January Monthly Newsletter

Christmas Support Brought Cheer to Deployed Troops

We knew we could count on you when we asked you to help make sure our troops would receive packages during the holidays, a tough time for our troops to be away from family and loved ones. Move America Forward offer our sincerest THANK YOU to all the people, companies, groups and organizations who stepped up to send Christmas packages and messages of support. Your loving and generous support made it a little easier for our troops during this year when other concerns often push their needs into the background. Thanks to your generosity and support, the holidays were brighter for thousands of American soldiers because of YOU!

Packing Party Success
 



On December 20, MAF hosted our annual Christmas care package packing party and it was a HUGE success. Thank you to all who helped with their efforts and time that made it such a success!

We had around 15 members of the U.S. Army in uniform show up to help and around 30 volunteers. We shipped over 2,000 care packages to our brave men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was our biggest packing party ever!

We were lucky to receive some amazing media coverage of the festivities, including Good Day Sacramento. We also made the channel 13 (CBS), channel 10 (ABC), and channel 40 (Fox) evening news programs. We even received some online coverage as well.


Check out our Good Day Sacramento Coverage Here!

Thank you all again for all your help and support!

December All-Stars!!

All our donors are special and deserve our sincere thanks! We wanted to take a moment and thank some of our extra special December donors who really came through for the troops!

Schwartz Foundation. Bud L., Henry R.,  Larry and Janet M., Kyra G., Ann Marie P., Thomas and Susan C., Sidney B., Russel & Amy S., Glen I., Bill and Diane C., Gerald W., Robert W. MD, Susan M., Carolyn A., Jocelyn V., LtCol. Larry K., Kenneth D., Susan M., Evelyn C., Michael L., William E., Andrea K., Phillis McN., Robert W., Christine L., Steve I., Susan P.,Guideposts, Paradies, San Francisco Bay Coffee and super supporter Lucia U. who always step up big with extra Christmas support.

If you missed out giving at Christmas, why not start out the year with a generous gift to our troops to thank them for all they do?  

Our troops gladly sacrifice so much for all Americans, please take a moment to thank them with a care package from home and most importantly, have a much needed note of thanks that only you can include.



Check Out KRLA Larry Marino’s Christmas Eve Interview
with Lisa Baron, Our Director of Troop Support



Thanks to Larry Marino, KRLA for making our Christmas Radio Drive a big success!

Check out Larry’s special Christmas Eve interview with MAF Director of Troop Support, Lisa Baron.


Meet One of Our Great Volunteers

At MAF we are lucky to get a lot of great volunteers who do a variety of jobs like packing boxes full to the brim, making phone calls, hauling supplies and lots of other tasks.

We thought you would enjoy hearing about some of them. Meet SFC Menard, he came to one of our packing parties to help make sure our Christmas shipment would be a big success. Having been deployed himself, he knows what a difference a simple care package can make!

SFC Menard has served in the Army and has been stationed throughout the world including deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. While deployed to Iraq he wrote a Children’s book titled the Bees and the Bears.  In 2007 He moved with his family to Ft Campbell, Kentucky and deployed to Afghanistan where he began writing his first poetry book.

In 2014 while in the Army Recruiters Course his poetry book 101St POEMS WRITTEN FROM THE DESERT WAR WITHIN was published. SFC Menard is currently still serving in the Army and has received many awards and campaign medals for his service continues to write and even uses spare time to help out local charities like Move America Forward.

Thank You Reid Lance Rosenthal! Best Sellers for our Troops!

Please take a moment to read a special message from best-selling author Reid Lance Rosenthal on why he is honored to donate his amazing books to our troops!

“As in 2016, it is my honor and pleasure to donate 5,000 copies of the first book of Threads West; An American Saga, to the men and women who defend Americans and America. Threads West is a multiple # 1 National, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble Best Selling series enjoying an almost even split of male and female readers across all age groups, and the winner of twenty six National Awards. This brings to 15,000 the number of Threads West books sent to troops through the great auspices of Move America Forward!

This is the epic saga of many life threads of brave men and independent women of uncommon cultures, differing origins and competing ambitions woven on the loom of history, entwined into the American Spirit and propelled by fate and freedom to form the tapestry that becomes the whole cloth of a great nation; a meld of the mosaic that is uniquely America. You will recognize the characters who live in these pages. They are the ancestors of your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, and your family who forged freedom and defended America for future generations. They are you. They are us. This is not only their story. It is our story. It is the story you brave troops defend and continue.

The epic saga begins in 1854 with the first of five, richly textured, complex generations of unforgettable, multicultural characters. The separate lives of these driven men and inspired women are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West. Swept into the dangerous currents of the far-distant frontier by the mysterious rivers of fate, the power of the land and the American spirit, their paths will intersect with the trails of others; an Oglala Sioux family, an elderly black couple setting their life sails for the winds of freedom, devout Mormons on the Exodus, a black-hearted renegade and his tender, young capture, Spanish blood exiled from the south and a shrewd Ute Chief and his wives, setting in motion conflicts and bonds affecting each of their lineages over one hundred and seventy years of United States history.

