Blue Star Mothers NY#1 gave the Canandaigua VA Hospital Employees a Valentine Day Thank You for all their help to our Veterans
Blue Star Mothers NY#1 Sent a Care package to this injured Soldier
Blue Star Mothers NY#1 sent a Christmas Tree and Party in a Box to this deployed unit's Chaplain
From A Soldier:
To: BSMA, NY Chapter #1: You're all amazing! A special shout-out to Rebecca (Mom) for her love and support. I received the Christmas Tree and additional enormous box filled with kindness and generosity! I appreciate it, the Soldiers appreciate it...God Bless You All! ~ MAJ __, EN, US ArmyFrom Farmington Vietnam War Commemorative Program
We appreciate so much your contributing to our program for the veterans with a focus on honoring and thanking the Vietnam War Era veterans and their families. Thanks to companies such as yours, veteran awareness has increased in our community. With your donation, we are able to hold the events required as partners of the national program to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of the Vietnam War. Your may be interested in hearing that our endeavors are having a rippling effect in our community. Many of the veterans attending our events have grouped together to establish an American Veteran Post #332 in Farmington, NY.
From Family #1C - One of the Military Families that NY#1 provided some Christmas Cheer to, with funds donated by our generaous community.
The generosity shown by your organization was such a blessing to our family. Transitions are often tough; you made it great. Thank you so much for all you do to support the military families. Our family hopes that you and yours had a very blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Thank you again!!
From Family #56 - One of the Military Families that NY#1 provided some Christmas Cheer to, with funds donated by our generaous community.
Thank you and everyone involved that helped us this Christmas. We will always remember. Thank You.
Greetings! I'm currently deployed to AFG and just received a tremendously generous package from your chapter!! It was so generous in fact that I almost had to solicit help to carry it from the mail room to our office…I instead opted for a couple short breaks : ) Thank you so, so much for your support! It’s awesome to be able to wander around and share goodies with my co-workers! Although this is my first deployment, many of the folks here are “seasoned veterans” too cool to ask for snacks and goodies from back home. Often many of them don’t get packages from home very often, or not at all. We now do a snack parade (our group works in many small shops around camp) whenever we get a tasty box of goodies in!! I visit each section and share the wealth! I’m becoming quite popular!! I can’t wait to start decorating our tree with the ornaments you sent! They’re adorable, thoughtful and are very much appreciated! I plan to distribute the cards during our “holiday mixer” closer to Christmas. I’m sure they’ll bring many smiles to the faces of these crusty old warriors! I’m truly blown away with the support we’ve received from back home. We love you and thank you so much for taking such good care of us!! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!! P.S. I’ll be taking pictures of our group during our holiday get together and will be sure to send them along!
V/r,
Blue Star Mothers NY#1 sent a donation to this unit's Chaplain to set up a Welcome Home Celebration for the troops at the barracks at Fort Drum, NY.
Afghanistan
Special thank you to the Blue Star Mothers for mailing 21 care packages to support Cpl … and the approximately 210 Marines of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion stationed at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Together with the American Legion Post 256 Ladies Auxiliary’s generous donation of $200, and the employees of Power & Construction Group, Inc. out of Scottsville, we were able to send 24 additional packages. GAIC (Great American Insurance Company) out of Syracuse offered to pay the postage for 12 of these packages, and they mailed over twenty packages themselves.
As the US is slowly pulling out of the area, the first ones to go are the support units. These are the ones that provide things like hot meals, toiletries and supplies, and mail delivery. These guys started out with nothing, and with the departure of the support units, that nothing is becoming even less than that. By now he and the Marines of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion have been left behind to complete their mission until roughly Halloween, with no provisions except MRE’s (Meals, Ready to Eat), and no mail service. They have been trained from day one of boot camp to survive with very little, and while the MRE’s are nutritionally sufficient, the constant, extreme stress they are under puts a toll on them that the average American cannot comprehend. These packages not only provide extra nutrition and supplies, but the morale boost that comes with the show of support from back home is probably most important of all.
As word spread about these Marines, and more and more people jumped in to help, the request for packages went viral. The original cutoff date for mailing was August 15th. However we got word that he was ordered by his commanders to stop the campaign early because he started getting so many packages that it was beginning to overwhelm their dwindling postal system and putting the delivery drivers in harm’s way. In one day, he received 75 packages! He took it all in stride, telling his father in a recent text that a lot of these guys have been deployed multiple times, and have no one back home supporting them. Either they have no family at all, or their families are having tough times and just cannot afford to mail a package. Many of these Marines just could not believe that complete strangers care enough about them to band together to show their support.
