Do you know what time it is??

As the fall season settles in, the time has arrived for us to begin preparations for our 17th care packaging event.  It feels like just yesterday that we were first setting out on our mission of bringing a "touch of home" to deployed soldiers. 

Photo from our third care packaging event (11/2008)

Yet that was eight years ago.  We've found that support for our efforts has fluctuated over the years; often depending on what's being reported in the news at that time.  Some people have even suggested that we stop our efforts since a majority of troops have returned home.  Nevertheless, we continue to hear from soldiers time and time again how much the care packages mean to them.  One recipient recently wrote, "No matter how big or small the care package, it affects us in a huge way.  These packages represent love and support.  Sometimes that is all we need over here.  The packages make our lives and morale so much better while deployed and help us get that much closer to coming home."  And with that, how can we not continue our efforts?

Photo from our most recent care packaging event (6/2015)

Please join us on Sunday, November 1st as we show the soldiers deployed overseas that they have not been forgotten.  If you can't make it to the actual day of the event, there are still many other ways we could use your help beforehand.  Contact us at operationtouchofhome@gmail.com to learn more!

Making New Friends

Along our path of working to show support for soldiers overseas, we've met some amazing people.  Some folks have had loved ones deployed overseas while others have had no personal connection but simply wanted to help.  We've even been fortunate enough to meet a couple of the soldiers who have received our care packages and returned home safely.  Over time, we've made some wonderful and unexpected friends.

While beginning to plan for our next care packaging event this spring, we were approached by a fellow veterans' advocate, Rob Wilson at the Veterans Education Project in Amherst, MA.  He had been in touch with Jennifer Zazo  at the Springfield Armory regarding an outreach project for the High School of Commerce students.  Rob and Jennifer thought Operation Touch of Home would be a great match for the Commerce students to show their support for deployed service members.  We quickly agreed!  Although our spring event is typically held in April or May at the Community Church of North Orange & Tully, we've decided to hold this event on June 6, 2015 at the Springfield Armory.  Our wish is that our old friends, new friends and yet-to-be friends will join us in June to shower the soldiers with an overwhelming amount of support and encouragement!

We're very excited for this new partnership and hope you can join us!

A brand new year, the same ol' mission...

We started Operation Touch of Home in 2007 to show deployed soldiers that they had our support back home.  On November 8, 2014, we held our 15th care packaging event.  When we first began OTOH, we never imagined what it would grow into so many years later.  Our original vision was to hold one care packaging event as a community service project for the North Orange Grange.  Yet we were astounded by the response and support from the community.  People came from far and wide to help us at that first event.  After that, we decided to continue our efforts.  We've since sent more than 700 care packages to soldiers stationed overseas.  As the numbers of deployed soldiers has waxed and waned, we've noticed the amount of addresses we receive has decreased dramatically most recently.  This has made our attempts to provide these brave men and women with a "touch of home" much more difficult.  We can't rely on Veterans' Agents for addresses due to confidentiality restrictions.  Attempts to connect with Family Readiness Groups have unfortunately been unsuccessful.  Thus far, we've found the best way for us to obtain names and addresses of soldiers overseas is by word of mouth.  That being said, our next care packaging event will be held in May 2015.  It may seem too early, but now is the best time to start asking those you know if there are any soldiers in their lives who would welcome a "touch of home".  Missy Elumba of CineMEumba Productions created a wonderful video about our operation and the work that we do.  We're simply a small group of people trying to show deployed soldiers that they have not been forgotten.  Help us do what we can!