As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, the Department of Defense has created a program this year which allows everyone to text a message of thanks to US troops. This initiative began on Saturday, November 17, 2007, and will run through midnight on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007.
This week, you can text a thank you message to our military members. Text 8 9 2 7 9 and send a thank you note. Military members will not actually receive messages individually but instead, the messages will be continuously uploaded to the Department of Defense website http://www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. Over 52,000 messages have already been sent. Please spread the word to family and friends as this is an opportunity for everyone to give thanks to the troops and show them your support and gratitude.
If you have a text messaging plan with your service provider, the text to 8 9 2 7 9 is free of charge, however, the text will count toward your total text messaging allowed by your individual plan. If you don't have a text plan with your service provider, text messaging fees from your service provider will apply.
Visit http://www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil for more information and to read some of the messages already received.
Posted by wdcisco on :
The cell companys probably came up with this...They LOVE pay per use charges. $$$
Imagine: 10 million messages sent messages x .15 (pay per use) = $1.5 mil. Thats just 10 mil. messages with out a txting plan! There are around 250 mil. cell users in the US. Thats where they make their real money...damn overages...
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
That sounds good Glassman. These service-men and women deserve anything we can give them to make their holidays a little better.
If anyone has the time during these busy holidays they can also contact a local military base and give donations to servicemen and their families. There are people on base that will distribute your donations properly.
These donations can be used for Christmas parties for the serviceman and their families and also to service families that need a little extra help during the holidays.
The military cannot solicit donations it must be done by outside people and organizations. If we donate directly to the base it goes 100% to the military and their families.
Posted by wdcisco on :
Yeah donatins are way better...Theres nothing that says "thanks" more than a big bag of dough
(I am not being saracastic.)
Posted by Sunnyside on :
quote:Originally posted by wdcisco: The cell companys probably came up with this...They LOVE pay per use charges. $$$
Imagine: 10 million messages sent messages x .15 (pay per use) = $1.5 mil. Thats just 10 mil. messages with out a txting plan! There are around 250 mil. cell users in the US. Thats where they make their real money...damn overages...
gotta keep the economy running somehow.....
guess what? i don't have a cell phone...
i did in the late 80's and early 90's but i haven't had one since i sold my repo biz... of course, i do have to pay for the kids Posted by bdgee on :
I don't have one, never have, and don't want one. I love peace and quiet.
Sam Walton lived his whole life without a phone in his home and upon being questioned about it by a reporter asked why he'd want a bell in his house any fool could ring whenever he wanted?
Posted by glassman on :
i'll prolly get one when the next generation iphone comes out..
i hear google is working on making the phone "internet useful"... (as opposed to merely capable)
it may not be an apple product that i get, but i wouldn't mind being able to logon whenever wherever...
Posted by T e x on :
Everyone knows youse guys are recluses. Posted by glassman on :
you'd be a recluse too if you lived where i live....
i have to drive 40 miles to get to a bar, shoot pool and listen to some live music
Posted by T e x on :
wah...
I just drove in from Denver, comin' back from seeing a play...
Posted by glassman on :
heh, aren't those guys on strike?
Tex, if there wasn't a nekked chick involved? y'aall're need'n ta git yer head chayecked...
Posted by T e x on :
lol, your 40 miles and my 40 miles?
some days in the Metroblister, 40 miles eats up a good two hours...
Shoot some pool, and count yer blessings
Posted by T e x on :
quote:Originally posted by glassman: heh, aren't those guys on strike?
Tex, if there wasn't a nekked chick involved? y'aall're need'n ta git yer head chayecked...
lol! there was ribaldry... will send you a link
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
The donations do not have to be money. Although money is fine. Food, candy, diapers, etc. will work also.
There are quite a few people and businesses that are generous and support our military. They do walk the walk not just talk the talk. I wish i could have got a little more motivated earlier to help get some more donations. Still have been able to get enough candy and toy cars for about 600 kids and some frozen food in bulk for quite a few families plus some other minor stuff. It wasn't that hard.
