Small Company Hopes Donation Makes Big Connection With GIs

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By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2004 -- A small Indiana telecommunications company is thanking service members for helping keep America free by donating thousands of prepaid calling cards to those injured in the war on terrorism.

Terry Ballantini, chief executive officer for Tellis Long Distance, said he started "GI Connections" to show his gratitude to service members.

The company recently donated 2,500 prepaid cards, embossed with the words "Thank You for Our Freedom," to the Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps wounded and sick service members and their families by providing lodging close to military medical treatment centers.

"I'm just extremely pleased and gratified that we can do something that makes a difference," he said.

David Coker, executive director of the Fisher House Foundation, said the phone cards will be a "tremendous morale booster" for hospitalized service members. He added that the foundation plans to distribute the phone cards to military and Veterans Affairs medical centers where injured service members are receiving care.

"The cards will go to the servicemen and women and to their family members so they can keep their families and friends up to date on the medical condition of a loved one," he said.

Ballantini's will to help injured service members was spurred after a discussion with his brother-in-law about donating prepaid cards to the military.

After researching various groups that were helping the military, the brothers learned that many of them were "grass-roots" organizations that were purchasing phone cards from retail stores and providing them to service members.

"And what I decided to do, since we are a prepaid company and we set our own rates and sell our own cards, was to design a card that thanked the military for our freedom."

He then offered the special-edition prepaid phone cards to those groups at a bargain rate.

For $3.75, service members get more than eight hours of talk time -- one of the best deals on the prepaid market. Similar cards can cost as much as $5.00, Ballantini said.

In addition, for every five cards sold, the company donates an extra 20-minute card, he said. The company also takes care of all printing and design work, as well as overnight shipping, he added.

A few organizations already have taken advantage of the offer.

Members of College Park Church in Indiana purchased 1,500 cards. And more recently, a McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia raised more than $19,000, enough for more than 5,000 cards.

Ballantini, whose company has only 11 employees, said the prepaid card program is not for profit, noting that after costs for printing and shipping "any profits will be negligible." Instead, he said, he is just proud to be helping the military in some way.

"I've never been in the military, but if there is anything that we can do, we will do it," he said. "We really believe in this country and our military."

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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2004 -- A family's show of support for their deployed son has evolved into a nationwide drive that a commander deployed to Afghanistan said "epitomizes all that is good in the American people."

Recognizing that their son, Army Sgt. Brian Horn, a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was living under very harsh conditions after parachuting into Iraq last March, retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Marty Horn and his wife, Sue, began sending him care packages as often as they could.

Horn requested additional packages for his fellow soldiers who weren't getting any, and soon his parents were asking their friends and neighbors in LaPlata, Md., to send packages to their son, too. Horn agreed to distribute them to soldiers who weren't getting mail.

The "overwhelming and nearly monumental" show of support "has provided the simple reminder that any one of us would proudly die for a grateful nation in our ongoing fight against terrorism," said Horn, who has redeployed from Iraq to his unit headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. There, he and his fellow soldiers are preparing for another deployment after the Christmas holidays — this time to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Meanwhile, Any Soldier Inc. continues to grow. By early June, organization had more than 100 volunteer contact soldiers, and requests for packages continue to pour in from units throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.

The senior Horn attributes the effort's success to the fact that "the American public wants to do something to show support." What makes the program particularly appealing to many, he said, is that it gives people an opportunity to develop one-on-one contacts with deployed troops. "There's no middle man," Horn said, "so people get to feel very attached."

Any Soldier Inc.'s Web site lists supplies that deployed troops need, such as prepackaged food, T-shirts and even Beanie Babies that they can give to local children. The site provides specific information about how and where to send packages.

According to Lt. Col. Rick Mullen, commanding officer of a Marine Corps aviation unit in Afghanistan, these gifts have a "deeply humbling effect on the individual Marines in our squadron."

Mullen said the packages demonstrate that the American public shares in "the price our Marines are paying for freedom" and makes the load deployed troops carry feel "a bit lighter."

