Supporting Fort Hood

Caring for the Families

Category: General

Soldiers’ Angels is assessing the needs and--with our founder currently residing in Texas--standing by to offer physical and emotional support to our heroes and their families at Fort Hood.

RIGHT NOW: Collecting encouraging notes and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the injured or killed. Please send cards/letters and stuffed animals (and anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:

Soldiers' Angels

4408 PanAm Expressway

San Antonio, TX 78218

Plans are still developing, but the goal is to give these families and injured heroes something big to smile about when Christmas rolls around.  It starts with the $2,000 gift certificate for Christmas for an experience on Christmas Day that will make them forget about it all for at least a little while.  To contribute to the effort, click the donation button in the upper left and add type "For Ft. Hood" in the comment box that pops up (donations marked this way will be used only for Ft. Hood survivors).

Supporting Fort Hood

Hairless for Our Heroes

Help an Angel Go Bald!

Category: General

Members of Soldiers’ Angels’ volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year’s online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition.   Divided among four “virtual teams,” a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11.  If the teams can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, Soldiers' Angels founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement. 

“This project changes lives,” says Patti. “Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again.  Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports!  And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope.  With all that this project can do for our heroes, I’m happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!”

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence.  Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Hairless for Our Heroes

Hairless for Our Heroes

Help an Angel Go Bald!

Category: General

Members of Soldiers’ Angels’ volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year’s online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition.   Divided among four “virtual teams,” a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11.  If the teams can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, Soldiers' Angels founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement. 

“This project changes lives,” says Patti. “Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again.  Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports!  And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope.  With all that this project can do for our heroes, I’m happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!”

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence.  Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Hairless for Our Heroes

8-3-1 Charity of the Month

Angel Love

Category: General

Couture jeweler One Meaning has selected Soldiers' Angels as their "Charity of the Month" for November.  Besides donating 8.13% of all their sales this month and $5 from every purchase of their two dogtag-style necklaces, they will be encouraging their customers to get involved in Soldiers' Angels and generating as much publicity for SA as possible.

One Meaning creates unique jewelry embedded with what they call the 8-3-1 Code: "I love you... 8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning."  Many of One Meaning's designs include the graphic representation of 8-3-1, which resembles a butterfly, a living example of change and renewal.  They have expanded that idea to include the way a gentle touch of love can change and renew a person's world, as each of them discovered in suffering through very difficult times:  "Let your love fly, fly away and land softly on someone's shoulders when they least expect it and need it most," they write on their Charity of the Month page.

Owners Karen and Ingrid met as business colleagues and soon became inseparable. They describe themselves as sharing "an intense love for creating magical, meaningful things and watching out for those who need help."  They have certainly put this into action with their business!--Every month, One Meaning selects a charity to highlight on their website and donate 8.13% of their sales to that organization.

Soldiers' Angels is honored to be spotlighted by this wonderful company and stand with two women of such passion who use love to make the world a better place.  Please check out their beautiful products, and thank them for their support and assistance in the Angel mission of ensuring "No Soldier Go Unloved."

8-3-1 Charity of the Month

Portraits of Love Extended

December 4 Deadline

Category: General

[Originally posted in August; reposted to highlight the extension of this fantastic program through December 4]

Underwritten by Fujifilm, Soldiers' Angels and over 275 professional photographers of the PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA) have teamed up to send a piece of home to our deployed troops--just in time for the winter holidays--through an effort dubbed Portraits of Love.

Volunteer photographers across the country are opening their studios this September to offer free portraits to military families who have a loved one deployed overseas. The portraits will be uploaded to pmdaportraitsoflove.com, and a free print will be sent to the family member in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever they are deployed around the world. The ultimate goal is to send 10,000 free family portraits.

“This project is the photo industry’s way of giving back to our soldiers, and thanking them for the sacrifices they have made for our country,” said Jerry Grossman, the president of the PMDA who has spearheaded the effort. “Our industry is uniquely qualified to bring an important piece of home to our soldiers, and we’re pleased to be able to organize this effort.”

