A HUGE 'THANK YOU' to Mike Nist

We wanted to take a moment to send a HUGE 'THANK YOU' out to Mike Nist. Your donation will be sending 5 boxes overseas to our men and women. These boxes are filled with much needed items such as hygiene items, drink mix, wipes, snacks, batteries, toilet paper, etc. Not only are these items needed, but it's a huge morale boost for them to know that the people they are fighting for are behind them and supporting them. THANK YOU for helping us and supporting our troops!

Michelle & Meg

A day of packing

Good evening/morning everyone! It's about 1:30 a.m here and we are just finishing up packing for the night. Earlier tonight, we started to pack and seperate the donations we received last week. We packed 4 boxes for Project Frontlines and then we were off to the the FRG meeting to drop off about 5 boxes of stuff for the returning single soldiers of the 3rd ID. I have to say that AFTER the FRG meeting, we had a pretty productive meeting with some of the ladies. I have some more things that I want to get done for our returning heroes and some more things I would like to try to get. The following are things we are looking for; Pillows, sheets (twin size, no girl colors), shower curtains & rings, toilet paper, paper towels, and general groceries (condements, cereal, etc.). If you know of any resources to have any of these items donated, please let me know.

On another note, we have received two more donations to help ship out some of these boxes to project frontlines.
THANK YOU KRISTI ALLEN & KATIE EWELL
Your donations will help boost the morale of our heroes overseas as well as giving them a little bit of home.

Tomorrow will be a long and busy day. Lots on the schedule...LOTS of phone calls to make. Hope everyone has a great week!

Michelle & Meg

Happy Armed Forces Day!!

We just wanted to leave a quick note to say Happy Armed Forces Day to all of our heroes in uniform and their families. For all the great things you all do and the sacrifices you all make, you deserve this day & so much more. Please consider doing something to show your support and thanks to our troops for all they do for our country and for you!

God Bless You All!

Michelle & Meg

All of our new donations!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but it was so crazy that we didn't get any counting done besides the care packages. We didn't leave for Hunter Army Air Field until much later then expected, so we were pretty rushed the entire day. After driving an hours to get there, we almost weren't allowed access to get to the warehouse. The warehouse that I needed to pick up the supplies from is right on the flightline, and they had some chinese diplomats coming in within the hour. Since we were really quick about it (with much thanks to a friend of Meg's) we were able to get in and out in about 15 minutes. Once we got off the flightline, we were able to reorganize all the stuff from the truck to the two SUVs we were traveling in. It took about an hour, but we got it done :) When we finally got it home, we were able to actually go through it and see what we had. The final numbers are below under the pictures. While we are still in the process of breaking it all up, we don't know how many boxes will need to be shipped. I can tell you that it will be a lot though because we have over 650 of the travel care packages to send. About 200 of them will go to the 3d ID soldiers coming home along with the razors and q-tips, but the remaining will be sent overseas to Project Frontlines;Kandahar. Well...I guess that is it for the night. We will update you all soon :)

Michelle & Meg



Large Towelettes (about 500)

Q-tips (about 420)

Razors(about 220)

Puzzle Books (about 300)

Travel Toilet paper (about 450)

Calling Cards (about 30)

Batteries (30 packs), Drink Mixes (several hundered)

Drink Mixes (several hundred), Hand warmers (about 30), Instant Coffee (30)

Beef Jerky(30), Bandaids(30 packs), Travel Scissors (30)

USO Travel Care Packages(850+)

The inside of the care packages(deodarant, toothbrush with top, toothpaste, shampoo, comb, 2 packets shave cream, 2 packets lens cleaner, sunblock.)

The front of the care package (these bags are made of fabric, so they are very durable and reusable.)

Day trip to Savannah

Good Morning everyone!! We are up bright and early today to get the kids off to school and to get ready for a day trip to Savannah to pick up our load of goods from Hunter Army Air Field. We were going to go yesterday, but it just didn't work out. Today is a new day, and time for another try. As of right now, we will leave in about 2 hours or so. I will update with pictures later :) Hope you all have a great day :)

-Michelle & Meg

Things are coming along for our 3d ID Soldiers

Ok...so yesterday I got a call from my contact at the USO and they have 12 cartons of supplies for us (toilet paper, qtips, deodarent, razors, etc.)! That's awesome! The only downfall, I have NOWHERE to put it all. I then decided to call some storage units in the area and see if any of them would be willing to donate one of their units for a couple months. I got the call just about a half hour ago...we got a 10x10 storage unit for as long as we need it :) I am very excited. To get all the stuff from the USO, we have to go to HAAF (Hunter Army Air Field) in Savannah, which is about an hour away. Right now, the plan is for us to head up there tomorrow. Meg will get the tags for the trailer first thing in the morning, and we will be on our way :) And as always, I will take my camera with us and take plenty of pictures for you all.