It must be that i was so use to raising money for they sports teams where you have to sell those paper subscriptions and cookies, many parents know what i am talking about. Now that is hard.
There are many people out there that really do appreciate what the military has to give up to serve our country especially during the holidays.
Posted by T e x on :
According to Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau, Americans donate about $6 billion dollars worth of clothing items every year. However, when it's time to clean out your closets and get rid of the clothes you never wear anymore, Bennett says you may want to think twice about where you are donating the items. Jean talks with Bennett about the minor investigative work every donor should do before giving away their used goods.
Bennett says businesses or individuals sometimes profit off the donations instead of helping charities. For example, Bennett says some collection bins in the parking lots of shopping centers are conveniently located, but they're often not what they appear to be. "It may be a for-profit business that may be collecting those clothes," he says. "[The bin] may in some cases have a name on the side that sounds like a charity, when in fact it is not." Similarly, if an organization is hosting a drive and coming to your neighborhood to collect clothing or other items for charity, Bennett says you should double check their legitimacy and make sure they're accurately representing themselves.
Bennett shares tips for being a cautious donor:
The charity should share with you what percentage of its net profit is going to its intended cause. Typically 30 percent of the net profit made from your donation should go to charity, Bennett says. "If they are evasive or giving you problems, I would suggest letting your Attorney General's office know about it because that is not good practice," he says. "They should be open and up front about how they are benefiting a charity." If you want to make sure a donation bin is affiliated with a charity, Bennett says you should check the name on the bin with your local Better Business Bureau. The BBB's national and local chapters have evaluated hundreds of charities. If you do donate to a reputable charity, Bennett says you should save your receipts and do the work necessary to save money on tax returns. "It is up to the donor to keep their own list of what they have donated and what their estimated fair market value of the items are—the charity isn't going to do that for you," he says.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
Does not seem like 30% of net profit made by your donation is really enough to be given to a charity.
Then again i do not think much of the Better Business Bureau and the way they supposedly protect the consumer.
Posted by bdgee on :
Those that believe the BBB, a collection of business with the express purpose of protecting business, has any interest in protecting the consumer (or is providing honest information about them or the public's interest) would also believe (or claim to believe) the claim of dubya and company to be protecting and respecting the families of the dead by refusing to allow photos of the flag draped caskets of our boys they sent to be slaughtered in Iraq in order to keep control of oil in the hands of the elite.
Now, looking at the quotes above provided us by IWISHIHAD, I repeat parts and suggest replacing "net profit" with "finances for the Iraq war" and make other implied replacements where necessary.
"The charity should share with you what percentage of its net profit is going to its intended cause. Typically 30 percent of the net profit made from your donation should go to charity, Bennett says. "If they are evasive or giving you problems, I would suggest letting your Attorney General's office know about it because that is not good practice," he says. "They should be open and up front about how they are benefiting a charity." "
"It is up to the donor to keep their own list of what they have donated and what their estimated fair market value of the items are—the charity isn't going to do that for you," he says.
The best contribution that you can make to our men and women in uniform is to clear out the neo-con war mongers. Taking them out of harm's way and saaving lives is the best contribution possible.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
I got my first taste of the BBB back in the 70's when i had my first business and they were soliciting donations. Once they went through there talk i realized how much they protected the consumer.
If i had given a donation they felt it would help me. Maybe in a roundabout way it would have if i was really concerned about a lot of complaints that went through them.
A lot of people feel if they see that BBB emblem in a business it is okay. Good luck on that one.
But to this day many consumers still feel the BBB is there to protect them. The Better Business Bureau is financed by business to protect the consumer some how this has never made much sense to me.
Posted by bdgee on :
Kinda defies reason as well as the actual history don't it?
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
I am realizing again how much of a pain in the rear end doing the whole process of donations is. I also had forgotten how the military process works.
My initial idea this year was to give a few hundred play cars and some candy which was easy. But somehow now has gotten quite a bit larger and a little more complicated. Well worth it but still a pain.
