posted
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.
posted
The cell companys probably came up with this...They LOVE pay per use charges. $$$
Imagine: 10 million messages sent messages x .15 (pay per use) = $1.5 mil. Thats just 10 mil. messages with out a txting plan! There are around 250 mil. cell users in the US. Thats where they make their real money...damn overages...
Posts: 1075 | From: weeeeeeee | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
That sounds good Glassman. These service-men and women deserve anything we can give them to make their holidays a little better.
If anyone has the time during these busy holidays they can also contact a local military base and give donations to servicemen and their families. There are people on base that will distribute your donations properly.
These donations can be used for Christmas parties for the serviceman and their families and also to service families that need a little extra help during the holidays.
The military cannot solicit donations it must be done by outside people and organizations. If we donate directly to the base it goes 100% to the military and their families.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by wdcisco: The cell companys probably came up with this...They LOVE pay per use charges. $$$
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
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
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?
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Isn't it amazing how things we'd have skinned our kids for doing are so cute when the grandkids do them?
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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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
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.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
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.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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"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. Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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But what I say is true and it's one of those delightful truths that makes life worth living.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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