Michelle & Meg

Another box down...8 to go

First, I would like to thank Kristi Allen & her family for helping to sponsor the first box of coffee for our heroes at Task Force Eagle Lift. Thank you!! Your donation has helped to send 500 bags of coffee over to our heroes!

Today, box #2 went out. Yay!!! This box was sponsored by Earlene and Rob Jackson. Thank you for paying the shipping for this box. Your donation shipped 575 bags of coffee. Thank you!!

Besides the second box going out today, there is not much to report. We are still waiting to hear more about our heroes returning from Iraq to really go much further with that. We've also been hard at work making this to sell for donations. We've made some patriotic flower pots as well as some survivor bracelets. The survivor bracelets are for the soldiers, as they are made using between 8 and 10 feet of paracord (550 cord). As of right now, I do not make the colored ones. However, if you do want the colored "fashion" ones (which I LOVE), Kylie makes them and sells them. All her sales also go to help with shipping to our heroes. Please visit her blog (Soldiers & Folgers). The link is on the right of my blog. I'm including some pictures of the pots we've made and the survivor bracelets. Enjoy!!!

Michelle & Meg




They don't look like it because of the lighting, but they are black

Coffee is packed and ready to go!!

Today we finished packing all the coffee. In total, there are 10 boxes, with one having already been shipped yesterday. When we opened the second box, there was a different kind of coffee in it. The first box had an organic breakfast blend and the second box had Beach Bay Coffee, Irish Cream flavor. Both smelled AMAZING and so does the garage!!!! I'm just glad that it is finished being packed because it's getting hotter out, and I don't like to be out there when it's too hot. Besides, we are going to have some other stuff coming in for the soldiers coming home and we're going to need the room for that stuff. We've got some more pictures to share with you all. Hope you enjoy them :)

Remember, it's only about $35 to ship each box. Any donation amount is appreciated and I am sending a note with each box noting who supplied the shipping funds. If you would like your contact information sent along with it, just let me know :)

-Michelle & Meg


Yummy

Soooo much

One box about done, 4 more to go

9 boxes packed and ready to ship. And one box on top for the returning soldiers.

Mine & Meg's best helper, Clare.

A day of packing coffee

While the day is not over just yet, we have been spending the better part of it packing coffee, and I don't think we're done quite yet. In order to get the most coffee in the boxes, we are being pretty precise about it, plus we are keeping count on how many we are packing. I got 500 in each of the first two boxes, then Megan took over the packing part while I dug the coffee out of the big shipping box it came in, and (because she's a rockstar) she was able to fit 550 in each box. We've got 4 boxes packed, about 6 or so to go (I'm estimating). Because we wanted to weigh the boxes and make sure they don't go over the 70 pound weight limit, we took the box to the post office and got it weighed and shipped out the first one while we were there. Each box is about 50 pounds. I'm guessing the ones with 550 bags in them will be about 55-60 pounds. Each box costs about $35 to ship, so if you would like "sponsor" a box, let me know. You can add a note/letter to go along with the coffee as well.

On another note, I got a call today while I was at the post office from a USO representative and they have a bunch of stuff for our soldiers! YAY!!! Majority of it will be used for our soldiers coming home, but depending on how much there is, some will probably go to our troops in Kandahar :)

That's all the updating for now. Hope you all had a great day like we did!!!

-Michelle & Meg



Our first box. Packed and ready for shipping

Megan packing the boxes

Me packing the boxes

The box was so deep, we couldn't reach the bottom. Smaller helpers came to the rescue

Even the baby got in on the packing :)

DVD Request

Hey everyone!!

First, an update on the coffee...we still have not started packing it as we are weighing a few options on how to ship it. I will let you all know when I know more. Hopefully that will be at some point later today or tomorrow.

Second, I am hoping to hear from the rear d commander today or tomorrow regarding the welcoming home of 3rd ID. Again, once I know more, I will be sure to update you all.

And finally.....Do you have ANY (even just one) DVDs that you did not like, do not watch, have two of, or wouldn't miss if you no longer had it? If so, I WANT THEM!!!! Well...actually it's for TFEL (Task Force Eagle Lift). They have started a DVD library of sorts and any and all help would be appreciated. It seems to be a big hit with the troops over there. Let's help them enjoy a little down time with some DVDs. Movies, Television Shows, Comedy, etc. will all be accepted. Please...NO SMUT! If you have some you would like to donate, please send me an e-mail :)

Goodnight everyone!

-Michelle

It's here!!!!!!!!!!

The coffee got here around 1:00 today and it is A LOT!!!! I took some pictures of it's arrival, but many more to come while we pack it up and ship it out to Project Frontlines!! Enjoy :)

-Michelle

Tomorrow is 'Coffee Day'

Yep!! The coffee will be here at some point tomorrow. Megan and I cleaned out the garage and made some room to work. Things will probably be a little hectic tomorrow, but I will be sure to take pictures for you all and post them when I get a few minutes. I hope you all had a great day...I know I did :) Have a great night and you will all hear from me tomorrow!!!

Michelle