Support 140,000 Troops at Christmas

This winter, an estimated 140,000 U.S. military personnel will be serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, in combat environments or in support of combat operations. Some will be on their 4th or 5th deployments--spending yet another Holiday away from the loving arms of family and friends. We want them to know that they are remembered, that we are thinking of them during the winter Holiday Season, and that we are grateful for their service. Since we can't all wrap our arms around them in person to show how much we love and appreciate them, Soldiers' Angels needs your help to make sure each one of America's heroes is Wrapped in Holiday Spirit.
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit & Blankets of Belief

Please help us make sure that our deployed Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines this Holiday Season know: "We haven't forgotten you, we support you, and we believe in you!"

Handmade "Blankets of Belief" form the heart of the Soldiers’ Angels Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages for the 2009 Holiday Season. These special Blankets are designed to tell America's service men and women, "We believe in you." When deployed service members receive a Blanket of Belief, they know that somebody back home remembers them, that somebody labored over a handmade blanket with love and belief in them. Along with the handmade Blanket, each Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care package includes a collection of yummy snacks, socks, and a holiday card with a personal note of thanks and support.
Many Ways to Help

* Spread the word with a general info flyer, or a flyer about sending holiday greeting cards [pdf files].
* Make a Blanket of Belief (we have a no-sew-option!)
* Donate a complete care package (you can now donate in honor of someone) or contribute hot chocolate packets toward care packages - select "Any Hero" for shipping address
* Donate other care package items: gum, candy/health bars, Tootsie Rolls, and white or khaki athletic/boot socks. Please include a note inside each box that contains your name, address, phone number, and an itemized list of contents with estimated value. Click here to purchase bulk items at a discount rate and ship directly to Soldiers' Angels.

Soldiers' Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218

Soldiers' Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
112 Greenhill Road
Ramseur NC 27316

Soldiers' Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
914 Tourmaline Dr
Newbury Park, CA 91320

* Help cover the cost of shipping 140,000 care packages overseas

Soldiers' Angels
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit
1792 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104

Soldiers' Angels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations are tax deductible. Please consult your tax adviser for details.

140,000 Care Packages!

Please help Soldiers' Angels place a gift and personal message of support into the hands of each deployed military man and woman this December. Help us tell them, "We believe in you!"

We are committed to providing Wrapped in Holiday Spirit care packages to every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's around 140,000 gifts to purchase, assemble, and ship halfway around the world! This is a big challenge but with your support and our wonderful group of hard-working volunteers, it can be done!

...I am part of [an] Air Control Squadron deployed to Iraq. I would like to thank your organization for the care package I received on Thanksgiving Day here in Iraq. The contents were very thoughtful and useful, and I greatly appreciated it. I would also like to thank the young ladies of Brownie Troop 547 in Buxton, Maine for their Christmas card.

Being away from our families and loved ones at this time of year is a definite hardship and this package has helped deal with the stresses of deployed life. Thank you again and God Bless you. - Captain A.B.

"To those that have taken their time to prepare the packages for soldier's here in Iraq: Thank you so much for the kind Christmas thoughts. Please see the attached. Happy holidays!! - MSG Hyer

Tremendous thanks to Business Christmas cards leader Prudent Publishing for their generous donation of cards for the care packages... for the third year in a row!

America's Giving Challenge

Hi everyone,

Our cause just entered in America's Giving Challenge, which gives us a chance to win $50,000!

Please donate today: http://www.facebook.com/l/3223c;www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?m=eed19519&cause_id=20611

To win, between now and November 7th we have to get the most donations to our cause (every person can donate once per day and have it count as a unique donation). We can also win daily awards of $1,000 and $500 if we can get the most people to donate in any 24-hour period. The great thing about this Challenge is that it doesn't matter how much you give, but instead how much you do to encourage friends and family to get involved in our cause. We all need to come together and start promoting the cause if we want to win.

Each of us has tons of friends on Facebook who we can ask to donate to our cause. But let's think big too—can you put our cause in your email signature, can you throw a party and get people to donate through the cause when they enter, can you organize other people to go out and fundraise from all of their friends? As you reach out to your friends be sure to tell them why this cause matters to you. The possibilities are endless so let's talk about what we can do to win on the Wall of the cause or by replying to this bulletin.

I think we can do it! But it's going to take all of us. Check out the Giving Challenge (http://www.facebook.com/l/3223c;www.causes.com?m=eed19519), then visit our cause to see how we're doing so far and get involved.

Donate right now by going to http://www.facebook.com/l/3223c;www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?m=eed19519&cause_id=20611

Let's win $50,000 for our cause!
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California Here We Come

I have had the distinct pleasure of doing many things as a Soldiers' Angel. Leading the VA Team Nationwide I must say has been the highlight of my time with this great organization. I love our deployed soldiers', but I also love each and every Veteran whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and visiting with.

Saturday myself and Martha Neyman(National VA Coordinator) left DFW airport for a trip to California. Our mission was to meet with a group of hard working angels who take care of the PTS Veterans at the Menlo Park VA. This has been a very hardworking group that has built support for themselves through raising funds and getting the word out about Soldiers' Angels.

