(Although
this
is not new, the linked sites should be useful now as well.)
United States Department of
Defense
News Release No. 623-02
IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December
12, 2002
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
With the holidays
approaching, thousands
of Americans are again asking what
they can do to show their
support for
servicemembers, especially those serving overseas in this time of war.
Below are Web sites for several organizations that are sponsoring
programs
for members of the Armed Forces overseas. While it would be
inappropriate
for the Department to endorse any specifically, servicemembers do value
and appreciate such expressions of support:
Donate a calling card to
help keep servicemembers
in touch with their families at Operation Uplink at http://www.operationuplink.org/
Send a greeting via e-mail
through Operation
Dear Abby at http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/
or http://www.OperationDearAbby.net
Sign a virtual thank you
card at the
Defend America Web site at
http://www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html
Make a donation to one of
the military
relief societies:
Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/
Navy/Marine Relief Society
at http://www.nmcrs.org/
Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/
Coast Guard Mutual
Assistance at http://www.cgmahq.org/
The Navy has developed a
Web-based alternative
to benefit members of all Services. The program can be reached at the
Navy
LIFELines Services Network at http://www.LIFELines2000.org
or http://AnyServiceMember.Navy.mil
.
Donate to"Operation USO Care
Package"
at http://www.usometrodc.org/care.html
Support the American Red
Cross Services
at
http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/0,1082,0_321_,00.html
Volunteer at a VA Hospital
to honor
veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past
conflicts.
Support families whose loved
ones are
being treated at military and VA hospitals through a donation to the
Fisher
House at http://www.fisherhouse.org.
Reach out to military
families in your
community, especially those with a loved one
overseas.
Please do not flood the
military mail
system with letters, cards, and gifts. Due to security concerns and
transportation
constraints, the Department cannot accept items to be mailed to " Any
Servicemember
." Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending
large
numbers of packages to an individual servicemember's address, which
however
well intentioned, clogs the mail and
causes unneccessary delays.
The support and generosity
of the American
people has touched the lives of many
servicemembers, over 300,000 of
whom
are deployed overseas.
from: U.S.
Deparment of Defense
