Well fellow Pelican members, it's the Christmas and Holiday Season. A time of caring and giving. Wayne and Pelican parts have graciously allowed me to post this request.
I was moved by 2 stories I recently heard. One directly and the other on the TV. Firstly, my oldest daughter is in a class with a boy who has a brother serving with the Canadian forces (joint with US troops) in Afghanistan. His cel telephone bill was $700 in October, calling home to keep in touch with family and friends. Also, on TV I saw a story about a couple of kids that raised several thousand dollars in their local community (in Indiana I think???) to help out a soldier from their town that rang up an $8000 phone bill.
This got me thinking and motivated. I have a friend that distributes pre-paid phone cards and may be able to give me a wholesale price on any sized purchase. What I'd like to do is ask for small donations from members/guests and friends - $5, $10 or ??? - to purchase pre-paid phone cards. All proceeds (after Paypal fees) would go to buy the cards and I would send them off via our troop support organizations. They would be distributed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere I would think. I do not profit at all and would do all the leg work for nothing, not that it's that much anyway. Also, there's no tax deductions for me or any donor.
If you can, great. The easiest way to donate is through Paypal. I've setup a Paypal account -
troopcalls@gmail.com. I'll post status updates with amounts and donor names if so desired. Anonymous is fine too. If not, that's OK too. Maybe you can help in other ways.
Feel free to email or message me using the PP message system. Thanks and happiest of Holidays to all!
Mike