Want to make a difference for soldiers overseas? Check out Toys for Troops!

[chefann]

This gets a little convoluted, so bear with me.There's a blog I read regularly by a cab driver in Hawaii. He has lots of links to other cool blogs on his site. A while back, he had a post about a woman in Illinois who started a group called Toys for Troops that sends Beanie Babies to US troops in the middle east, for distribution to the local children as a gesture of good will. Nikke posted info here about her husband's deployment several months back. I asked her if I could pass his info to Lori, the Toys lady. I did so.Well, apparently, Tony got a box of toys and was finally able to distribute them. Lori has a post on her blog today with a thank you letter from him.You can see the post at This Just In.If you're looking for ways to pay things forward, consider a donation to Toys for Troops. They need money to cover postage to send the packages overseas. They're also usually looking for Beanie Babies (no religious ones, overtly political ones - like red white and blue bears, or others that would be offensive to Muslims like witches and other halloween designs) or soccer balls to send, as well as care package items for the soldiers.You can also go to Let's Say Thanks, and send a postcard for FREE to the troops.

 

[redsoxgirl]

That's awesome!

 

[vwpamperedchef]

What a great story! Thanks for sharing. I've been doodling in my brain and on paper about starting a nonprofit also. My DH will be overseas by the end of the year for a second time. My brain is going constantly!

Thanks for sharing a success story! Gives me hope that people will help out!

 

[chefann]

And how cool is this - I just sent Lori a note and may be doing a online FR for Toys for Troops, to help them raise postage money.

 

[cathyskitchen]

How awesome, Ann! Thanks for sharing, and for "paying it forward" - I love these kind of stories!!

 

[JAE]

Great! I just sent a postcard. Good idea, Ann.

 

[pamperedbecky]

That's so cool! Very neat.

 

[RebelChef]

Great story, Ann. I love that people do things like this for our troops. That's the reason I have the link on my sig. When it all started, the schools were sending care packages, etc but the last couple of years it's all stopped even though our men and women are still there. They still need our support and encouragement so it's nice to see the ball hasn't been dropped.