letter from you today. As I read through it I hope I can answer some of the questions that you asked. We could always use some bibles. I think I have only seen one since I have been here. We are so far down range that the Chaplian never makes it to us. Any type of Christmas stuff will be put to good use I.E. Christmas cards for our loved ones and friends, Christmas lights decorations and maybe a small artificial tree. We are not picky when it comes to food can or packaged. I would love to be a "Soldier of the Month" candidate. I will prepare a description of mhyself and I will e-mail it to you. Just let me know when you need it. As far as the Boy Scouts I will have to ask the rest of my team. Keep the church papers, church CD's and news papers coming. We really enjoy them. It sounds like you live in a beautiful area. ...........................................Well take care and stay in touch.
F. G."
This CD mission requires donations of:
- Non-rewriteable CD's
- Thin plastic CD cases
- 6" x 8" padded envelopes
- Gallon resealable plastic bags
- CD labels
- $34 per week postage
General Boxes:
We mail boxes containing personal care items, entertainment items, and snacks on a regular basis. We also try to mail more seasonal items such as sun screen and insect repellent or hot cocoa and coffee as those items are available. We mail special requests when known and obtainable. When we know the dates, we like to send recognition of birthdays. Holiday cards and greeting cards for everyday occassions are always in demand. We contunually seek out new sources of donations of both supplies and the money to mail them.
Newspapers:
A small local newspaper graciously donates 8 copies of their paper each week. We mail the paper to chaplains, local soldiers, people from Wisconsin, or men in remote Afghanistan each week.
Education and Information:
We take advantage of every possible opportunity to educate the public on the needs of our service personnel and how the public can help meet those needs. Educating the public on the need is a continuous mission. We also take advantage of opportunities in both broadcasting and print media to inform the public of our efforts. We regularly submit articles to the New London Press Star regarding our efforts. We occassionally contact a member of the Post Crescent West with story ideas. We have an information brochure regarding our efforts we have designed and print on Donna's computer which we share with any one who asks for it . Email questions marked "Troop Support" in the subject line are answered to the best of our ability.
School Supplies:
School supply donations offer a way for each of us to help fight terrorism while making the world better for children. The parents of Afghani and Iraqi children realize the best way for life to be better for their children then is is for themselves is for the children to receive a good education. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has declared teachers must stop teaching or face execution. The teachers have not stopped teaching despite torture and death. We can help by donating school supplies. Delivering school supplies gives our soldiers welcome opporutunites to develope better relations between themselves and the citizens of other countries. We are looking for:
- Spiral notebooks
- Black or blue stick pens
- #2 American-made pencils
- 2" pink or green erasers
- Small pencil sharpeners
- 16 or 24 count Crayola crayons (safer and color better than other brands)
Letters:
