Military Tribute

The "Holidays for the Troops" project is underway!

Laurie Damron will once again put together fabulous prize packages of books and/or author goodies to raffle off. She's also looking for those same items to include in the boxes that she'll ship out.

What can you do?

Donate items for the troops and then Laurie ships them out in time for delivery before the holidays.

No time to shop? Donate money for Laurie to shop for the troops, and she'll do all the work.

If you have a blog and would be willing to comment on this project and pass along Laurie's email addy or blog link, or if you could spread the word to your author friends, that'd be great. Contact Laurie at ljodamron@earthlink.net

You could win big!!!
Everyone who donates will be in the drawing for a variety of author books and goodies!

A little history...
To date, Laurie has shipped out well over 400 pounds and has received cards and letters from several servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan expressing their appreciation.

These holiday shipments are always fun! Laurie adds boxes of cards for the troops to send to their families and friends, holiday decorations and music, and cards and greetings from those who make donations. It is incredibly heartwarming and rewarding.

There is absolutely nothing political about this project. It is simply a show of support for the men and women who serve our country.

Laurie's info:
Laurie Damron
ljodamron@earthlink.net
http://lauries-laudanum.blogspot.com/

Prizes:

Lori Foster:
T-shirt and tote bag from Cafepress

A signed arc of Causing Havoc

Signed copies of:
A Very Merry Christmas
Jude's Law
Murphy's Law
Wildly Winston
When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys
Bad Boys of Summer

Dianne Castell:
Three copies of Texas Bad Boys and other goodies

Becky Barker:
Books

Karen Kelley:
Books

Erin McCarthy:
One copy of You Don't Know Jack, one copy of High Stakes, two copies of
The Night Before Christmas, and one copy of The Naked Truth

Jill Shalvis:
A box of Aussie Rules for the raffle and to send to the troops

Shiloh Walker:
Two copies of Hunting the Hunter, one for the raffle and one for the troops

Toni Blake:
One copy of In Your Wildest Dreams and one copy of Taking Care of Business

LuAnn McLane:
One copy of Dark Roots and Cowboy Boots, one copy of Hot Summer Nights and one copy (if she has her copies by then) of Love, Lust and Pixie Dust

Kelley Vitollo:
One download of her ebook, Dream Man

Rita Raymond:
Three bath & body gift baskets

Stacy Ahlgren:
$25. gift certificate to Barnes & Noble

Janice Maynard:
2 books

Laurie:
$25.00 gift certificate to Gooseberry Patch online country store

Genesis Promotions:
A Genesis Promotions Pillow from CafePress

From author Lucy Monroe:
two each of:
Ready, Willing, and Able
Star Quality
The Real Deal
3 Brides for 3 Brothers
and one copy of
Beach Blanket Bad Boys

(note: she intends one of each to be used for the raffle and one of each to go in the shipments.)

Author Tonya Ramagos:
a download of her ebook, Heavy Metal Seduction 2: Picking Art.

Special treat donation!
Alyson Hackett, from Mucky's Morsels has
generously contributed to our troop project.

For the raffle:
1 dozen Seven Sinful Layers, 1 Dozen Chocolate Chip and 1 dozen Mint
Brownies.

For the boxes sent directly to troops:
Mix of cookies, brownies and bars - 5 dozen total.

Karin Tabke:
copy of THE HARD STUFF, and a copy of GOOD GIRL GONE BAD, and a few other goodies

Open letter from Lori

I've written about a lot of wonderful fictional heroes, but no created character can quite match up to the real thing. Even as you read this in the comfort of your own home, perhaps with a can of cola at your elbow and the air conditioning stirring the air, men and women are living the definition of "heroic." They serve in different branches of the military and perform various duties, sacrificing those things we now take for granted, risking their lives so that *our* livestyles can be preserved.

Please, let's do what we can to show our gratitude. Using the addresses on the right, you can contribute by sending a gift, something as necessary as batteries, as fun as a deck of cards or a book, or as memorable as a photo from home and a thank you card. Look at the very long lists below to see what the soldiers need, what they want, what they'd love to have to help make *their* lives a little easier. Now more than ever, let's let them know that we care, that we appreciate their efforts, and that we will never forget them.

We're happy to work with RT on this, so please check RT's page!

Thank you for your generosity,

Lori

A Special Thank you

Special thanks to the generous volunteers who agreed to collect and ship donated items in acceptable size packages!

PLEASE NOTE: you can also send the volunteers money orders, and they will shop for the soldiers, package everything, and mail it off.

Stacy Ahlgren
2944 S Briarwood Dr
Mt Prospect, IL 60056

Laurie Damron
146 Page Court
Delaware, OH 43015

PERSONAL-CARE ITEMS:
Sunblock, Aloe Vera
Throat Lozenges
Gum, Lifesavers, Mints
Eye Drops
(to relieve irritation from blowing sand)
Blistex, Chapstick, Vaseline, Carmex
Aspirin, Motrin, Tylenol, Pain Relievers
Saline spray/drops for sensitive nasal passages
Q-tips
Feminine hygiene products for women soldiers
Jock itch spray
Boot liners/insoles
Lotrimin AF for athletes foot
(send tube of ointment or cream, NOT the spray kind)
Travel size Foot Powder Baby Powder, Shower-to-Shower Powder
(there are some that have ingredients to fight athletes foot
NOTE: Be sure any powder is in it's sealed, original container.
Put it in a ziploc bag as well.)
Moleskin
(for pads on sore feet, you'll find it with
Dr. Scholls type things at WalMart or drug stores)
Laundry soap
(Small single-load packages, trial sizes, or
'tablets' that are easier to manage and store.)

