UPDATE FOR: Help COP Keating Survivors!

I just got this notice from a fellow Blue Star Mom and thought you'd like to know:

On Saturday, Oct. 24, The American Legion and Target Corp. begin replacing personal items U.S. soldiers were forced to destroy in an Oct. 3 attack in the rugged Nuristan province of Afghanistan.

Between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., Legionnaires will go to a Target Store in Colorado Springs and purchase thousands of dollars worth of DVDs, video games, books, magazines and other comfort items for surviving Fort Carson-based Bravo Troop 3-61 Cavalry soldiers who remain in Afghanistan or are recovering from the battle. The Target Store is located at 3810 East Bloomington Street, Colorado Springs.

The items will be transported from the store to American Legion Post 209 at 3613 Jeannine Drive in Colorado Springs for a packing and shipping party. Some family members of the troops are expected to be present.

A fundraising drive on an American Legion blog site, The Burn Pit, netted more than $50,000 in cash donations to help the soldiers replace their personal belongings. Outnumbered and surrounded in a rugged mountain valley, the besieged troops were forced to call in an artillery strike on their own position, escaping Combat Outpost Keating with little more than the clothes on their backs Oct. 3. Eight American troops were killed in the battle.

Upon learning of the COP Keating Relief Fund, Target Corp. matched The American Legion Burn Pit cash contribution with $50,000 worth of merchandise and gift cards. In addition to the purchases made at the store in Colorado Springs, merchandise will be trucked from a Target regional distribution center to Post 209 for packing and preparation.

Similar shopping and packing events are scheduled in Minneapolis, home of Target’s corporate headquarters, on Oct. 27 at 10 a.m.; and Triangle, Va., on Oct. 29 at approximately 10 a.m.

The Target Store involved with the event Tuesday, Oct. 27, is located at 7000 York Ave., Edina, Minn.; merchandise purchased there will be assembled and shipped from Richfield American Legion Post 435, 6501 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis.

The Target Store involved with the event Thursday, Oct. 29, is located at 4310 Fortuna Center Plz., Dumfries, Va.; merchandise purchased there will be assembled and shipped from American Legion Post 28, 17934 Liming Lane, Triangle, Va.

Best Phone Call Ever and A Call For Action

This is a pretty cool article I recommend reading. :)

Football Greats Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell Host Angels and Heroes

2009 Grid Iron Golf Tournament in Tampa Spotlights Soldiers' Angels

Led by football greats Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell, the 2009 Grid Iron Golf Tournament in support of the troops kicked off last night with the Immaculate Reception & Dinner at Timpano Italian Chophouse in Tampa. Military support non-profit Soldiers' Angels is this year's beneficiary of an event that has been conducted concurrent with each Super Bowl since 1997 and has resulted in over $180,000 raised for a variety of charitable causes. The golf tournament itself is underway today at the renowned Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa, Florida.

"It's wonderful that these football heroes chose to honor America's heroes on the battlefield and the homefront. We are so appreciative of the generosity shown to Soldiers' Angels by these stars," says Soldiers' Angels volunteer Andi Hurley, a military spouse and founder of Spousebuzz.com. Other Soldiers' Angels representatives attending the event include co-founder Jeff Bader, Treasurer Mark Concialdi, Team Development Director and veteran Toby Nunn, and wounded active-duty soldier Major Charles Ziegenfuss.

As a Pennsylvania resident and proud Steelers fan, Major Ziegenfuss is thrilled to be in Tampa during Super Bowl week. "I just met Franco Harris," he exclaims. "For a Steeler fan that's like meeting the Pope. I tried to thank him for the tournament, and he thanked me!"

Fellow veteran Toby Nunn agrees that this is a special event. "Some lucky celebrities are getting the privilege of playing golf with real heroes like Major Ziegenfuss and Staff Sergeant Adam Bruha. The golf course is terrific, and the fellowship couldn't be better."

Established in 2003 by the mother of two young veterans, Soldiers' Angels is fast becoming one of America's premiere military support organizations. With an army of volunteers operating through over 30 different teams and projects, the organization supports deployed soldiers and their families, comforts families of the fallen, provides care and support in military hospitals and VA facilities, and much, much more.

ABOUT SOLDIERS' ANGELS: A volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Soldiers' Angels provides aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, as well as veterans and military families. For more information, see www.soldiersangels.org or call 626-529-5114. Tax ID# 20-0583415

For more information about the tournament, contact Luana Scott at 619-279-5879 or onparpro@comcast.net.

Over 900 Soldiers Waiting To Be Adopted Today!

Soldiers' Angels hero adoption waiting list is over 900 today. All these heroes waiting to be adopted are currently serving overseas, away from their families and could use some additional support form you. Won't you please consider adopting a hero today? All is takes is the commitment from you to write a letter a week and send one small care package a month during the length of the deployment. To adopt a hero, click here now.

If adoption does not suit you and you would like to get involved with Soldiers' Angels, there are many opportunities for everyone to get involved. Just click here to find out more.

~May no soldier go unloved~

"America's Favorite Mom" Plays Santa for the Troops

Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers' Angels, has given her prizes from the America's Favorite Mom contest to service members and their families.

New York, NY (December 16, 2008) -- America's Favorite Mom played Santa for a Day in New York, using the prizes she won to bring an early Christmas to military personnel and their families. Patti Patton-Bader, named America's Favorite Mom last Mother's Day, received the remainder of her prizes in New York last week, which she immediately donated in support of her heroes.

Such generosity is typical of Ms. Bader, who is president of Soldiers' Angels, a military support nonprofit she founded soon after her soldier son was deployed to Iraq in 2003. Five years later, it is now a volunteer-based organization operating over 30 different teams and projects in support of America's military, veterans, and military families around the world. "Soldiers' Angels is proud to acknowledge the continued generosity of its founder, Patti Patton Bader, through her donation of the proceeds and prizes she received from the America's Favorite Mom contest," said Soldiers' Angels Treasurer Mark Concialdi.

Redbook magazine interviewed Ms. Bader in New York at a private lunch with editor Stacy Morrison before she received her final prize of a shopping spree. At Ms. Bader's direction, the shopping spree was spent buying Christmas gifts for children of wounded soldiers living in Fisher Houses while their parents recover at nearby military hospitals.

The cash grand prize was distributed as a lump sum of $150,000, which Ms. Bader donated to Soldiers' Angels this summer. She has also donated the set of household appliances she received to nonprofit Homes for Our Troops, where they will be added to a home to be constructed for a quadriplegic wounded soldier. In a recent email, the soldier described his reaction. "We are indebted to you incredibly for your donation of those fantastic appliances. Your generosity is truly humbling," he wrote.

But Ms. Bader herself is humble about the experience. "The best part of winning was being able to give the prizes to America's heroes--our soldiers and their families. There are so many wonderful mothers in this country, and I was just glad to have the opportunity to shine the light on our military and the importance of supporting them in this time of war. I am so grateful to Stuart and Linda Resnick of Teleflora for developing the America's Favorite Mom contest," she said. The individualized, diamond-encrusted necklace declaring Ms. Bader "America's Favorite Mom" was donated to the Soldiers' Angels Museum, which documents the development of Soldiers' Angels and responses from Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen it supports. Ms. Bader was named America's Favorite Mom in a primetime NBC television show on Mother's Day 2008, sponsored by Teleflora and hosted by Donny and Marie Osmond.

Established in 2003, Soldiers' Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) non-profit providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, as well as veterans and military families. For more information, see www.soldiersangels.org or call 626-529-5114. Tax ID# 20-05834