Sergeant Horn expressed thanks on the Any Soldier Web site for the "awe-inspiring and frankly quite dramatic display of support from the home front." He said the correspondence and care packages have poured in "at an overwhelming and nearly monumental pace."

The campaign, he wrote, "has seen tears from some, given hope to most and has been inspirational to us all."

The sergeant's father said there's a lot of personal gratification in watching the program grow, "knowing that I'm making a difference -- and allowing a lot of other people to make a difference, too."

More information about Any Soldier Inc. is posted on the organization's Web
site.

Related Site:
Any Soldier Inc. http://www.anysoldier.us

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American Forces Press Service

DALLAS, July 14, 2004 -- Since the Army and Air Force Exchange Service began its "Gifts from the Homefront" program last year, people from all walks of life have rallied around America's troops by contributing $406,745 toward the program designed to lift the morale of deployed troops around the world, said officials at AAFES headquarters here.

The certificates, which can be purchased by any individual or civic organization, allow service members to purchase items of necessity and convenience at PX and BX facilities around the world.

"Gifts from the Homefront" certificates can be addressed to "any service member" or individual service members. Officials said AAFES' charitable partners have been key in the distribution of certificates earmarked for "any service member." The USO, American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society and Fisher House have distributed more than 7,000 certificates, totaling more than $120,000, to deployed troops. Friends and family have purchased $283,645 in "Gifts from the Homefront" certificates for individual service members.

"Working with the USO, American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society and Fisher House has allowed AAFES to get certificates into the hands of service members that need them most," said Army Lt. Col. Debra Pressley, AAFES' chief of corporate communications. "AAFES' relationship with these charitable partners allows any American to have a direct impact on the morale of a deployed service member, even if they don't have a name or address for a particular soldier or airman."

Because the gift certificates can be used for merchandise already stocked at contingency locations, "Gifts from the Homefront" are a safe alternative to traditional care packages that can strain the military mail system and present force protection issues. Service members can purchase exactly what they need with the certificates because they can be applied to a wide range of products, AAFES officials said. Reports from Operation Iraqi Freedom indicate that donated certificates are being used for CDs and DVDs, comfort items such as snacks and beverages, and phone cards.

Those wishing to send a "Gift from the Homefront" can simply log on to the AAFES Web site or call (877) 770-4438 toll-free to buy gift certificates in $10 or $20 denominations. From there, the "Gift from the Homefront" may be sent to an individual service member designated by the purchaser or distributed to "any service member" through the USO, American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society or Fisher House.

"Gifts from the Homefront" gift certificates can be redeemed at AAFES facility worldwide, including its 56 stores throughout central and southwest Asia.

(Courtesy of Army and Air Force Exchange Service.)

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By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2004 - Too young to don a uniform and actively fight the war on terror, Jeremy Jenson, 16, is doing the next best thing. He's supporting those doing the fighting.

Jenson, of Anoka, Minn., will be a junior at nearby St. Francis High School in the fall. He has spent nearly 18 months making sure that many deployed troops in Afghanistan and Iraq get something at mail call. But if not for persistence, and some help navigating the proper channels, his efforts would not be reaching those troops.

Just after the war started, Jenson, hearing bad news from the Middle East, decided to do something positive.

Jenson began e-mailing the webmaster of the 88th Regional Readiness Command at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minn. Randall Ciechna, the unit's chief information officer, said the request seemed simple enough -- Jenson wanted addresses of deployed soldiers so he could write letters of thanks. Initially, his efforts were met with rejection. However, "no" was not an acceptable answer for Jenson. He kept at it, angering some in the process, Ciechna said.

"We had our lawyers write him a letter that said 'You're interfering with government communications, and if you don't stop,' basically, 'we're gonna get mad at you,' " Ciechna said.

That official statement prompted Jenson to call Ciechna to find out exactly how much trouble he was in with the government. Only then, Ciechna said, did he realize Jenson was 14 and offering to help.

The best Ciechna could do was make contact with deployed service members in senior positions and provide Jenson's address. It was up to them and their troops to decided whether to communicate with the teen.

Plenty took Jenson up on his offer of correspondence.

Finding help to answer all those letters wasn't always easy, either. "It was a little touchy when I started," Jenson said.

But that seems to have changed. To date, with help from members of his church, friends, family and even his high school history class, he has mailed more than 1,000 hand-written letters and dozens of packages in support of deployed troops. For his efforts he has more than 100 e-mail pen pals, has received flags flown in Iraq from two different units and received countless thanks.

Not satisfied with his accomplishment, Jenson started a Web site to match would-be letter writers with addresses for troops interested in receiving mail. His home page, which includes links to military sites and a picture page where troops can post updates for family and friends, gets more than 2,000 hits a day.

It's this dedication that prompted Ciechna to nominate Jenson for the Commander's Award for Public Service. Brig. Gen. Michael W. Beasley presented Jenson with the award during the 88th RRC's annual awards banquet. At the time, Jenson was 15 and the youngest recipient of any medal awarded by the command, which serves the Midwest.

"When we saw the dedication that he had and for the period of time (he kept it up … we saw that he was really dedicated to the effort, that he was trying to help our soldiers and I submitted the award nomination … and our commanding general saw the effort and approved the award," Ciechna said. Young people, he added, often start things and don't stay with them, so Jenson's effort seemed particularly noteworthy.

At the beginning, that dedication put a crimp in his school style, Jenson said. "It kind of took over at the beginning of last year, and I had to get back on track. (Letter writing) was my priority over school work."

That changed and schoolwork improved, which is good, as Jenson said he wants to go to college and study computer science before joining the military. He is still "really into" the letter writing, though, and hopes to encourage more
participation through his Web site. Ciechna said Jenson is well known and respected with in the 88th RRC. "He's destined to be in the military, and destined to be a leader," he said.

Related Site:
Support United States
Military http://www.supportusamilitary.org/

This young man lives down where I grew up. Semper Fi young man!

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By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2004 -- It's amazing what wonderful feelings and bright smiles a dozen calendar models can bring to the faces of hospitalized servicemen recovering from war wounds.

That's what happened July 10 when Dawn Glencer and the "U.S. Angels" 2005 calendar models rode their motorcycles to the Fisher House on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus to visit troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Fisher House Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers to enable family members to be close to hospitalized loved ones.

"It turned into a big cook-out … when we brought tons of food to the Fisher House for patients and their families," said Glencer, the training coordinator for the Office of the Secretary of Defense Policy Training Center. "I'm sure we supplied enough for their picnic for the rest of the year."

Apehanger's, a "biker" bar and grill in Bel Alton, Md., supplied a sheet cake with the Fisher House and Harley-Davidson logos.

"It really touched the girls -- seeing how badly wounded the soldiers were," said Glencer, a former Marine. "But finally getting a chance to meet and talk with them and their families has really renewed the spirit that's carrying this calendar project."

A motorcycle enthusiast, Glencer founded U.S. Angels last March at Apehanger's. She has spearheaded several fundraisers to support service members. Glencer raised $10,000 for the Pentagon Disaster Relief Fund after Sept. 11, 2001, and another $10,000 for the Pentagon Memorial Fund in September 2003.

Glencer and some of the U.S. Angels returned to the Fisher House on July 14 for another visit with patients and their families and to pass out copies of their 2005 calendar, featuring pictures of them with their motorcycles.

One of the returning "angels," Miss January, Mary "Cat" Von Garlem, said she was overwhelmed with compassion when the mother of a soldier suffering from a serious head injury in Iraq told her that she'd made him smile for the first time in more than three months.

"She said that he has had no purposeful movement or reactions for three months," Von Garlem said. "And she said this was the first week that he had actually shown signs of recognition for his family. I talked with him for a while, and he held up his hand to shake my hand. I told him that I'm a nurse, but I didn't dress like that at work because my patients would go into shock. That's when he smiled.

"I almost cried!" Von Garlem said. "His mom was so thrilled. She said that was his first smile! These guys and their families have made such huge sacrifices. I do feel it's a privilege to be able to give back even in such a small way.

