Operation Support Our Troops
Operation Support Our Troops Operation Support Our Troops (2015) The NYPFRA recently received the following letters thanking those members who have supported OSOT in our June & January requests in calling for members to support by sending in donations. Please note below: Dear Members of the New York Police and Fire Retiree Association: April 5, 2015 Thank you so much for your donations to Operation Support Our Troops, Inc.. Monetary donations are used in various ways – purchasing items needed for care packages, mailing supplies, and postage fees. Although we send packages to troops throughout the year, our biggest mailing is for the winter holiday season. With your help, we were able to send some holiday cheer to over 500 men and women currently serving our country overseas. Attached are just a few of the thank you notes from soldiers who received our packages during the holidays. Please note that your kindness is appreciated and it lifts their spirits and boosts morale. Warmest regards, Judi Heffferron & Peg Lee Operation Support Our Troops Attached letters: Please note that names, rank & unit have been omitted. Dear OSOT Teams, 17 February 15 This is to sincerely thank you for supporting our unit during our deployment. I cannot thank you enough for keeping our motivation high. As we prepare to return back home this summer, let me send you this note and keepsake from our unit. God Bless You!! Chaplin Dear Operation Support Our Troops, Thank you so very much for the packages from Operation Support Our Troops. They came just in time for Christmas! My soldiers faces lite up when they saw them! I wanted to drop a note and say Happy New Year and thank you. Please note: NYPFRA Trustee Benny Glasser has been the Chairman of the OSOT project for about 11 years. To this date our last donation drive in June 2015 totaled $4,286.00 from 150 members who donated. The grand total from our January and June 2015 OSOT donations totaled $12,939.00. A special thank you to those members who donated and have been supporting our combat deployed troops. God Bless You!! ********************************** Each month we at Operation Support Our Troops receive new names of service personnel stationed in This year (2010) 269 members of the NYPFRA donated a total of $6,760. This was great and needed to pay for postage, and buy items to send when we do not receive enough donations. We have 584 members who are veterans. Lets please try to beat last years collection amount and the number of members who donate. The NYPFRA request of our membership twice a year for donations to OSOT in June when we due the annual raffle mailing and in January when annual dues are paid. Please support our troops through Operation Support Our Troops. You will receive an annual dues notice in January 2011 with this same note requesting OSOT donations. The following note is from a soldier we are supporting. This is the third tour he has been deployed. Fraternally, Ben Glasser – Financially Secretary Greetings all, well one month down. Weather is starting to get cold at night. Just yesterday, the mountains caps surrounding us were covered in a dust of snow for the first time. We are still warm in the daytime and we got rain just a couple of days ago, a rainbow across the sky could be seen. The winter here can be pretty brutal, so getting prepared for that. The elections are over, it was a real busy time. At one point a General from the 101st Airborne came into our ops center and made some comments. He was a little shaken up (Generals don't get shaken up easily), because he had just come back from the hospital awarding Purple Hearts. One kid he said had gotten his third Purple Heart in three consecutive months, and all the soldier wished was to go back out with his unit, the General asked "where do you find Americans like that?" The other soldier he spoke of was a triple amputee, lost both legs and an arm in an attack. He thanked us for our work and told us a story about a man who walked for four hours to vote. The man had to go around a Taliban held territory but was still caught by them. He made up some BS story and was let go, he made it to the polling station minutes before it closed and got to vote. He risked his life to do something that we do freely in our country. The Taliban threatened that they would chop off fingers, noses and ears if they found out that you voted. On 9/11 I watched the movie Flight 93, it was hard to watch. Here by where I work is a monument dedicated to all those that died that day. There is an actual steel section from the ******************************************************************************************************************** EDT Subject: read with tissues handy: Email received for our members. OSOT gave out FOUR modified vans to wounded heroes this past week in irginia, please read this letter from one of the wives whose seriously wounded husband received one of “our” vans: After meeting with the four families that were receiving vans today, we went on to the presentation itself. They had setup a tent on the parking lot of the Fisher House, present was staff, military liaisons, friends and other people all there to help us celebrate the occasion and show their support. It was awesome and very emotional. Once we got to our seats, Mary Kay Salomone, founder of Operation Support Our Troops, made the opening comments and then Secretary Shinseki made his comments and I have to say he was very eloquent and sincere. After his address, Mary Kay again got up to the podium and before handing us the keys to our very own accessible van, proceeded to give us even more gifts. Not only did we get a van, but the organization pays the insurance on the van for a year; on top of which they provided us with DVD players, navigation systems, gifts for AJ, gift cards for a spa day for me, and even more gifts for Anthony. It was way more than generous. Seriously I have no words and that hardly ever happens to me! When they finally handed us the keys, they not only handed me a set, but Secretary Shinseki placed a set in Anthony’s hand as well and told him that he expects him to be able to use them on his own one day; trust me there wasn’t a dry eye in the vicinity! The van is gorgeous and even though Anthony and I NEVER planned for a van in our future, this van is a God send! I am forever grateful to Jennifer Tracey, sales rep for Ride Away, Mary Kay Salomone, founder of Operation Support Our Troops and the rest of the board for the organization. These people truly have their hearts in the right place and that is giving families with wounded warriors a way to go about their life and having the ability to include the warrior. After the van presentation, it was on over to the SCI for lunch with all of the families, the organization and everyone else that cares and loves the troops. Lunch was great, but by this time AJ (our son) was done for and passed out in his stroller, this was a lot for him for one morning! Anthony did awesome, he was alert the entire day and Mary Kay and Jennifer at one point came and told me that Anthony had a smile on his face for a majority of the presentation ceremony. Like I said he understands more than many give him credit for. After lunch, I decided to get Anthony back up in bed and let him rest, poor guy was so tired and rightfully so! I got him in bed and on his side, I then leaned in very close to him and told him how very proud I am to call myself his wife and that this was just the next step in “our” recovery. I then apologized and told him that I was going to go back to the house and rest for a bit too. Please note: Financial Secretary Benny Glasser has been delivering our collected funds and all collected items to be mailed.
Page Last Updated: May 15, 2009 (08:37:02)
|
|