This is his second deployment. His father says that when he returned from Afghanistan the first time, he and his mother went down to Camp LeJeune, NC to greet him as he got off the bus. They noticed that only about 25% of the men that got off the bus had anyone there to welcome them home. The Family Readiness Officer said that is about average, sad as it is. She has organized what she calls Towels for Troops. She fills a new towel with small items, and pairs it up with a bag of toiletries donated by the USO, and puts them on the beds of all the returning Marines that have no one there for them. She is accepting gift cards from either Wal-Mart or Target. She and her associates use the gift cards to buy things to fill the towels (no need to mail towels). This is an easy way to continue to support the troops. If you are interested in participating, you can contact her or mail a gift card to:
2d Combat Engineer Battalion
Family Readiness Officer
Camp Lejeune, NC 28542
Marines of R40g Supply, Afghanistan
Thank you so much for all the items you sent to us. We appreciate your support. Happy July 4 from all of us
28th Combat Support Hospital, Afghanistan
On behalf of the soldiers of the 28th I want to sincerely thank you all for the generous care package you sent. Your thoughtfulness is overwhelming and we are all enjoying the treats and necessities. We had more than enough and sent some to our fellow soldiers in a remote area via our chaplain, to ensure everyone has some extra "Christmas Cheer". Thank you and Bless You.
Diane, Chief Nurse, Col, 28th CSH
U.S. Army Afghanistan location not disclosed.
I received the care packages you sent and I just wanted to say thank you. I shared much of the goodies with many of the other Soldiers that are here with me. The asked me to extend a thank you on their behalf as well. We are all looking forward to returning to our family, friends, and country that we love.
Task Force Gunfighter, Afghanistan
I want to share a special thank you to each of you have so generously
sacrificed and shared with me the blessings and bounty of your hearts this
season. My distribution list is small in comparison to all of you who have
helped and made the Holidays joyful for our families. Some of you have sent
an abundance of boxes from yourselves, your families and the network of
people you know. Churches and schools have blessed us with treats to eat,
cookies, flip flops, personal care items and I am truly grateful.
As we begin this new year together, I would ask for your prayers. We are
having a day of prayer on the 21st and I want to include each of you in
praying with us for our Combat Aviation Brigade.
Thank you again and may God Bless each of you in this new year.
379th Air Expeditionary Wing
On behalf of Victory Chapel, we would like to graciously extend a warm thank you for your donation of trees and care packages which are being distributed to military members in our Airmen Ministry Center where people come to relax. Care packages have also been shared in work sections and enjoyed on the job. It is fun to walk into an office and see faces light up when they realize we are bringing them snacks. It breaks up the routine and reminds everyone they have people at home thinking of them. Your love and support continues to have a profound impact on those in uniform. It is individuals and groups such as you who allow our troops to serve the mission with great spirit and high moral.
Again, thank you for your continued and selfless support.
From the Trojan Horse Unit, Afganistan:
Thank you so much for the boxes of goodies. As I shared them with the soldiers, it made their day a lot brighter. God Bless.
Chaplain Anthony
2/A Platoon
Hello,
I just want to take this time to thank you guys for all the support that you have given the Platoon while we have been here in Afghanistan. Your care packages and cards have given us so much joy and filled our stomachs with the snacks, and helped us with the additional items that you have sent. We have enjoyed everything from the cookies, dvds, toiletries, snacks, magazines, and all of the other things.
The guys here have worked very hard every day that we have been here. We have gotten some new guys, and lost others to new positions, but every has enjoyed what you have sent.
The (Our) deployment is wrapping up, and these guys cannot wait to get home to their families. Some have new additions to their families that they are looking foward to meeting.
In closing, thank you one last time. You guys have made this deployment easier with everything you have sent.
Thank you,
Edward
Commander/TF TH ANA Development HHC, 8th EN BN FOB Shank
Blue Star Mother's of America: First and foremost, Thank you so much for the packages that you sent to the Soldiers of HHC, 8th Engineer Battalion (TF Trojan Horse). All of the items you sent will be distributed to our Soldiers. I've attached a few photos of the Trailmaster's Soldiers. Again, Thank you!
US Air Force Central Command - 379th Air Expeditionary Wing
On behalf of Victory Chapel, we would like to graciously extend a warm thank you for your donation of shampoo, shaving cream, razors, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, coffee/tea, snack items, candy, canned fruit, soup, cards, drink mixes, fly strips, and body washes which are being distributed to military members in our Airmen Ministry Center... Your love and support continues to have a profound impact on those in uniform. It is individuals such as you who allow our troops to serve the mission with great spirit and high moral.
Again, thank you for your continued and selfless support.
US Air Force 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, Afghanistan
On behalf of the entire 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron I would like to personally thank you for supporting us. We sincerely appreciate your thoughtfulness and willingness to take the time to send us all the snacks, toiletries, and letters. All the support back home helps keep us motivated and in high spirits.