“It’s incredible how motivating a simple family photograph can be to a soldier who is far from home,” said Soldiers' Angel Toby Nunn, who has served two tours in Iraq. “This volunteer effort is one more way that we can help our soldiers cope with their situation,” he said.

Military family members can find participating photographers in their areas by visiting the Potraits of Love website (in order to attend the portrait session, families will need military IDs). Photographers interested in volunteering their time can also sign up on the site.

Portraits of Love Extended

Morale and Welfare

SECDEF Honors Angels

Category: General

The Spirit of Hope medals and medallions from the five military branches and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as displayed prior to the award ceremony on October 27, 2009.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense has bestowed the Spirit of Hope Award on Soldiers' Angels for its contributions to the morale and welfare of the U.S. military in 2008.  Soldiers' Angels Board of Trustees member Ricky John and Operations Manager Toby Nunn received the award's bronze medal and medallion at the Pentagon on October 27, 2009, in an event hosted by the Secretary of the Air Force and Linda Hope, the daughter of Bob Hope.

The Spirit of Hope Award originated with the USO as a tribute to the lifelong efforts of Bob Hope to support and raise the morale of American military servicemen and women. It is now handled by The Wiegand Foundation, and each of the five military branches, as well as the Office of the Secretary of Defense, have the option to honor up to two people or organizations each year with a bronze or silver medallion, for a total of twelve honorees. This is only the second year since 2003 that the Office of the Secretary of Defense has elected to designate an honoree.

The official citation reads, in part: 

Like Mr. Bob Hope, Soldiers’ Angels believes that the morale and welfare of our armed forces is a paramount concern and its steady flow of support for our service members and their families goes to Soldiers’ Angels’ core value of bringing home healthy soldiers. Soldiers' Angels embodies the very ethos of the namesake for which this award is given.

Soldiers' Angels considers receipt of this award a testimony to the effectiveness of the hundreds of thousands of Angel volunteers who work tirelessly to support the troops.  "It is a great recognition for all the volunteers, for all the hard work they have done," said Ricky John.  "Every day our volunteers and donors show their commitment to ensuring 'No Soldier Go Unloved,' to making sure our fighting men and women know they are supported. It is both humbling and thrilling to receive on their behalf this recognition that the effort is effective."

The award ceremony was held in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, which documents recipients of the Medal of Honor, and hosted by a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Major General Kelly McKeague, Chief of Staff, National Guard Bureau.  The Soldiers' Angels representatives and other Spirit of Hope recipients were treated to breakfast in the general's dining room, a post-ceremony reception, and a tour of the Pentagon. 

At the same ceremony, the U.S. Air Force bestowed its Spirit of Hope Award on military wife Virginia "Ginger" Dosedel for her work with Sew Much Comfort, the nonprofit she founded.  Soldiers' Angels was honored to stand with her both literally and figuratively, as Sew much Comfort provides adaptive clothing for the wounded, some of which finds its way into Soldiers' Angels First Response Backpacks.

An official press release from the Office of the Secretary of Defense is expected very soon.

Morale and Welfare

Adopt a Military Family for Christmas

Dear Angels,
 
Operation Outreach is gearing up for our 2nd annual Adopt a Military Family for Christmas. Our goal is to help military families with much needed Christmas presents for their children along with a Walmart gift card for the family to purchase their holiday dinner and trimmings.
 
Last year Operation Outreach connected 300 families with our wonderful Angels who purchased Christmas presents and sent a food gift card to a family.
 
Soldiers' Angels would like to continue this caring Adopt a Military Family tradition this year.
 
If you would like to adopt a military family for this Christmas please send me a email at ctlreport@gmail.com
 
(please note) Christmas families will be available for distribution Nov. 15th. I will email you with your adopted Christmas families information.
 
Thank you and Happy Holidays~

If you're not a member of Soldiers' Angels, please log in to www.soldiersangels.org and become an angel. Believe me, you will love it. There is nothing more satisfying then helping our soldiers who are fighting for our freedom. God bless you all...

--
Caren Vink
Soldiers' Angels
Vice President
National CTL Director
Operation Outreach
SOS/Kids
ctlreport@gmail.com

Adopt a Military Family for Christmas