I contacted a bunch of organizations, including the U.S.O., and I got a phone call back today from a group called Soldiers Angels. They specialize in getting things like care packages and odd, but needed items, to our troops overseas.
The Soldiers Angels rep told me that if we can get the set shipped to either their warehouse in Newbury Park, Ca, or Ramseur, NC, they will cover the cost of shipping it over to our forces in Iraq. They will include it along with one of their cargo planes or cargo ships that goes over there just about every week. He said "Thank you for wanting to help, and please let me know if there is anything else we can do to help you and the group you represent make this happen." How cool, right?
I am volunteering to buy the material and build the set of boards myself. I'd like to see if we can get volunteers from this site to take care of the rest. We can come up with a design, make it, and ship it to North Carolina, and they will cover the overseas shipping costs, so it should be fairly easy. I calculated the shipping from Philly to NC, and it's only like $50, maximum.
So, the point is: We are looking for volunteers. People have already stepped up to the challenge. We will need the following:
--Set of boards (Being built and donated by Milky)
--A set of vinyl decals to match the design we choose. (Being made and donated by billm75)
--At least one set of bags. (One set being donated by Jbone)
--$50 to cover the shipping charges. (Several members have already pledged to donate to this cause! See posts below!)
--A nice letter from us, telling our troops how much we appreciate what they're doing over there, and explaining our "mission".
We're hoping that you are all as exciting about this opportunity as we are. This is our chance, as a community, to give something back. Well, what do you think, guys?
P.S.--Just in case you guys were wondering, yes, they do play cornhole in Iraq.
Milky
