12/25/10 One of our most
treasured letters this Christmas:
"I am the wife of a deployed soldier. It is Christmas
eve for me here in Utah, and Christmas morning in Iraq for my husband. We were
talking through the computer and I got the opportunity to watch him open the
package that was sent to him. I could tell that he had been feeling sad lately
and missed being home especially with the holidays. When he was opening your
package and reading the notes written, he was a whole different person. It made
him so much happier and in turn, made me extremely happy as well. Thank you for
your support and please let me know how I can volunteer to help next year and
with any other future projects.
I will have a
lot of free time to help with whatever needs to be done. Thank you for your
response and for this wonderful program that you have started!"
Ashley
03/27/11
Our Dear Friend Cpl. Jeremy called us today to tell us he and
part of his Marine Company of 980 are back in NC safely. They are all safe
and he is glad to be back. They loved their packages as you can read below
and it really cheered them up in that "awful place" as he wrote us. Thank
you to my friends, Fran, Rebecca, 's Brad, Army Wife and Mom, Lana, and others
that helped me finish all care packages. They wrote about this great news:
"Glad they are all back. Thanks for sharing." Rebecca
"Hey that's great!!" Brad
"I
love the updates and am so glad we can help out in some small way" Annie Odyssey
Dance Theatre
03/05/11Thank you Captain
Lockhart for these great videos of Soldiers opening our care packages we shipped
out this year as soon as we heard you guys and gals deployed. YOU WIN
OFFICER OF THE YEAR BECAUSE YOU SEND US THIS FLASH DRIVE BACK SO QUICKLY AS YOU
PROMISED!!!
01/27/11"
Ma'am,
"I wanted to let you know that the packages you sent
were received last week.
The Soldiers really enjoyed knowing that someone back in
the States was
thinking of them. I think the best item in the packages
were the letters
from kids. All of them were very sweet, and some of
them were really funny.
Including the DVD with the video showing the packages
being put together was
a great idea, because it showed what a huge effort it
takes to send all of
these packages.
For the video and pictures I did get, please let me
know where to mail the thumb-drive.
Thank-you again for the gifts. I think knowing that
people in the USA cared
about us enough to go to all that work is really what
meant the most."
CPT
L
/01/12/11From a dear FRG leader
of one of our deployed military units: "
"Dear Denise,
I just wanted to let you know that the leftover gift bags that you donated
to our FRG's Christmas party were very much appreciated. It was a treat to come
by your home and see all of the wonderful things that you are doing to support
the soldiers and their families. My daughter and I were very touched and hope
to be able to help you do more good things for other military families.
Thankfully, my husband's deployment is winding down very quickly, and they will
be home before we know it!
K"
" We
have saved the t-shirts, soccer balls, and cleats and have them in a connex.
One of our companies that is here at ... is setting up an opportunity for us to
give these things directly to the Iraqi children. When that happens, I will
make sure to get some pictures. Thanks for all you do!"
Chap B
01//5/10
Our Friend Paul
holding Utah Valley Magazine from his care package."Denise,
Man, we have been so busy the last couple of months.
My assistant and I just delivered the last set of Christmas packages...
whew!!! The soldiers loved them!! Thanks you so much! I sent a letter out
with all of them explaining where they came from and your email address so I
hope some of the soldiers write to you and tell you thanks! Please tell all
your volunteers Thank You! It meas so much to all the men and women who serve.
We have been so blessed with so much stuff - we are set until the end of our
deployment for sure. I am including three pictures of soldiers opening up their
boxes -:) I can only send one picture per email, so there will be one with
this one and then I will send two more emails with just pictures. Again, Denise
- Thank You!!
Chaplain
Timothy "
12/30/10 From another unit of
soldiers we are sending more packages to:
"Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
I'll be happy to accept delivery of those packages and distribute them to my
Soldiers. I can also take photos / video and send this on a CD to you.
Our APO is.....
CPT N....."
12/28/10"Ms. Denise,
Thank you so much for all you and your group are doing
for our Joes who are
down range. I really appreciate it and I know they will
to.
Thanks Again. If you should need any help please let me
know and we here
will do all we can to help out.
Sincerely yours"
SSG S.
(another unit of Army Reservists from Utah with 122 men
that we are sending care packages to thanks to donations by Utah HR Council
companies and LDS Church funding)
12/13/10 From another grateful
Marine in Afghanistan:
"I would like to thank all of the wonderful kids who
took the time to write to me. Their love and support mean so much to me while I
am away from home. I am at a base called Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. I have
included a picture with one of the armored trucks we use. I hope all of you have
a happy holiday season with your families. Your support means so much to me, and
makes me work harder to try to make things safer for all of us."
CW3 Alan W.
OMT 7 Chief
TF Red Bulls
12/12/10 From our dear friend
Jeremy and 979 other Marines/Sailors in AFghanistan:
Jeremy wrote:
"WOW!!! Thank you Denise, and everyone that shiooed care
packages out to myself and the Marines in 1st Battalion 8th Marines, Charlie
Company (1/8 C CO) recently... You have really brightened the spirits of myself
and many of the Marines out here in this aweful place this holiday season...
Merry Christmas to you all; words cannot express our
gratitude for this awesome gesture..." "I
am not on the same FOB as the Chaplian; so I am usnure as to whether or not he
got everything?