FOOD ITEMS:

NOTE: Pork and pork by-products are NOT allowed to be shipped to Middle East locations. That includes many 'Slim Jims' and other packaged meat products; read the label. Fresh fruit and yeast are not allowed either

Non-perishable foods only. Send small containers of items. Large packages won't stay fresh and are harder to ship. If you can stuff it in your pocket and it's not going to spoil or MELT, it's a good thing to send! Downplay the sugar. Items that are hydrated are heavier; i.e. ravioli versus ramen noodles. Some camps have methods to heat and hydrate, others do not.

Coffee, hot cocoa mix, coffee mixes, tea bags and sugar packets
Lemonade mix, Koolade mix, Tang mix, Gatorade mix (pre-sweetened)
Gum, Lifesavers, Mints
Nuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, trail mix
Power bars, protein bars, nutritional bars
Beef jerky, beef summer sausage (non-perishable; labeled USDA Beef)
Small bags of snacks or individually wrapped snacks
Pop Tarts, cereal bars, "milk & cereal" bars, granola bars
Cookies, Homemade Cookies
Torengos and canned nacho cheese dip / bean dip
Jalepeno velveeta and crackers
Energy foods / breakfast and granola bars
Beef summer sausage / crackers
Non-melting candy / gum
Beef jerky
Tuna in pop top cans
(pouches can be stepped on and popped)
Pop top cans of fruit
(Peanut Butter has been removed from this list:
The MREs have tubes of peanut butter in them and they don't
particularly want more. )
Pretzels / canned chips / raisins / trail mix / nuts / dried fruit
Hot picante sauce packaged in plastic containers
Any kind of prepackaged snack food
Chips in a can to prevent crushing
Powdered sugared drink mixes are especially needed
PLACE ALL CANS IN ZIP LOCK TYPE BAGS
IN CASE CANS ARE CRUSHED IN ROUTE!

COMMUNICATION ITEMS:
Envelopes, paper, pens
Small pads of paper
Pre-addressed labels and/or envelopes
Notebooks
(a size they can keep in a pocket and keep dry)
Single-Use Cameras
Small cassette player with a message on one tape, and couple of blank tapes
(Tip: Uninstall the batteries before shipping; ship new batteries that are still packaged in the original manufacturer packaging.)
Very small, lightly padded envelopes with correct postage attached to mail back a small cassette tape or single-use cameras
(NOTE: Free mail to the U.S. is limited to letters only;
all other items require postage.)
Postage stamps if they want to mail items larger than an envelope & letter
FUN STUFF:
Frisbee, Nerf Footballs, Hacky Sack
Deck of cards
Hand-held games
OTHER SUPPLIES:
Batteries (AA, AAA, C)
Photos from home
Cigarettes, chew
Newspaper clippings, comics from Sunday's paper, news from home
Books, Magazines
(Be sure to read the Mailing Guide for what type of printed material is allowed to mailed.)
Astronomy charts/books
(the sky is unbelievably clear at night)
Sunglasses
(goggle-type sunglasses are requested very frequently)
Eyeglass wipes
Socks, Socks, Socks!
Underwear, socks, T-shirts
Green boot socks (try military surplus stores)
Tactical Duct tape: military green, tan, black, gray
Electrical tape
Flashlight with a red lens
1- and 2-gallon ziplock plastic bags
(Put all items for care pkg in a ziploc...serves two purposes!)
TOILETRIES:
waterless soap / antibacterial hand soap
deodorant / boot powder / baby wipes / toothpaste & toothbrush
disposable razors / shaving cream hand/body lotion (unscented) / lip balm
sun screen lotion / standard bed pillow* or blow up travel pillow
(pillow cases should be in dark colors only so as not to show dirt easily)
big bath towel & wash cloth (dark colors only)
black Kiwi cream shoe polish (paste only) – only for Bosnia and Kosovo

*A standard inexpensive bed pillow can be carefully rolled squeezing out all the air as you go. Once the pillow is rolled up, secure with shipping tape to keep it small for shipping.

FREE TIME MATERIALS:

Magazines
(wrestling, boxing, fitness magazines, sports magazines,
comic books, Mad)
Books
Stationary and pens
(black ink only)
Word puzzle books
Joke books, puzzles
Board games
(chess, checkers, Monopoly, etc.)
Decks of cards
Newly released movies
Movies you tape from cable or TV programs (pornography is not allowed)
Send the Sunday comics!
CLOTHING:
wool/cotton blend or 100% cotton men's socks
(black colored socks are required,
but they are allowed to wear white cotton socks for P.T., men’s size 10-13)
T-shirts (under shirts) in solid dark green or brown
Men’s cotton boxer shorts (solid colors only) in medium, large and x-large size