Nice coda to Operation Thank Andrew...

[Ken Begg]

I had mentioned when I sent the donation to Operation Gratitude (http://www.opgratitude.com) that the money had been raised by friends and fans of Andrew Borntreger. Hours later, I recieved an e-mail from OG representative Carolyn Blashek, who asked that I forward to Andrew her request for the names of everyone in his squad, so that they could all receive the care packages the organization sends out. That represents a lot more packages than our $185 covers, and I thought it was great.

Hopefully Andrew will have time to respond sometime soon, although with the battle in Fallujah now occuring, I'm not sure when that will be. In this particularly dangerous period, I would ask that your thoughts and prayers go to him and his fellow fighting men and women. God keep them safe and see their mission speedily accomplished.

If I may be so bold, when the holidays approach and people think of donating to good causes, I hope you will keep in mind the folks at Operation Gratitude and their good work.  Thanks again to everyone who contributed to our little effort.

[ulthar]

Ken Begg wrote:

>
> If I may be so bold, when the holidays approach and people
> think of donating to good causes, I hope you will keep in mind
> the folks at Operation Gratitude and their good work.  Thanks
> again to everyone who contributed to our little effort.

Thank-you for this idea.  It just so happened that my sisters were asking for my Christmas list for this year, and I added this.  I now have three 'charities' that I ask them to give to rather than buying me junk I don't really need.  The others are (1) a food bank and (2) ELCA disaster response.

[Ken Begg]

Good for you, Ulthar.  

Another thing to mention, for those who don't have money to spare but would like to do something for our troops, is that Operation Gratitude also collects letters to enclose in the care packages they send.  Information on this can be found at their site, http://www.opgratitude.com.  Just a short, handwritten note from the homefront expressing support can really mean a lot to our people over there.

[Sugar_Nads]

Wow, that is ver "unselfish" and kind of you all... War is nothing to take lightly and I'm sure the men and women of the armed forces greatly appreciate your support.

My brother is a Chaplain in the Army and he has been in Iraq for quite some time. I am touched by what you have put together here. I too would like to donate as I am more of a supporter of Andrew's service in the military than a fan of this site. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the site but I'd be lying if I called myself a fan of his.

God bless our troops and may they return home safely to their families.