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Hi Everyone,
I’m sending this out as a large email so I can get as many people involved as possible. As many of you know, Tony and his brother Scott are both in the Army and are currently facing a possibly deployment to Iraq this fall. It is pretty much a guarantee that both will be deployed for Christmas 2008 and I would like to do my part to make this a special Christmas for them even though they will be over seas and far from loved ones.
Yes I know it is only May, but I want to get this started as soon as possible so we can make it the best possible.
My goal is to make and fill enough Christmas Stockings to send one for every member of both Tony and Scott’s companies. According to what I have read, a company can have anywhere from 62-190 soldiers, plus their support staff (I’m not sure exactly what to call that, but people like Medics and such.). Tony assures me that his company is 100+, this means that we will need a minimum of 200 stockings. If that’s not doable, I would at least like to make enough for each of their platoons, which would have about 50 people per platoon.
This is a large goal and is going to require help and support from many people, I’m hoping that the Viking store my mother, Elida, works for will be able to help make the stockings, along with custom embroidering the stockings with something like the brigade, battalion and company name, or something along those lines. If her store can’t help, well it looks like I will be learning to sew Christmas stockings.
Where I will really need the help is with filling the stockings, I hope to be able to put a calling card in each stocking and then fill it with other things like a deck of cards and candy, you know, the stuff that stockings are normally filled with.
And that’s where I ask favors of everyone that receives this e-mail, I was hoping that you might help by setting up a drive in your church, reading group, place of work, or anywhere that could possibly help.
I’m not sure of the exact dates, but I will probably need to have all the supplies together by the middle of November to be able to ship them out in time for Christmas.
Also, if people would like to make cash donations instead of other supplies, that would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I have no idea how I will get it all shipped over there, making it kind of pointless.

I know there is an organization out there that ships over stockings that people have donated and they shipped over 17,000 stockings in one Christmas alone, but these are our boys, and I would really like to give them something from home, something from people they know.

Many thanks,
Stacy

Well, I'm hoping to be able to do a soldier for $20 a piece, (got that sounds wrong). but I have to figure out the cost of shipping, along with call some companies to see if they would be willing to donate items.
Like call that sunflower seed company, see if they will donate some packages, or maybe a casino in Vegas to donate their old playing cards.

I'm hoping to be able to put together this list for each soldier at least.
One 125 min calling card - $6.25
One pack of playing cards - $.50- 1.20 depending on where you buy them wholesale.
One pack of sunflower seeds - $.60 for a 1.75 ounce bag, but I'm not sure its a good brand of sunflower seeds, and I want to try and get these donated.
One pack of gum (at least) - still looking for a true wholesale deal thats cheaper then the store, but looks like around $1 a pack.
Some type of hard candy

So thats 10.10 so far

I would also like to be able to put in letters for them, so I will need help writing enough letters, which is something this guild could help with, either mail them to me, if you want to give them handwritten ones, or email them to me and I can print them off.

apparently no one actually uses those phone cards, Tony says that when he got a stocking from an organization, he just threw it in his footlocker and forgot about it.
This project would have been better at the beginning of the war versus now when they can actually get all the stuff they want over there.
So basically, this may be called off.

I'm actually going to do it anyways, my step mom and mom were both wicked excited to do it.
I think Tony is just against the concept of Christmas in general.

Try going to your local Casino and asking them for their old decks for the donations. Casinos have to change decks every game pretty much so they have lots, I knew someone who would get piles of them and give them to us all the time. The problem with Vegas decks is that they put a "bullet" hole through their used decks, but most likely the casino closer to you doesn't.

Why is that?

I would like to help but I have not idea how I would get it to you

YAY! I'd like to hand write them something...* whispers *( and I promise, no goofy "teeny bopper" drawings on it sweatdrop )