Soldier requests for Iraqi children.

[Melech Shel Hofesh]

Hey everyone!

When I went out to lunch the other day I over-heard a table of people talking about soldiers in Iraq were making requests for stuffed animals. So that they could give them to the Iraqi children during their encounters.

Does anyone have information where I can start sending packages to accommodate this request?

I have no 'direct' military contacts therefore I don't know what is the "best case scenario" for this procedure.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and don't forget about privacy issues if posting to the thread!

[MT Spirit]

I too would be more than glad to help out in this effort... but unfortunately, just as MSH ... I also do not know anyone directly to get that information from. I'm sure there are other members that are in Iraq or have loved ones there... so that they may be able to get that information for us. Like what they need... where to send ... etc.... :)

[Dreammy]

Hey everyone!

When I went out to lunch the other day I over-heard a table of people talking about soldiers in Iraq were making requests for stuffed animals. So that they could give them to the Iraqi children during their encounters.

Does anyone have information where I can start sending packages to accommodate this request?

I have no 'direct' military contacts therefore I don't know what is the "best case scenario" for this procedure.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and don't forget about privacy issues if posting to the thread!Maybe network with this foundation?
http://www.empathyfoundation.com/features/cheer.htmVery nice gesture and thought Melech!

[Got Dinar?]

I came across this site:

http://www.give2thetroops.org/default.htm?

Hope it helps!

[Lux]

Mission Statement

Actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) announce the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that will enable Americans to send School Supply Kits to Iraqi children.

The Need. During and after Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages were horrified at the squalor of Iraqi schools, which had been severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Corralled in sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets, Iraqi students lack even the rudimentary supplies that American children take for granted. Libraries and books are almost nonexistent. Without these basic tools of education, Iraqi children face an uphill struggle to learn. "Imagine sending your child to a school in which there are virtually no books, no pencils, no paper, no blackboards," says Hillenbrand. "This is the reality for Iraqi children. The future of the Iraqi nation is being squandered for lack of basic school supplies."

Moved by the plight of these children, many American soldiers have taken it upon themselves to help. Working in small groups on their days off, soldiers gather supplies sent by family members and church groups and take them to villages, sometimes coming under fire as they work to reconstruct the schools and deliver learning tools to Iraqi kids. Their efforts have met with immense gratitude from local Iraqis and their children, who now have access to the basic tools of education for the first time in their lives. "I have seen Iraqi kids climbing on our soldiers and hugging them and kissing them," remembers Sinise, who recently accompanied Army soldiers to a dilapidated school they were rebuilding. "I have seen their smiling faces and their attempts to say 'I love you' in broken English. The folks I saw had hope in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts for what was done for them."

Unfortunately, the need for help is so great and widespread, encompassing some 1,500 schools, that our soldiers' efforts cannot possibly answer the entire problem. The situation is critical. "The future of Iraq lies in the education of its children," says Hillenbrand. "We owe it to them, and to the hundreds of American men and women who gave their lives to bring them freedom, to give these children the basic tools of learning."

The Answer. Inspired by their conversations with Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers as well as Sinise's recent tour of the region, Sinise and Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children, a grass roots program to provide concerned Americans with a means to reach out to Iraqi kids and help support our soldiers' efforts to assist the Iraqi people.

Through the School Supply Kit Program, American children, church groups, and other organizations can help Iraqis by gathering school supplies in local drives, assembling them in kits according to our instructions, then sending them to the VFW for transport to Iraq, where our soldiers will take them to Iraqi villages.

Sinise, Hillenbrand and the organizers of Operation Iraqi Children believe that the benefits of this program will reach far beyond the recipients of the supplies. By bringing Americans and Iraqis together and demonstrating American devotion to the welfare of the Iraqi people, the program can foster understanding between our nations and generate goodwill between Iraqis and American soldiers. "Every time a box of school supplies is delivered by our troops it will be another small victory for them in helping win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise. "It is a beautiful way to begin a relationship with the future leaders of Iraq. They have been forgotten for so long. Now there is a chance for them."

http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/

[SEABEE CAN-DO]

one way is to mail it to ( any soldier in Iraq ) pay the fees . the post office will send it there and it will be put in a big pile for people to dig in and do what they want to with it. I have done this... on the receiving side. love the letters from strangers. fun to write back.. or go to the post office and ask them they will know how to send it there . note it to go to military religious officer.

[Winchester-2]

Try www.Homefronthugs.com