NOTE: This is a repost of my previous diary. We are woefully short of meeting my goal of raising $2,500 for Netroots for the Troops and the Netroots Nation Conference is only a month away. Please consider joining TEAM ECLECTABLOG and making a donation. Even $10 is very helpful. And please consider sharing this on your Facebook page, tweeting it and anything else you can think of to spread the word. Thanks so much.
~ Eclectablog
Every year at the Netroots Nation conference, a group of very hard-working, compassionate and caring people step up to help our men and women in the armed forces in an impressive way. They spend the year raising funds and soliciting contributions and then, in a several hour frenzy of activity, they assemble CARE packages to be sent to our troops in harms way around the world. It’s like nothing I have ever seen. They call the project Netroots for the Troops.
Here’s an interview with Daily Kos’s TexDem (aka, Tony Gattis), chief cook and bottle washer at Netroots for the Troops at last year’s Netroots Nation:
You can read my full write-up of the event with lotsa photos here: Netroots for the Troops – Here’s what we did.
What we did was assemble 300 CARE packages, each of which contained the following items:
2 pairs of Mechanics gloves (L and XL)
1 sand scarf
1 pair high-quality, sand-proof sunglasses
can of coffee
12 disposable razors
baby wipes
adult flushable wipes
small pack of hotel sized toiletries
trail mix
beef jerky
skittles
mints
2 DVDs donated by Redbox
2 decks of cards
Here’s me loading up one of the 300 boxes:
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I need your help. Last year, with the help of my friends, family and Eclectafans, I was able to raise just over $1,000 for Netroots for the Troops. This year I have set a much more ambitious goal so $2,500 and I need YOUR help to achieve that. You can donate to Team Eclectablog by clicking HERE.
No matter how you feel about America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fact remains that thousands of our young men and women in uniform are in harms way every single day as part of the armed forces. Many people [cough, cough Republicans cough] SAY “Support the troops”. But there aren’t all that many people that DO support them. This is a way for you give directly to them. No middlemen. No overhead. Just a direct contribution, efficiently spent and maximized by the Netroots for the Troops organization, that goes right into the hands of the men and women that need it.
The goal for 2011 is 600 Care Packages assembled in Minneapolis, that equates to approximately $100,000.00. Here’s what 300 looked like last year. Imagine twice that many:
So, whattaya say? Are ya in for a few bucks?
Thanks.
I’m just sayin’…
P.S. Lots more information about this project HERE. I’ll be writing more about it as well.