Tonight in Moutain View, CA myself along with Martha had dinner and visited with this great group of men and women. The group led by Elaine Hodges met us at American Gourmet Restaurant just down the street from our Hotel. It was not like a first meeting at all, but more like sitting down to dinner with life long friends. We had a great time meeting Elaine, Dan, Dani, Bonnie, Janey, Lorraine and Paulette. I can't tell you how nice it was to sit down to dinner with a group that seemed like life long friends. We enjoyed a great meal, exchanging ideas and answering questions they had about the VA Team.

The most exciting part of this trip will be tomorrow night when we get to visit and help serve dinner to the PTS group at the Menlo Park VA. Martha and I are both looking forward to meeting and saying thank you to these heroes.

I will let you all know how the dinner goes and how much fun we had meeting with them.

To all of you who work so tirelessly for our Veterans at the Menlo Park VA, THANK YOU. It was a pleasure to meet you and we thank you for accepting us two Texans into your VA nad your giving up your time to have dinner with us.

More to come on this adventure after we return home...........

Twyla
Traveling in CA

Sale -abration - National Yard Sale

Soldiers’ Angels announces the First Annual Sale-abration, a nationwide garage/yard sale to be held on October 3! This special event with draw together people from across the country as they clear out their homes, support the troops, and spread the word about Soldiers’ Angels.

In addition to having the chance to get rid of cool and useful items they no longer use, sellers will be awarded a hand-signed Day of the Deployed proclamation from Soldiers’ Angels founder Patti-Patton Bader. Soldiers’ Angels will also supply each seller with 25 SA wristbands to motivate the first 25 customers at each garage sale, and cards to go inside holiday care packages for the troops will be available at each site for customers to sign.

Registration is now open. If you would like to hold a sale, please sign up. Information packets and further details will go out to all sellers in coming weeks. In the meantime, sign up and start spreading the news to your friends and neighbors. This could be a great event for a school or church, or a Scout/youth group. Get your whole neighborhood involved in one big yard sale!

If you would like to assist someone else who is holding a sale, keep checking the registration page to see if there is one scheduled near you and follow the contact information given.

Sellers who register will receive information packets soon, including flyers and suggestions for improving the sale and its impact. After Labor Day, help with press releases and local media will also be available.

Please sign up now if you’re planning on a garage/yard sale for Sale-abration. You can email saleabration@soldiersangels.org with any questions not addressed here (remember, information packets will be sent to registered sellers in coming weeks).

ANGELS OF COMFORT

Soldiers' Angel Cynthia is a part of the Living'>http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=living-legends">Living Legends team, which provides condolences and comfort to families of the fallen through letters, cards, and very special gifts of comfort and remembrance. Cynthia is personally responsible for contacting families and offering them a tree or wreath in memory of their loved one. She also makes sure any young children involved receive a Patches teddy bear, which is specially crafted to help them express their emotions amid the tragedy of losing a parent.

Angels of Comfort

The last two months have seen a high rate of casualties, especially in Afghanistan, and the Living Legends team has been very busy. Cynthia recently shared with the rest of the team:
...After talking with family after family the last few days, I thought it was time to make sure each and every one of you understands how very important you are and what a special thing it is you are doing. Mother after mother, wife after wife, father after father, and husband after husband have told me how much those cards mean to them.
Not once in the two years I have been doing this have I ever had to explain Soldiers Angels to any of our families--each and every person knew, and the appreciation is so enormous. One Grandfather told me this weekend that we have done so much for them that they hated to impose anymore by taking a tree. I'm told over and over how amazed they are that people all over the country--people they don't know--would be so kind, go to such trouble for them.
Each of you, when you send a card, is a wonderful ambassador for Soldiers Angels and you make my job at little easier. Some families have told me that at especially rough times, they go back to their box of Angel cards and read them again for comfort. It doesn't matter that none of us have the perfect words--when I call, I certainly don't because there simply are none--but the fact that you reach out to them means so much, they are so grateful that people care; you just can't imagine.
So, if ever you feel that your one card doesn't matter, that you can't possibly say anything that will make a difference, don't you dare stop! You are a lifeline to so many, and those cards and letters will carry into the future. Sadly, many of our heroes have children they never met or who are too young to remember who Mom or Dad was. Your cards are being kept to give to those children and hopefully your words will help these children fill that empty place with the understanding that Mom or Dad was very special--so special, so appreciated, that people from all over the States wrote to say so.
So, thank you again. I, too, appreciate the caring and thoughtful way you pave the road for me. The bios [on each fallen hero, researched and assembled by Living Legend team members] are so helpful to me because I can read each one, and when I talk to one of our families I know something about them, which makes me a little more like a long-lost friend that a stranger. Plus, I see the photos and sometimes it helps me know what to say. I know putting those bios together is not an easy job, reading them isn't easy either and you know what?--It really shouldn't be.
Soldiers' Angels proudly gives its most respectful salute to the amazing Angels of the Living Legends team. They willingly step into the most painful of situations, honoring America's heroes and comforting their grieving families during the most difficult time. They are truly Angels of a most special breed.