"I called my parents in southwest Virginia to tell them what a meaningful experience it was," she continued. "Now my mom is organizing a church yard sale to raise money to send to the Fisher House. I love the idea of putting awareness out there for the Fisher House and hopefully encouraging others to contribute."

After her second trip to Fisher House, Von Garlem said, "I really would like to make several trips back to the Fisher House to visit with the patients and their families."

A Virginia Army National Guardsman, Spc. Dean W. Schwartz, 21, said it was nice of the women to take time to visit patients at Walter Reed. "They said they really enjoyed it and wanted to come back," he noted.

Schwartz arrived in Kuwait on March 3 with B Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, which was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division's Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He went into Iraq about five days later. On May 8, he was wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

"I was standing guard on a machine gun," he said. "My assistant gunner and me had just switched spots; he took the machine gun, and I took his M-16 rifle. (The attacker) was just concealed too good, and nobody ever saw it coming. The first thing we heard was the explosion that took off my left leg." Schwartz also suffered shrapnel injuries to his right arm, a collapsed lung and a blown eardrum.

"When I got hit, my team leader, who was the driver, sustained some shrapnel injuries, as did my assistant gunner," said Schwartz, who arrived at Walter Reed around midnight on May 13. "But they were both superficial wounds, so nobody got killed."

The wounded specialist expressed how much he and his fellow patients appreciated the visits from the calendar models. "I'd just had surgery the day before on my amputated leg that had a wound that wouldn't close, so the surgeons closed it," Schwartz noted. "It was nice to get out of the hospital and see some support right after my surgery."

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By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2004 – It began when Amy Oxford and her mother, Kathy Williams, saw no outward show of support for deployed troops in their hometown of Harrisburg, Ill. With her husband, Jamal, an Army reservist, scheduled to deploy with his unit based in Fairfield, Oxford realized an opportunity.

"Ever since Sept. 11 (2001), we've been wanting to do something in this area because we really hadn't seen much done," Oxford said. "Me and Mom got our heads together and decided what we wanted to do."

Her husband didn't deploy as scheduled, but the dynamic duo began making yellow bows and lapel pins anyway. The profits from the sales of the bows and pins were to be used to send care packages to service members who were not receiving anything at mail call.

And so it happened that on the very day President Bush announced that combat had begun in Iraq, March 19, 2003, Oxford and her mother launched an offensive of their own: the SI Yellow Ribbon Campaign.

The local TV station covered the story, and the next day Harrisburg residents were waiting in line to support their troops with the purchase of ribbons and pins. The campaign's efforts to serve Southern Illinois' troops attracted the attention of a print news service, and suddenly the operation went national.

Requests for the women to send packages to service members multiplied, and they graciously responded to each one. But packing the multitude of boxes -- they've never actually counted how many -- isn't always an easy task for them. Each woman has chronic health problems. Oxford suffers from lupus, and her mother has fibromyalgia.

Both diseases occasionally force the women to take breaks from what they call their "obsession." Yet, they work each day in their headquarters, a building owned by Williams' father, with the help of Oxford's 3-year-old daughter, Callie. And when quitting time rolls around, the work that's left over goes home with them, Oxford said.

A good portion of their time is spent on paperwork required because of SI's nonprofit status. Another time-eater, Oxford said, is filling out customs forms. They are required by the post office and can only be done by hand. Williams said she has developed a repetitive stress injury from filling out so many forms.

While an initial package might be generic, those that follow are as unique as their recipients. Included in those first packages are necessities, snacks and a questionnaire so that future packages can be customized to the recipient's likes and needs. Also included is a note saying who requested that the package be sent.

While some items regularly appear on the lists of wants and needs, one shows up most often.

"Everybody wants beef jerky," Oxford said. "That's always at the top of the list. We get a lot of sad requests, too. A lot of them tell us they want soap or lotion," she said. "You think they're going to ask for some kind of neat snack or something and when they put this request for necessity items, it just kind of breaks your heart."

