Dear Website Reader - you can do something to help in a concrete and satisfying manner - just
read this letter requesting help.....
FORT SHERMAN DAV CHAPTER #9 PREPARES FOR CHRISTMAS!
This time last year our National Guard was headed off to war. Now they are home. Nearly two out of three are without work. Last year, we provided Christmas to 28 families and 66 children. One half of those were children of the Guard. I delivered presents to a mother of five in Coeur d'Alene on a cold, snowy day in December. She was grateful but she was obviously distressed with her husband gone. It was heart-breaking to observe. She was worried about her mortgage payment. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we had the money to give her $652. We also had the cash to donate over $1,700 in Wal-Mart gift cards to 11 other families.
Chapter 9 works to ensure that our local veterans who are having a tough time are able to provide a great Christmas for their children. We want to make their holidays warmer to lessen their worries. We promise the parents that we will provide enough presents that they can devote their money to heat, rent, etc. We would like to invite you to participate in the DAV Christmas Project. It is the biggest project we have each year and is an immense undertaking.
Saturday, the 17th of December, is the day we will meet to wrap the presents. The basement of St. George's Catholic Church in Post Falls will be one busy place.
Working with the veterans section of the Job Service, the Kootenai County Veterans Service Office and the Family Readiness Group of the National Guard we will locate those families who are in need of help. (The woman in the Family Readiness Group who I worked with last year is the wife of the soldier who lost both legs in Iraq this summer).
I call each family and talk to the parents. I learn the age, gender and desires of each child. We try to get each child least one item that they really want. We then provide numerous other age-appropriate presents that range from crayons to flashlights, gloves, dolls, soccer balls and table games. While talking with the parents, I try to learn a little more about their situation to see where else we can help. We have repaired cars, delivered firewood and assisted veterans in applying for disability from the VA.
The Knights of Columbus used our list and delivered food to ten of our most needy.
There is another dimension we see during the wrapping. It is the satisfaction of working for five hours with fifty other people on a mission to do this right. The presents are individually wrapped and hand- picked for each child, and there are stockings to be stuffed. There is plenty of work, but it isn't work, because it is one of those rare occasions at Christmas where the spirit is deeply felt
You are invited to come and help wrap. We will finish up the evening by sitting down together and enjoying a white chili feed with corn bread and desert. But, it doesn't end there. Many volunteers have then delivered the presents. No one who has delivered presents has been unaffected, and to a person they have gone home to their own Christmas feeling as though it was really Christmas.
Please make your check out to: DAV 9 and mail it to us in the enclosed envelope. The Disabled American Veterans is composed of those who were wounded, gassed or injured in time of war and is a Congressionally Chartered 501 (c) 4Veterans Charitable Organization. Your donation is tax deductible. You will receive a letterhead receipt immediately.
We appreciate your help and will use your donation carefully and wisely. Please ensure that your family is cared for first before you consider donating to us. Our project begins with obtaining the families and names of their children. Working only on faith we commit to the project without knowing how much we will have in donations. Not once have we ever had to turn one child away.
The wrapping party starts at 2:00 PM on Saturday 18 December in the basement of the St. George's Catholic Church in Post Falls. Volunteers to wrap presents are really needed. Our blind members and those missing limbs appreciate all the assistance that they can get.
I have enclosed a picture of our project last year. It is very much like what you would imagine Santa's workshop to look like.
Like you, my mailbox is deluged with requests for donations. Our DAV Chapter can only promise you that we fill a need for our veterans, reserves and national guard. We will spend every donation in full on the kids and no money will be spent on administrative matters. We know that there are other worthwhile and legitimate needs in our community. We try to fulfill one with your help in the most effective and efficient way we know how. Thanks for your support. We thank you again.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Hunt, QMC, USN, Ret.
Chapter Adjutant
Past State DAV Commander
2536 W. Falling Star Loop
Post Falls, Idaho 83854
208 773-1074
cinc@frontier.com
Web Site: http://www.davmembersportal.org/chapters/id/09/default.aspx