My grandson sure liked going to pick product up from one of the factories and at the base, he could not stop talking about it to his mom later. He loves those fork lifts, pallet jacks, trucks, helicopters etc. I wish i could let him do it all. He's not 5 yet so guess i will have to wait another year before i let him drive, my daughter might get mad if i start him at 4.
Posted by T e x on :
ya, she might...
Posted by bdgee on :
Isn't it amazing how things we'd have skinned our kids for doing are so cute when the grandkids do them?
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
Bdgee, it must be because we can take them home when we want and still get a good nights sleep.
I had my grandson today again and we went fishing at a local lake at least that's what we called it.
It was raining today and my daughter said as we were leaving don't let him (my grandson) get to wet. He had rain boots on and after a hour i think that was the only thing that was dry. He found to hugh mud puddles and he played like one of the characters in his favorite show Dirty Jobs.
I was lucky my daughter sent an extra pair of cloths with us so he went home dry, not that he really cared.
Posted by bdgee on :
Yep, but way down in the years to come I bet he'll have very special and loving memories of a rainy day fishing trip with grandpa.
Posted by T e x on :
quote:Originally posted by bdgee: Yep, but way down in the years to come I bet he'll have very special and loving memories of a rainy day fishing trip with grandpa.
who knows what kids "remember"?
BUT, the emotional "foundation" is huge...whether they "remember" details or not.
This Thanksgiving, we had one of our "jam sessions" after dinner...doesn't happen every year, but we have musicians in the family, so it's not uncommon. This year was kinda special, and at one point, one of my daughters looked up at me, kinda teary eyed, and said, "You know? Growing up...I thought every kid got read to or sung to bed every night..."
Even when memories are more a feeling than a specific detail, the result is a "cushion" that lets one kid feel comfortable and safe, and the one without that cushion feeling edgy and endangered.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
The kids sure are fun and funny. It is nice as we get older that many of us do seem to have more time and can spend it enjoying the grandkids or kids in general.
It's to bad when were parents there usually is not as much fun time with our kids as when we become grand parents. Maybe because most of our time as a grand parent is fun time, at least we hope so.
It almost seems it would be more fair the other way around. But then again maybe that's one of the good sides of growing older to help offset some of the bad ones.
I still remember the show Kids Say The Darndest Things.
Posted by bdgee on :
Ya haveta always keep in mind that what we call playing is really kids preparing and learning to become one of us.
I always say a dog has the hardest job. He has to make a boy feel like a man and a man feel like a boy and, all the while, his real work is to turn each into the other. Kids can almost do the second.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
"Ya haveta always keep in mind that what we call playing is really kids preparing and learning to become one of us." _________________________________________________
I can never show my daughter your quote Bdgee she will never let my grandson play with me again, especially after a few of the stories my mom has told her and she has never heard the good ones. Posted by bdgee on :
Hahahaha
I hear ya......
But what I say is true and it's one of those delightful truths that makes life worth living.
Posted by glassman on :
"You know? Growing up...I thought every kid got read to or sung to bed every night..."
LOL, my kids would be teary if i did sing them to bed.... people PAY me NOT to sing Posted by T e x on :
easy work, though...
Posted by Hannibull on :
thank the troops for what exactly? (honest question)
Posted by T e x on :
doing their best...in a bad situation
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
Hannibull, In a short and simple way i will explain why i give thanks to our troops
It is for risking their lives and giving up the everyday privileges to ensure the freedoms of Americans.
The military also works within our communities when needed. In time of emergencies they are called upon to help. They are always on the alert for such emergencies.
They cannot chose when and where they go when called upon. They have duties far beyond what any normal job requires.
We tend to forget these soldiers of today are basically the same soldiers doing similiar jobs as the soldiers of WWI and WWII. This is just a different time, a different era and they have been put in a different situation. That does not make them any less heroic. Without these soldiers we would not have the freedoms we enjoy today.