The "Crows" at the 4 ERS are working diligently in your defense. Our mission is to provide combatant tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in direct support of ground forces 24 hours a day/7 days a week. You are the reason we are pound to serve and we greatly appreciate what you do.
Keep up the good work! All of us at the 4th ERS, once again, thank you.
2/A 2-15 Field Artillery
We just received your three boxes. We got them in about an hour ago. Everyone was happy to see chips, drink mixes, cookies, and all the other stuff. It is funny to see how excited everyone gets when your packages come in. I hope everything is going well for you back in the States. We just keep plugging away with training, and get to have platoon movie nights every once in a while. I can say that for all of us however, we will be happy to be back home when the deployment comes to an end. Thank you every much, LT Edward Carr
From Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen at undisclosed locations in Afghanistan:
I just wanted let you know that the platoon is doing great over here in Afghanistan. We are training hard, and having fun. We really appreciate all of the support that we have received from you guys. Thank you so much
Ms. Mader and Ms. Beck; Greetings from Isa Air Base, Bahrain. My name is Commander Lou and I am the Air Operations Officer. I'm relatively new here, but have come to learn that many of the stateside care packages come from the great state of New York, and no doubt can be traced back to your direct involvement. In particular, Doc K, your latest batch of goodies is flying off the shelves here. Aside from thanking you, I thought you should know that many of the folks working here are New Yorkers, from the VMGR-452 Squadron out of Stewart ANGB. All of you, as well as so many thoughtful and patriotic Americans across the country, do so much to boost the morale and spirits of those of us deployed overseas. We at Isa Air Base Operations (Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines) sincerely thank you. Very respectfully, CDR Lou and senior leadership
We received the Christmas Tree you sent us and we are very excited about it. We work in Uruzgan province in the public affairs shop and we are starting to do our holiday messages for all of our Australian and American soldiers over here. The tree will be decorated and used as a back drop for the holiday video messages. Everyone keeps asking how you all were able to send a live tree here? They are also envious because at this point there have been minimal Christmas decorations around here. I promise that we will put it to good use for the units. Sometimes the soldiers feel like people forget about what is going on over here and we want you to know how much we appreciate the support you provide and the time you spend out of your schedules to give/show the troops your love & gratitude. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you so much for the Christmas Trees! All I can say is "Wow". What an awesome piece of home to have while we are here.
Alpha Battery would like to wish you a Happy Holidays and express our gratitude for the generosity that you have shown by adopting our Platoon.
We have received the Beautiful Tree. There are not many plants or trees here so we enjoyed the tree very much. It brings a touch of home to the dry desert.
On behalf of Victory Chapel, we would graciously like to extend a warm thank you for your donation of a Christmas Tree, which is being used in our airmen ministry center. Your love and support continues to have a profound impact on those in uniform. It is individuals such as you who allow our troops to serve the mission with great spirit and high morale. Again, thank you for your continued and selfless support.
Thanks for your generous donation of Christmas Trees for our unit. The thoughtfulness you displayed and the cheer you provided for our team members is unmatched. We are truly grateful to be able to provide a little bit of home to our deployed members and you helped in that effort. We have decorated one tree and we were able to donate the other one to another unit on base that didn't have one so your joy and thoughtfulness was able to be shared by them as well. We look forward to your continued support and please send our thanks to your team.
Thank you for sponsoring our Soldiers from 2-15 FA during upcoming Afghanistan deployment.
You have seriously made this deployment an amazing one
for me! We've received at
least double the boxes we normally do so our routine has been work
all day for the clinic and then work all night for the care package
items. We've been exhausted but in the best way possible!
Sarah
A big THANK YOU goes out to the Blue Star Mothers from the Canandaigua area! Eric said that all the guys loved the tree and you! Thank you for sending it over.
On behalf of the men and women of the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical
Evacuation Squadron I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for all the
wonderful gifts you sent us in your care packages! You definitely spoiled
us with all the goodies you sent and trust me we enjoyed every last one of
them! The care packages were wonderful, but what means even more is the
love and support you guys have given us. There is no other country like
ours and with the support we get from people such as you it is definitely
our pleasure to serve. I've attached a picture we took recently
of our squadron so you can have something to remember us by. We will all be
coming home and swapping out over the next few weeks but like I said, it's
been an honor to be here. Again, thank you for everything and take care!
Just wanted to pass along this wonderful picture my son sent me after receiving his tree. He was out on a mission when it arrived and "his guys" set it for him, up at the foot of his bed! Nice surprise; he loved it. Thank you and the others in the Chapter for making it happen!
All my team mates received the trees -- they're going to make sure
they thank you and the organizations who put such hard work and
effort, and love, into sending us all the gifts. We are so grateful
and fortunate.