Forged in the crucible of history, shaped on the anvil of a dangerous land, the tragic story of the Indians begins to unfold. Armed conflicts, the rancor of slavery, the discovery of gold, the railroad, the fencing of the West, the industrial revolution, dust bowl, World War I, Depression, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and the mammoth clash of civilizations and ideologies that mark current times all create lethal surprises when the characters, their children, and their children’s children are forced to defend their lands, their loved ones, their freedom and their honor.
            
In the beginning, they have neither country nor culture in common — but the textured, complex and conflicted lives of these courageous men and women become the adventurous American spirit, and the self-reliant spine of an emerging nation as it transforms into the world’s preeminent power, that YOU the incredible, brave men and women of our armed forces defend every minute, hour, and day for the benefit of the rest of us. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah, Troops! May these pages bring YOU cheer and a smile! Stay Safe!”

Reid Lance Rosenthal

Thank You Spotlight
“A great treat for the 77 Airmen that have to
spend the holidays away from their families.”


“Thank you to everyone that donate to support all of us at the 5th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron stationed in Ali Al Salem Kuwait.

We received the packages Christmas day and was a great treat for the 77 Airmen that have to spend the holidays away from their families.  

Attached is a couple pictures if several if the Airmen opening the boxes.

Merry Christmas to you and a very happy New Year.”

SMSgt Michael R.
USAF


A New Year Resolution You Can Keep

Christmas is in the books and now it I time to get back to the day-to-day grind which is often so hectic that sometimes we just don’t quite get around to checking everything off our “To Do” list.


As an added bonus we’ve made it so simple to join our Monthly Smiles Program.  When checking out just check the button that says you want to join the Monthly Smiles Program and you can make sure our troops are looked after all year long.

Crafted with Heart for Valentine’s Day

Part of our MAF tradition is to join with schools all over the country to make sure our troops will have a smile on their faces and in their hearts during their long deployments. That is why we reach out to school children from across the nation to send us their homemade Valentine’s Cards to be included in our special Valentine\’s packages for our troops.

Our goal is to have every state in the nation represented in our special Valentine’s Care Packages for the troops, which include our regular care package goodies plus some extra special Valentine’s goodies to let the troops know there is lots of love coming their way.

If your child’s school would like to participate, email our Director of Troop Support, Lisa Baron [email protected]

Let’s share our love with our troops this Valentine’s Day!

AMAZON SMILES MAXIMIZES YOUR SUPPORT

Move America Forward is now partnering with Amazon.com and participating in their Amazon Smile Non-Profit Program, where Amazon donates a portion of whatever you order to MAF so we can send even more support packages to our troops!

How does Amazon Smile Work?

It\’s simple: All you have to do is use the link below to select Move America Forward as the charity you would like to support and a small portion of what you buy on Amazon.com is donated. No extra cost to you, just extra support for our brave defenders for buying the things you normally would. It\’s a WIN-WIN!

CLICK HERE TO SET UP AMAZON SMILE

Millions of Americans already use Amazon to purchase clothes, books and movies to tech gadgets, or almost anything you can think of. Chances are, if you\’ve ever bought anything on-line, you have probably used Amazon.com at least once or twice.

Now with Amazon Smile, you can support Move America Forward at no cost to you, by doing all your holiday shopping with Amazon Smiles. Your gifts will cost nothing extra, but a portion of the sales will be donated by AMAZON to the troops via MAF!

Prices are the same, shipping is the same, and nothing changes except Amazon donates .05% of your purchase TO THE TROOPS on your behalf!

Click HERE to shop for great Gifts and be sure to set MAF as your Amazon Smiles Charity!


Registering a Soldier is Easy


Registering a soldier to receive support packages is easy. If you have the address of someone deployed on active military duty, click here for our Military Sign-Up Center or copy this link (http://www.moveamericaforward.org/care-packages/request-a-care-package/) and e-mail it to them so they can sign-up themselves. Once signed up they’ll be eligible to receive packages and messages of support from caring fellow Americans.



Check out two of our latest reviews on Great Nonprofits


TWEETS FOR THE TROOPS @M_A_F


Check us out on Facebook!

Special Thanks go out to Troopathon Event Sponsors:

     

Do you have unused or unwanted gift cards?

Now, you can use them to sponsor care packages for one of our brave men or women of the military.  Not only will you brighten the day of one of America’s finest, but your gift card donation to Move America Forward is also tax deductible, a win-win!

For every $25 dollars in gift cards we receive, we will send a care package in your name. Click here to get started!