I do not believe we, as a nation, expect others to defend us. Thus, I feel, we need a military which includes our servicemen and women.
That is why I give thanks!
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
It appears that many California military bases have a pretty good network of civilian volunteers to help serviceman with all kinds of needs.
If there are any serviceman that need extra help while in the states or on deployment, please do not hesitate to PM me. I will make a contact through the group i am working with or if for some reason they cannot help i will help locate someone that can. This particular group helps serviceman and their families with anything from taxes to food.
Please if you need help or know someone that does do not hesitate to let me know or try and find a group on your base.
These groups are there to help the military and their families there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for some extra help during these tough times.
Posted by glassman on :
what can we do to help your group?
we send care packages to Iraq from here, but we don't have any bases nearby, most of the troops from MS are reservists, and our local unit is deployed tight now...
Posted by Highwaychild on :
This I found out about on the radio yesterday. Bob and Tom's drive...
Posted by Highwaychild on :
quote:Originally posted by Hannibull: thank the troops for what exactly? (honest question)
Your momma probably thanked 'em.
Posted by bdgee on :
If I were very very wealthy, I'd like to travel to that part of the world and just spend a couple of weeks shaking the hands of as many of our boys and girls in Afganistan and Iraq as I could. (But I doubt that would be allowed, dammit.)
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
Glassman,
I am sure most every base needs extra help of all kinds especially those families of deployed serviceman. This particular group i worked with was a group called Family Readiness. It appears they have 19 assistant centers through out California. I delivered some of the stuff myself so i know it went directly to the base.
There are many other organizations on different bases as i am sure you know and probably as good as this one. This group's first priority is servicemen and families and if they have excess food a local civilian food bank will get it if they are really short. I am sure it works back and forth working with the local community food banks.
I am going to try and find someone on the Camp Pedleton Base next year to try and and deliver some of these donated goods. I think at least 2 of the sources that were so generous this year are going to have more stuff through out the year. Hopefully some of there goods can go to Camp Pendleton and some to the local base. I tried Camp Pedleton last year but it seemed like the only contacts i made were groups with some type of affiliation, i prefer if possible a semi independent group.
It is really great that there are companies and indivuals out there willing to donate goods to help the military and food banks. Two companies have given approx. 5000lbs of food so far and hopefully more to come before end of year.
Those small donations really add up also everything helps so never think the donation is to small.
I made a little mistake this time. Some of the goods i decided to pick up in my car. They said they had a pallet so i thought i'll pick it up, 3 loads later and a car that was full to the brim every time. Next time i will borrow my brothers pickup truck.
I just hope they get all the goods to the serviceman that need it and keep it discreet.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
quote Iwish:
It appears that many California military bases have a pretty good network of civilian volunteers to help serviceman with all kinds of needs.
If there are any serviceman that need extra help while in the states or on deployment, please do not hesitate to PM me. I will make a contact through the group i am working with or if for some reason they cannot help i will help locate someone that can. This particular group helps serviceman and their families with anything from taxes to food.
Please if you need help or know someone that does do not hesitate to let me know or try and find a group on your base.
These groups are there to help the military and their families there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for some extra help during these tough times. _________________________________________________
I wanted to re-post this in case any military people missed it. I know allstocks has al-ways had some military personnal posting from time to time and family members.
Posted by Sunnyside on :
Maybe you can all send a little something to the troops for the holidays.
It looks like one of the companies came up with some more donations for the serviceman and their families.
I have been in contact with someone up in the northern part of the state. I was almost to the point to look for another contact. It seemed liked every time i called i felt they did not really want anything. I was told otherwise by someone down here prior to the contact.
I got a list today of the goods and decided to call anyway. I guess this person must have assumed i was BSing in the prior calls. I gave them the list of goods and when i gave the pounds i thought this person was going to choke, they did not expect the numbers i gave them.
They must have thought i was going to give them 20LBS(still no excuse)and it would be an easy task to pick up. I guess that's why this groups should never assume the caller is full of BS.
