Adopt a Soldier

[NikPreviousAcct]

http://www.mville.edu/mysoldier/index.html

My Soldier is a program that puts politics aside and lets U.S. soldiers know that someone back home cares. Sgt. Juan Salas, who served for 14 months in Iraq, established the program with the help of his school, Manhattanville College, when he returned from the war. The goal of the program is to show support for troops by establishing pen-pal relationships with them. Whenpeople enroll in the My Soldier program, they agree to adopt a soldier. They receive a ?starter kit? containing a red My Soldier bracelet to publicly show their support for American troops and guidelines for writing letters to their deployed United States Armed Serviceperson. Typically, the soldier then replies and direct correspondence begins (about 80% of soldiers respond, but 100% appreciate getting the letters). Participants may also choose to send care packages, which are greatly appreciated (but not expected) by the soldiers. The program is free, but donations are accepted.

You can participate in the My Soldier program in any of three ways:

-Register for the "My Soldier" program to adopt a soldier and receive an address where you may send a letter or package

-Submit the name of a soldier who would like to be adopted, if you are the soldier or the family of a soldier.

-Make a donation to the My Soldier campaign.

:thumbsup:

<edit>

I just registered.

Congratulations, you have successfully enrolled in the My Soldier program!

Due to the overwhelming interest we have received, you will most likely receive your starter kit in five to 10 weeks. We ask that you please be patient as we respond to everyone who has signed up.

In the meantime, if you have supplied a valid e-mail address, we will e-mail you your soldier?s contact information and mailing instructions within one week so that you can begin correspondence with your soldier immediately. Be sure our email to you does not get deleted as spam or sent to a junk or bulk mail mailbox. Check with your email service provider or software provider to find out how to adjust spam settings if any, or check those mailboxes for our email if you don't see it in your main mailbox.

Check our Web site's FAQ section for additional information or if you have further questions.
Participation in My Soldier is 100% free. However, to help us defray the costs of the program, there is a suggested, voluntary contribution of $10 per kit. You can donate by using the form below. All donations that we receive go directly to fund My Soldier. To date, Manhattanville College has covered all costs, though we expect corporate sponsorships, and have begun to receive some individual donations as the program has grown.

Donate to the My Soldier Program Online
Please note: Give with confidence. Our site uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Technology to protect your transactions.

Individuals can also donate by check. If you would like to send a check, make it payable to Manhattanville College, and send to My Soldier, Manhattanville College, 2900 Purchase Street, Purchase, NY 10577. Be sure to include a your name, address, phone number and note stating that you want your gift to go to My Soldier. Corporations who wish to contribute funds or goods may call John Galgano at (914) 323-5117. All donations that we receive go directly to fund My Soldier.

Tax receipts are provided to all donors.

 

[GoingUp]

thanks, i registered

 

[BigJ]

I'll see if my buddy going over to Iraq in a few months wants to be part of this.

 

[DainBramaged]

Sweet.

 

[Fenixgoon]

cool, i may have to sign up

 

[geno]

This should get a sticky!

 

[mugs]

mark

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: geno
This should get a sticky!

I tried via PM, but no response. I'll post the request in Forum Issues.

 

[thehstrybean]

I'm signing up...Nice find, OP!

 

[KarenMarie]

This is an excellent post.

I have two adopted soldiers. I have been sending packages every two weeks for the past 18 months.

I cannot think of a more worthwhile project. nor a more apprecited one.

 

[Steve]

Can you choose your soldier? I happen to have a friend currently deployed.

 

[Rudee]

I saw a program on TV where they were talking about how spoiled soldiers are at some of the large bases. Lobster, internet access, movies, arcade games. The person who was interviewing the base commanders was grilling them bigtime on how much the taxpayers were paying to give these solders such rare comforts of home. Apparently it's extremely costly. The desserts offered to soldiers after meals are far better than you would find at your local restaurant. From what I saw, the soldiers at these large bases didn't look like they needed care packages.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Cool, I have been looking into programs like this. Back when the war in Iraq first started, they were asking people to NOT send care packages and such due to the huge number of responses. I started looking for programs like this a few months back, because I suspect that a lot of people have probably quit doing such things by now.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Bump

 

[chrisms]

The soldiers get enough of my money. It's called taxes

 

[Baked]

And this would help because?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: chrisms
The soldiers get enough of my money. It's called taxes

It's not about money. Christ. It's about morale.

