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Dear Citizen SAM Volunteers,
Follow-up
Thank you so much for responding to our request of your volunteer hours. They are still coming in from all over and when we get a point-in-time tabulation, we will share the big news with you. Keep them coming and we are working on a simple way for this to be collected in the future.
We sent out 209 news articles to small local newspapers with your help. What an incredible group of volunteers. We are in awe.
Quilts for our Wounded
It is hard to know how your efforts make a difference, but they truly do. Patti Smith, President of the Board of Directors for Citizen SAM, recently flew with a huge box of your quilts to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. She met with the distribution people to insure the quilts reach the wounded and make personal visits to a few of the wounded soldiers.
California State Director Arlene Zobrist and her team made the Purple Heart quilt pictured here. The Walter Reed contacts made it possible for her to hand deliver some of them, talk with the soldiers and hear their reactions to your quilt efforts. It was an emotional and endearing experience for her to tell each soldier that every stitch was sewn with them and their sacrifice in mind.
Despite some incredible injuries, each soldier expressed the wish to return to their units as quickly as possible. With some visited, this is clearly not going to be possible. We must remember them as those that must return to civilian life do and are also not forgotten. More photos of the hospital visit can be viewed at www.citizensam.org.
Operation Santa
Funding is our greatest challenge for Operation Santa. Postage for 35,000 stockings will cost approximately $80,000.00. $30 ships 15 stockings, $60-30 stockings, $90-45 stockings. Please help us bring a slice of home this holiday season to our Armed Forces serving abroad. You may send your tax deductible gift to Operation Santa, 7131 N Knoxville Ave. Suite C, Peoria, Illinois 61614.
Check our website for local stocking sewing days in your area. To add your event, please send your date, time and place and we will spread the word for you. Donations at the events will be accepted for fabric, stocking stuffers, and funds for shipping. Bring you sewing machine and supplies, but if you can't sew, show up anyway for moral support. Bring a camera and send us the photos.
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