There are going to be a lot of troops tired of vegetables, but probably a better quality than they usually get, not sure that is necessarily the case anymore.
I am glad i did follow through because the troops and their families deserve it.
I am tired of my car being at the transmission repair shop. I could not use my wifes car today so i was stuck home all day. Poor me and all of you on the board because i was posting more than usual. Better hope i get it out tommorrow like they promised, or you might be stuck with me most of the day again.
Posted by T e x on :
"Better hope i get it out tommorrow like they promised, or you might be stuck with me most of the day again. "
lol, we can handle it...
hope your tranny probs disappear, soon
Posted by glassman on :
I am glad i did follow through because the troops and their families deserve it.
sounds great iwish.
we had an RR visit from one of our reservists last week. her attitude is impressive. she's young and has no family to support, but all of us got the impression that (from her perspective) things are getting better for the troops over there.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
The one thing that suprizes me is that these bases do not seem to have any refrigerated trucks in their motor pools.
Some of the goods are IQF frozen so they cannot take a lot of time moving them without a refrigerated truck.
Posted by glassman on :
no refer tucks? wtf?
i bet HAL got the contract to do them so the army wouldn't have to handle the extra maintenance...
and of course HAL doesn't want competition from mom at the chow line...
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
It has been an experience getting involved with this whole process again. Most of these volunteer groups do not really have a lot of experience in moving bigger donations. They are use to small ones.
You try and explain what they will have to do and suggest ways of doing it but they seem to not listen very well so they end up finding out the hard way. When they picked up the 2000lbs in LA. I gave them all the info. a contact number and name if they had any problem. I had to go somewhere that day but i knew i better take all that information with me because i knew i would get a call. It's lucky we have cell phones. Sure enough after receiving three calls we got their shipment released.
Now i will have to start the process all over again with someone new up North and a much bigger shipment if they can take it all. 28,000lbs. Maybe they have more experience but somehow i doubt it.
I just hope they understand about the IQF frozen goods or if they get real lucky it might have be frozen over which would give them a lot more time, because it freezes solid. That happened with the load down here, blesssing in disguise.
I am also concerned if they really get the part about allowing enough time to get it loaded and transport it without it having it un-thaw, the nice part is that i think they can use the troops to pick it up so they can get a lot of them if they play it smart.
One of the many things that did surprise me was that when they have their Christmas or Thansgiving parties that only the serviceman and servicewoman's food is paid for, the families food has to come out of private donations if i understood them right. In some ways it makes sense but then in other ways it makes none considering how much we spend on the war.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
I have to make a correction on the name of the group i have been working with it is not the Family Readiness Group. At the base i delivered the goods they were working with them and mentioned them, but are not part of that group, i asssumed they were. I think most bases do have a Family Readiness Group i believe they are part of the military though, my bad.
This project of mine has become more of a nightmare than i expected. I have the goods but getting them to the troops has not been such an easy task.
Unfortunately with many of these non profit groups, there isn't profit involved but there sure are salaries and some very good ones. Cash is usually better than goods.
With some of the people it's just a job and the easier the better.
I would guess there is a ton of stuff that would get to the troops if it was not so hard to donate and not so much money was taken out for expenses of these non profit groups.
I was told that in the past a lot of people have wanted to donate packages of items to send to the troops over-seas, but when they were told that the postage would have to be payed in order to be sent, they declined. Some could not afford both.
Posted by IWISHIHAD on :
It is that time of year which is the hardest time for troops to be away from home. For those troops that are in harms way it is even more difficult. I Wish them all a Merry Christmas and be safe.
I am re-posting BooDog's poem. _________________________________________________
A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard into a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
and I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
you should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced, with a warm fire's light,
then he sighed and he said "It's really all right."
"I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
that separates you, from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
and now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son, in more than a while,
but my wife sends me pictures; he's sure got her smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
the Red, White, and Blue... an American Flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post, through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole, with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
for being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
$$$![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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