Once again thank you from myself and all of the Marines and Sailors out here
with me.. It really meant a lot to us...
As for how I am doing; I am still recovering from an injury I sustained in a
firefight (I wound up getting multiple disc buldges in my back from diving to
the prone to avoid heavy machine gun fire), I will be out and about again soon
enough though...
Always great to hear from you, talk to you again soon..." Jeremy
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones
among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how
to serve." -Albert Schweitzer
Your support and encouragement to our troops
brings comfort to their families and loved ones. Thank you for the service you give to us.
Merry Christmas.
The 934th Forward Surgical Team at FOB Sharana,
Afghanistan would like to send you our warmest wishes and most heartfelt thank
you for the wonderful letters and the great care packages. We want everyone
that participated in this project, which obviously was done with love,
significant time, and great effort, that we very much appreciate what you have
down for us. It is not easy for us or our families to be separated for such a
long period. Our team provides medical care to wounded Soldiers and Afghan
people. We are sadden whenever a wounded Soldier comes to our clinic, but we
feel honored to be able to help out in anyway we can with their healing so they
can return to their families. Something that has been a tremendous help for our
team is the amount of support we receive from back home. The kindness and
support you showed to us in the nice things said in the letters and the fun
gifts in the packages makes us feel uplifted and helps us know that we are not
alone in this endeavor. We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year. Thank you for taking the time to lighten our load and brighten our day!
I attached pictures of some of the 934th FST Soldiers
opening their packages and a copy of our team Christmas eCard.
With Sincerest Thanks,"
1LT A. A. , SSG N.C. , & the rest of the 934th FST
Soldiers
We
appreciate receiving many hand written cards and letters from this Brigade.
"Oh, thank you so much, Denise!! My assistant and I are
heading out to day, in
fact to a couple of FOBs and are taking their packages
with us! :) You are
the best - tell everyone thanks, again!"
T.
11/05/10 From Brigade of 350 Soldiers from Utah in
Iraq:
"Dear Denise,
Hello! We received the first of the Christmas packages
today. Just so I am
tracking...each individual box goes to one soldier,
except for the ones that
specifically say for two soldiers - is that correct? I
do not want to open
them up - so if each box is for one soldier, I will put
their name on the box
and get them out as soon as I can. You guys are all so
awesome! Thanks so
much! I will try and get some pictures with the
soldiers receiving the boxes
as I am telling them to wait until Christmas to open
them up."
Chaplain b
12/05/10 From mom of one of our female soldiers:
"Thank you so much for sharing Denise! I know that the 971st is holding their
boxes until Christmas but my daughter promises video footage, so we will keep
our fingers crossed for that and I will make sure you get it!
You are awesome!"
Amy
A very moving and inspirational young lady asking for us
to send a package to her father serving:
"Could you add my dad to your list? His address is:
"I have just spent time thinking how
thankful I am for where I am and what I
have. I guess what made me reflect on this
was talking with my blind friend who is a
little older than me, and is so stuck and
some other people like that. They are at
home with their families for these holidays
yes, but they are there because they have no
where else to be. I am so thankful that I
have a purpose here and direction for my
life. Some will never understand the calling
of duty to the auxiliary or what I do every
day to serve the country I love so much. I
had a great talk with my CG Aux mentor and I
was telling him that I wished I could be
serving like my Dad. He said that people
don't recognize it now, but I am doing so
much already. He didn't know of anyone who
would move somewhere to volunteer with a
unit like I did and sacrifice so much, but
there is no other place I'd rather be. I
used to wish so much that I could be doing
something when I was in my adult teens and
twenty or so still home, and now I've gone
so far even than sighted college kids. I am
so thankful for the amazing friends in my
life who appreciate what I do, and for the
wonderful talk Dad and I had yesterday. Just
knowing that Dad and I are far away serving
our country, though in different ways, makes
me so happy. I could be at home not having
AF Aux drill next week to look forward to,
or CG Aux training, or just living on my own
braking new ground. Days when I miss being
with my family, I think of all of this. Its
like when my friend was saying how people
sit around and make themselves appear really
pathetic because they are blind to get more
money, its just so sad what people do with
their lives. It makes me so thankful to
start military university December 6 with a
new major, in Homeland Security, and just a
new year. I'm so thankful for Dad and how we
talk about our units and how he treats me
just like one of his guys and I feel so real
with him. For Mom and how she's always there
and how we keep each other going. For Nanna
and Granddad who are always proud of what I
do. Just so much to be thankful for if you
look around. I'm thankful that I'm not a
little blind girl anymore and that I broke
away from that cycle that so many people
seem to fall into. Thanks to all those
combat service members serving today, I am
honored to serve with you as an Auxiliarist.
Semper Paratus, Semper Vigilant, and Happy
Thanksgiving to everyone. I love you all so
much family".
" My name is SFC H. and I am a station
commander(recruiter) in Reidsville NC.
I have recently been asked about sending letters and
care packages to soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan? Can you please send me some
basic info so that I may get the word out in my community to help this great
cause."
Our Friend Paul
holding Utah Valley Magazine from his care package."Denise,
We
appreciate receiving many hand written cards and letters from this Brigade. 