One team, my team at FOB ..., had the engineers there build a
tree stand. And, all the visitors who go into their office have to put
up a Christmas ornament -- this makes them feel as if they're part of
decorating the tree..... a holiday touch of home.
The trees - it's all good -- they're real and they smell
so fresh like Christmas should. we are so happy and others get crafty and have
made their own decorations. we are sharing with the PAX terminal where all can see.
From Jack:
wow.. I got the two REAL trees.. and they were from BSM! they mentioned something about a "party in a box" that would be on the way.. Thank you blue star moms.. your support is overwhelming. When you've already gone through so much, to still take care of us is amazing. Peace and blessings to you all!
From 980th Engineer Battalion:
This is our farewell letter more>..
From Murphy Funeral Services:
Everyone at Murphy Funeral Homes would like to thank you for all your support at the services for SFC Metcalfe. The community showed a lot of compassion towards the family. Again, we thank you. Wayne T. Brophy
From Mercy Flight:
...airlifted more than 1000 area Veterans.. .more>...
From Gary Sinise Foundation:
On behalf of the Gary Sinise Foundation, I want to thank you for your generous gift more>...
From SSgt Belleau:
We received the very large care package for our troops. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. Please send a thank you to all the fourth graders who sent personal cards to our troops, as they were very heartwarming and colorful! Your support of our troops in Afghanistan is greatly appreciated. It is always a blessing to know that the people back in the states are thinking of us. The support we're given from caring people such as you help us to carry on through the challenging days we face here. God bless you.
SSgt Ryan Belleau, Hospital Chapel Staff, Craig Joint Theatre Hospital
From SPC So, 528th:
Got a huge box from the Blue Star Mom's. Thanks a bunch. I can tell that those who contributed have done this before. Easily, the most well thought out care package I have ever received. Thanks for all that the Mom's do, your support makes it easier for us to be here. DaveO
From Sarah Suniga via Lois Gustafson:
Hi Everyone ... whoa, you must have really sent great boxes to Sarah for taking care of the troops! Right after I sent out her needs to you, she left on a tour of her outlying bases and has just returned., What a grand lady, and brave to be traveling into the battle during major fighting season. As you see in her letter below, we're getting the troops healthier, fed, shaved and all that goes with a lift in morale. When morale falters, casualties rise. I hope you'll consider another box now and then, Sarah's tour is through the end of this year. We may be asked to supply her replacement team; when one person or team leaves, the war and it's accompanying needs don't end.
From SPC So, 528th:
I wanted to say thank you for the box of great items, especially the Christmas tree. We put it out in front of our office.
SPC So
From 3/3 RDF Females:
Thank you very much for sending the female toiletries. We were absolutely surprised and excited to receive it! You don't know how thankful we are! So thank you with all our love and hearts from Iraq.
Many Thanks!
3/3 RDF Females
From SRA Jessica Wilson:
Thank you for your kind donation to the hospital. Your donations are greatly appreciated by the wounded soldiers, hospital workers and local Afghanistans. Thank you for supporting your military members!
Take care,
SRA Jessica Wilson
From Legacy at The Fairways:
Thank you for having us as your first guests (at the 'Canteen'). It was fun to have coffee and hear
more of your stories. You ladies are amazing and we appreciate what you do?
Sincerely,
Your friends at Legacy at the Fairways
From SFC Amy L Mueller:
On behalf of the Soldiers in my unit, I would like to thank all of the members for sending us care packages. It is very much appreciated and means a lot to us.
Thank you again,
SFC Amy
Detachment Sergeant
From Michael:
...this weekend I received a wonderful gift from you, delivered by some great friends
from Western New York...
I want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers...and the quilt is a very special treat..THANK YOU...my experience in Baghdad (rocket explosion on 29 April o8)
has left me with two wounded legs...but with a lot of work, discipline and faith, I hope to walk again in the next year or so...
From the bottom of my heart, thanks again, Michael
From Joan:
We just got 10 awesome boxes of things for Soldiers. It was absolutely incredible. One of the HQ Soldiers brought
them down from the clinic in a little truck. The medics then went out and got them and they looked like the 7
dwarves going off to work bringing in all the packages. They were amazed! I am in the process of getting the things
out to the different hospitals and clinics where we have Soldiers. Please thank the members of your group for their
kindness. This will be a huge morale booster for our Soldiers.
Thanks again for your generosity. You are making a huge difference to our Soldiers,
Sincerely,
Joan
COL, MCTask Force Surgeon>
From Jennifer:
Thank you and your organization for the awesome care packages! Everyone here loved them so much! I think that I gained a few
pounds with all of the candy, but I don't really care. Things are good here. Still been slow, which is awesome. The weather is
sooo hot. I now know what 140 degrees feels like, and I don't really like it. I must get back to work now, but I want to thank
you again.
Talk to you later,
Jennifer