November 2019 Newsletter

Leftover Halloween Candy? Halloween Buyback to the Rescue!

Halloween has passed, but what about all the leftover candy you didn\’t hand out or the massive haul of treats your little goblins toted home? Why not choose to share at least some of those goodies with our deserving troops?

November 1-9 is the traditional deadline to drop off your excess treats to a participating dental practice or local business, and most will even pay you for your goodies – a win-win for all!

We at home, naturally take for granted all the little conveniences we experience day in and day out. Got a hankering for a Snickers or a handful of M&Ms? No problem, just pop into the nearest convenience store or gas station and voila, problem solved. Our troops are serving far from home in austere conditions that don\’t necessarily offer the comforts of home, let alone those little indulgences. Thats where the Halloween Candy Buy Back program comes to the rescue, but we need YOU to make it happen.

Take a few minutes to watch this awesome video on the Halloween Candy Buy Back featuring Scott Raab from Move America Forward and Tuesday B. from Surfside Kids Dental, it\’ll leave you with a smile.

Without your participation, the Halloween Candy Buy Back is just a great idea. Your action is what makes that idea turn into a powerful reality. Just follow the link above to search for a dental practice in your area to learn more about where and when you can drop off your excess candy. Most participating practices will also pay you for your candy, Generally, most practices pay $1.00 per pound but often have a 5 pound limit to what they pay back. Many practices even offer the opportunity for your little Trick or Treaters to include their own personal note of support to our troops.

Once MAF receives the candy from your dental practice we parcel it out into our already great care packages to make them an extra special reminder to our troops that they have not been forgotten by those of us here at home who support them. Can\’t you just imagine how happy our troops will be to receive a care package full of goodies and adorable hand written notes?

Although Move America Forward has been shipping packages to our troops for over fifteen years, it was only a few years ago that Surfside Kids Dental helped us develop our Halloween Candy Buy program.

Thanks to Surfside Kids Dental reaching out to us at MAF several years ago seeking a shipping partner for all the amazing Halloween Candy they had collected for the troops, Move America Forward has become one of the main Halloween Candy Buy Back programs shipping partners.

Surfside Kids Dental is not only our original partner with the Candy Buyback program, they have also helped us go national with this effort and now we have over 2,000 volunteers coming in to help us pack and assemble all the great Halloween packages filled with candy coming in from all over the United States.

Surfside Kids Dental cares, according to Surfside Kids Dental Business Manager, Tuesday B., \”Not only do we care about the patients that are inside our doors, but we care about what\’s going on outside. So get involved, take your candy, bring it in, we\’ll give you cash, see you there!\”

SF Bay Coffee to Offer Special Veterans Day Promotion to Benefit the Troops

Who doesn\’t love a delicious cup of hot coffee in the morning? Coffee is the number one requested item of our deployed troops and MAF is blessed to partner with SF Bay Coffee to bring premium roast coffees to our deployed troops.

November 11th is Veteran\’s Day and to honor our veterans and thank their supporters, SF Bay Coffee is offering customers a special 15% discount on all website orders placed on Veteran\’s Day. https://sfbaycoffee.com/

Additionally, SF Bay Coffee will match every Veteran\’s Day order with an equal amount donation of coffee to our troops through our care package program.

SF Bay Coffee values our troops and supports MAF\’s care package program throughout the year. SF Bay Coffee is a favorite item in our troop care packages. This means the world to the family owned SF Bay Coffee Company that was founded over 40 years ago by Army Veteran Jon Rogers and his wife Barbara. The Bay Area Coffee company has employed over two dozen family members over the years and is proud to be thriving into its third generation.

As simply stated on their web site, \”Our mission is to search out the world’s finest coffee farmers, roast the richest, most flavorful coffees while making the world a better place. This is The SF Bay Way.\” Part of making the world a better place is their dedication to our troops and helping to ensure that our deployed troops enjoy the tastes of home through their delicious brews.

Most of us buy coffee as part of our routine trip to the grocers or big box stores. Why not make your next  coffee purchase through the SF Bay Coffee website on Veterans Day and treat yourself to an awesome 15% discount?

As we mentioned, SF Bay Coffee will match your purchase and donate it to our troops. With every cup of gourmet SF Bay Coffee you brew, you can smile knowing somewhere very far from home a deserving service member is enjoying a cup of coffee because of you!

Federal Employees can Support Move America Forward through CFC Donation

Combined Federal Campaign is a charitable workplace giving program for
federal employees, including military members, that allows them to donate to a nonprofit directly through a payroll deduction.

\”CFC is the world\’s largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, with almost 200 CFC campaigns throughout the country and overseas raising millions of dollars each year” (opm.gov/combined-federal-campaign/ )

If you are a federal employee, your enrollment period runs from September 9 through January 12, 2020, however new employees can begin contributing at any time.

Please consider adding Move America Forward as your giving partner if you are eligible to contribute through the Combined Federal Campaign.
To set up your donation through CFC and designate Move America Forward,
just follow this link https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/offerings and enter Move America Forward in the Charity Field  then follow the prompts to add Move America Forward to you charity basket and check out. Payroll deductions can be made for as little as $1.00 per pay period. Just think of all the smiles you can bring to our troops with this simple giving option.

Enjoy a 50% Discount on MAF for the Sacramento Spartan Race

MAF is proud to be a promotional partner for the fun and challenging Spartan Super & Sprint obstacle course races being held on November 16 & 17th at iconic Van Vleck Ranch in Sacramento.

MAF will be hosting a team of military veterans for the Sacramento Spartan Race as well as manning a booth for the fun and challenging weekend event.

If you would like to join us and receive a 50% discount on race registration, email us at [email protected].

According to the Spartan.com website, \”Van Vleck Ranch is the closest thing Spartan Race has on its calendar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If the weather remains dry, you will be confronted with an arduous, rolling landscape that goes as far as the eye can see. Should it rain, you will be presented with one of the most technical terrains you could hope to encounter — it will become slippery and the slopes will become a battle for even the most seasoned racer.\”

The Sprint race features a challenging 5K event with 20 obstacles and the Super race is a 10k with 25 obstacles along the way to test your speed and agility. Both races finish with an epic challenge you will remember for a lifetime and keep you hungering to return to challenge yourself again. You will also be met with a high five, recovery fuel and some great swag, not to mention some awesome bragging rights.

Either way, if you are an experienced Spartan racer or a novice looking to take on a new challenge, email us at [email protected] and we will send you a discount code for 50% off the normal race registration.

Come by and see us at our booth, we\’d love to say \”hi\” in person and wish you luck or congratulate you post race.

Photo of the Month — Someone Loves their MAF Care Package!