Oxford and Williams are nothing if not accommodating, however. Even if the requested item is sure to be a chocolaty, melted mess by the time it reaches its destination, Oxford makes sure it gets there -- double bagged and with a spoon included.

And they have added a twist by helping deployed troops reach out to their families at home. Upon request, they will send a goodie box or a card to a spouse or a child to let them know they're appreciated too.

As always, good is tempered, and the women said they have suffered some losses among "our soldiers." Oxford said after corresponding with the troops and getting to know them, they become like an extended family.

"I get those e-mails every day with the casualties in them, and I just kind of hold my breath every day when I read them, hoping that one of those soldiers isn't one of ours," Oxford said.

Nothing about this endeavor is a given. Postage can total $700 in one trip to the post office, Oxford said, and postage donations have slowed.

Obstacles continue to pop up, like the minivan that died in the dead of winter, forcing the women to drive packages to the post office in a convertible with the top down. You guessed it -- it was snowing.

To help raise the money needed to continue their efforts, the women conduct fund-raisers through their Web site. They are offering heart-shaped magnets that read "Half my heart is in Iraq" and another for those who have someone serving in Afghanistan.

Public response has been tremendous, including a visit and donation from Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. But it's the response of the service members that means the most, the women said. Members of a unit from Fort Hood, Texas, have vowed to visit the women when they return home.

"It's such a rush when one of the soldiers comes by and actually meets us … or we get invited to a homecoming," Williams said. "That is just a wonderful
thing."

Oxford said she looks forward to the day when SI Yellow Ribbon can hang up an "Out of Business" sign, because a lack of need might be even more rewarding. "I would love to see us put out of business," she said. "That would be wonderful."

Related Site:
Southern Illinois Yellow Ribbon
Campaign http://www.siyellowribbon.com/

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By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2004 -- Communications giant Sprint is doing its part to support U.S. troops. However, phones and minutes are not involved. The company has donated $10,000 to Stars and Stripes to provide 20,000 copies
of the paper to service members in Afghanistan, said Stripes publisher Tom Kelsch.

"That's a nice gift," Kelsch said. "It will enable us to serve the troops and get the paper to more troops than we have been. "If this were to become a trend and more companies were to join this, then we could do that much more," he
added.

Officials have not decided whether to increase the number of copies provided each day or to extend the length of time it can provide the current 3,500 copies daily. Kelsch indicated they would most likely take the latter option. Tony D'Agata, vice president and general manager of Sprint Government Systems Division, and Woody Sellers, regional vice president for DoD sales, presented the $10,000 check to Kelsch July 19 at an all-hands meeting at the Stars and Stripes offices here.

"As one of our primary users of voice and data communications services, Sprint provides a variety of wireless solutions to the Department of Defense, and we're pleased to support military operations both domestically and overseas," D'Agata said in a written statement. "Our recent contribution to help distribute Stars and Stripes to troops overseas is a small token of support we could provide to help individuals stay connected with U.S. events while they are deployed."

Stephanie Taliaferro, Sprint Alliance and Government Media Relations spokeswoman, said Sprint left the decision on what region would benefit from the contribution to Stripes, with the only request being that it go where the need was greatest.

Sprint has a very active community-relations program and continually looks for ways to provide support and donations to a number of different programs, including those that support the military and their families, Taliaferro said.

This year, Sprint has been selected as one of 15 businesses from across the nation to receive the 2004 Freedom Award from the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, D'Agata said. The Employer Support Freedom Award recognized the significant contributions and sacrifices made by America's employers of the Guard and Reserve. Sprint is the only telecommunications company to ever have received this honor.

Stars and Stripes currently prints a combined total of 93,000 papers a day. Of those papers, 48,000 are distributed in Iraq, 15,000 in Kuwait, 3,500 in Afghanistan and 500 in Qatar -- for a total of 67,000 papers distributed "downrange." The remainder are distributed in established markets in the European and the Pacific theaters.

Related Sites:
Stars and Stripes http://www.estripes.osd.mil/