Inviting All Veterans
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall
3400 Burnett Tandy Drive
Fort Worth, Texas 76107

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Come and Go
Free benefits fair

• TEXAS VETERANS LAND BOARD: Housing Loan Program, Land Loan
Program, Home Improvement Loan Program, State Veterans Homes and
State Veterans Cemeteries.

• TEXAS VETERANS COMMISSION: Counselors to assist with disability and
pension claims, employment services and educational benefits.

• DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: Representatives to assist with
federal entitlements.

• SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: Representatives to assist veterans
with business opportunities.

• SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Representatives to assist veterans
with claims.

• LOCAL REALTORS AND LENDERS: Specializing in veterans loans

For more information, call: Michelle Davis at 214-498-8174.
1-800-252-VETS
www.texasveterans.com

Texas Veterans Land Board • Jerry Patterson, Chairman
1700 North Congress Avenue • Austin, Texas 78701
Brought to you by the Texas Veterans Land Board & Texas Veterans Commission

1,141 Heroes Waiting To Be Adopted

Soldiers' Angels has 1,141 Heroes needing to be adopted. Please tell your friends, family and co-workers about Soldiers' Angels and ask them to adopt a hero.

We have so many in Afghanistan that need our help, can you find just one person to adopt a Soldier??

Please direct them to www.soldiersangels.org

97 days until Soldiers' Angels ship holidays to our heroes....

We have 97 days to collect items for our soldiers holiday packages and ship overseas to our soldiers.

We have alot to do to get ready to meet our holiday goals. Get the word out that you are collecting holiday items for Soldiers' Angels holiday care packages.

Contact your local Walmart, grocery store, schools, churches, workplace, service group, ask to put out a donation collection box.

Monetary donations are always accepted as we need postage money to ship our holiday packages. (http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.SoldiersAngels.org has a paypal option or click donate on our site to mail a check to us.)

We are sending every deployed service member in a combat zone a care package with holiday greetings, including goodies and a beautiful homemade blanket.

How Can You Help?
Challenge your school, PTA group, teachers, parents, senior citizen centers, businesses, church,
college, radio & TV stations, and newspapers. Get the word out tell everyone you know you are
collecting hot cocoa packets to provide comfort and warmth for our military. Every item collected is that much closer to filling a care package with holiday cheer.



We need 180,000 of everything:

Hot Cocoa Packets
Hot Cider Packets
Men's White Socks (sizes 9-15)
Candy Bars (any size)
Hard Candy
Candy Canes
Power Bars
Nuts
Christmas Cards- signed but not sealed

Handmade Blanket of Belief - directions on our website http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.SoldiersAngels.org



Please send your donation with your contact information with estimated value to:

Soldiers’ Angels
914 Tourmaline Drive
Newbury Park, CA 91320


Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-led 501 (c)(3) non-profit supporting the troops since 2003
Help us meet our holiday goal of 180,000 by November 1, 2009
http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.soldiersangels.org

Soldiers' Angels and KBR

With KBR being one of the Sponsors for the largest land-based fireworks display and Independence Day celebration in the U.S, Soldiers Angels was invited to be a participate in the KBR tent. Jeff Bader and Toby Nunn came down and participated in the event with several other Houston area angels.

Braving the 100F-plus degree heat on the Fourth of July, over 100,000 festival-goers made their way down a stretch of Allen Parkway, just outside of downtown Houston, to help commemorate 233 years of U.S. independence. The event, which also honored the 40th anniversary of NASA's Apollo XI Lunar Landing, featured various activities consisting of NASA exhibits; unique displays of military artifacts and vehicles; rides, games and face painting in the Kids Zone; the men's and women's statewide volleyball tournament finals; corporate and non-profit booths; and an abundance of great food and beverages scattered throughout. Water misting areas were also strategically placed to help any over-heated attendees cool down.

Soldiers’ Angels was located front and center, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the masses alongside the U.S. Army and the Nasa Exhibits. As spectators arrived to enjoy the festivities, Soldiers’ Angels had postcards available and encouraged attendees to write notes to our troops, thanking them for their bravery and service. Because of the generous spirit of KBR and the public, we collected over 1,000 postcards, as well as some donations that day. These thank you notes will be sent in care packages to our troops overseas.

We also had the opportunity to meet quite a few servicemen and women who had just returned from, or were about to leave for, Iraq and Afghanistan. It was our great pleasure being able to shake their hands and give them the SA coin and/or pin in appreciation of their service.

Houston Chapter of Act! For America Packs Boxes for Soldiers

The Houston Chapter of Act! For America had their chapter meeting last night and as a service project packed boxes for Soldiers' Angels. As part of the meeting they asked their members to donate items for soldiers' as a one time event. The group packed 16 boxes total and shipped those off to our troops overseas today.

Act! is a organization devoted to protecting American Values. Thanks to this group for making sure that our troops know that people back home care!