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Attention All Volunteers!!
All we can say is WOW! The volunteers for Citizen SAM and all its projects are fabulous. We asked you for your help, once again, and did you ever come through. We have 209 local newspapers that you sent in and we are contacting each and asking for their support by running a story about Operation Santa. The feedback so far has been terrific. If any of you see an article, please let us know so we can thank them for getting the word out.
That brings up another request we are going to make asking, once again (again), for your help. Many of the local newspapers want to link the story to a local effort, such as yours, but we will not give out any personal information to them unless we have contacted you and permission has been granted. So first, know your identity is safe and we have not, nor will not, give it out.
Now, second, as Citizen Sam and its projects have grown to meet unmet needs of troop support, managing this effort has become many volunteers' jobs. This year, we will need to raise almost $80,000 dollars for postage to send your many efforts to the troops. That is a whole lot of money to raise in these uncertain economic times.
But the good, no, the GREAT, news is that we have found some resources that are willing to help us with the postage costs. Now here's the "but." Isn't there always a "but"? In order for these resources to donate the large sums of money we need for the postage, we are being asked to show a dollar amount that will match what they are willing to give. This is very common when dealing with this level of donations.
YOU can be the match for us! Citizen SAM can attach a dollar figure, in this case, $10.00 per hour (we know that you are worth your weight in gold, but this is what the IRS allows) for every hour you have donated your time to support all these troop support efforts. That includes your time spent driving to and from the store, shopping for your supplies, the time you spend crafting your items, and packing and shipping your items to us for distribution. That is a whole lot of time we can count.
However, we need to collect the hours of time you have donated and document it for the applications to fund the postage money. They do not need your individual information; we will add it all up and send in one great big ol' figure - like 10,000 hours of donated time. But we need to maintain individual documentation for good business practices.
Citizen SAM and its projects are well-respected, legitimate and does what is says it will do - support our military. Documenting your volunteer time increases its reputation as a credible and worthwhile effort. Bottom line - we are trying to make this simple for you. What we need:
·Your name
·Your email address
·Your city and state
·What craft you do
(i.e. knit, crochet, sew, look good, watching, etc.)
·Hours you have donated in 2009
(guestimate is fine as most people underestimate
what they actually do)
YOU ALL ROCK!!! Keep up the good work. God bless you and the military community and send us your information so we can raise the funds for mailing during this year's holiday season!
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