If you were a father, would you just throw your paycheck at your wife and go to bed, not caring about anything other than whether they have money to take care of themselves or not? :roll:

Of course not. Stop being such douche bags.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: Baked
And this would help because?

you don't realize that soldiers overseas appreciate these gestures so much. having no real contact with anyone besides their own peers is limiting. getting letters and maintaining correspondence with other people is really heartening for those who are watching suffering (and possibly enduring some as well) on a regular basis.

thank you nik for posting this.

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: chrisms
The soldiers get enough of my money. It's called taxes

It's not about money. Christ. It's about morale.

If you were a father, would you just throw your paycheck at your wife and go to bed, not caring about anything other than whether they have money to take care of themselves or not? :roll:

Of course not. Stop being such douche bags.

I don't think it's right to get a soldiers hopes up so he feels good about fighting another day. That'll only lead to re-enlistment and then his/her eventual death or injury. I'd rather see them miserable, so when they get back they'll do everything in their power to not return or see anyone else go over there.

Disgruntled soldiers->more pressure to withdrawal->quicker end to war->less deaths

or

Soldiers with high morale->Believe "the job" must be done->long, drawn-out quagmire->more deaths

By involving myself in this program I am contributing to the deaths of American troops. No thanks

 

[KidViciou$]

disgruntled soldiers -> weak military -> falling out of our #1 place in the global society

 

[KidViciou$]

best way to keep soldiers happy is to ask them to go to war over a rightful cause, but i don't want to turn this thread into something else. thanks for the post OP

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
disgruntled soldiers -> weak military -> falling out of our #1 place in the global society

Our soldiers can be as disgruntled as they want, short of attacking the U.S., and we still won't lose that spot for some time.

 

[isekii]

Who is actually running this thing ? Can anyone check their legitimacy ?
It's one thing to support the soldiers. But if this thing is run by some ahole which is only out to get money then i have no .............

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: chrisms

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: chrisms
The soldiers get enough of my money. It's called taxes

It's not about money. Christ. It's about morale.

If you were a father, would you just throw your paycheck at your wife and go to bed, not caring about anything other than whether they have money to take care of themselves or not? :roll:

Of course not. Stop being such douche bags.

I don't think it's right to get a soldiers hopes up so he feels good about fighting another day. That'll only lead to re-enlistment and then his/her eventual death or injury. I'd rather see them miserable, so when they get back they'll do everything in their power to not return or see anyone else go over there.

Disgruntled soldiers->more pressure to withdrawal->quicker end to war->less deaths

or

Soldiers with high morale->Believe "the job" must be done->long, drawn-out quagmire->more deaths

By involving myself in this program I am contributing to the deaths of American troops. No thanks

there will be no quicker end to war as it's not in the hands of a soldier or even 1 million of them.

 

[TexDotCom]

Originally posted by: tami

Originally posted by: Baked
And this would help because?

you don't realize that soldiers overseas appreciate these gestures so much. having no real contact with anyone besides their own peers is limiting. getting letters and maintaining correspondence with other people is really heartening for those who are watching suffering (and possibly enduring some as well) on a regular basis.

thank you nik for posting this.

As a soldier who has been deployed to Kuwait for almost nine months, I can attest to a number of things:

1) The amount of "your taxes" going into our pockets is, in most cases, quite insignificant

2) Most of us aren't here for the paycheck, but because we feel it's the right thing to do, that we have an obligation ("giving back" to our country), and/or pride in the efforts our country is making to increase the standard of living for those in Iraq and Afghanistan

3) The theater has matured quite a bit, and very quickly, but there are still many areas where the living conditions for Service Members (SMs) are...well...less than desirable

4) Care packages and other correspondence is not only appreciated because of the excitement that comes from someone else putting forth effort, time, money, etc. on your behalf. They also bring a personal touch from "the homefront" and serves to lessen the loneliness and homesickness many of us feel.

I will admit that, being in Kuwait, I have it better than a lot of the other SMs over here. In fact, most of the care packages I receive I turn around and send up north to Iraq where I know some folks who are all too eager to receive such things...and who need them more than I do. I think the OP had a great idea and should be commended for sharing this information with the members/lurkers of this forum and does not deserve to have their thread crapped on *ahem...chrisms*

If you don't want to sign up/contribute, then don't. But please know that if you do, your efforts and actions will not be in vain and will be greatly appreciated by the members of your Armed Forces (if you're a US citizen, anyway).

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