Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 1 Volume 2008—Number 2
Veterans Support Team Newsletter
Volume 2008, Number 2
Publisher: Twyla Choate & Sam Ridgely
Editor: Kim Hightower
comments/feedback: sa.veterans@gmail.com
Website: www.noneforgotten.org
This is an excellent way to learn
more about SA and get/give VA
Team information:
http://soldiersangelsforum.com
Page down to the section
“SA Team Forums,”
then click on “VA Support”
What’s Inside
Blogs .................................2
Website ............................2
Crochet Team...................3
Fischer House…………...4
Donation letter……….….5
Welcome to the second edition of the Veterans Support Team Newsletter. Hello! My name is Twyla Choate and I am the Vice President of Veterans Support. I am a native Texan and have never lived outside of this wonderful state. I joined Soldiers' Angels in 2004, but life got in the way and I had to leave for a few years. In 2007 I returned to Soldiers' Angels and adopted a wonderful Soldier. I was asked to help start the Veterans Support Team in 2007 and have been involved with the Veterans Support since then. Being a part of this organization and the Veterans Support Team gives me the opportunity to say "Thank You" to each and every soldier and veteran who are serving and have served our country. I have met many wonderful people along the way and look forward to meeting more in the years to come. As the Vice President of Veterans Support I am very lucky to work with a wonderful team of people who care so much for our Veterans. This team is comprised of some wonderful and caring angels who do the "boots on the ground" work as Patti would say. Without them this team would not exist. My husband and I have two grown sons and one beautiful grand daughter. We are both members of the PGR and also the Southern Cruisers Riding Group here in the Dallas area.
Contacts
NOTE: You will not be able to link
from this newsletter. You can link
from the email that delivered it.
Vice President—VA Team
Twyla Choate
twylachoate@tx.rr.com
VA Coordinator
Sam Ridgely
blridgely@yahoo.com
VA Team Admin. Support
Kim Hightower
vactltx03@gmail.com
Have you visited the Forums?
Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 2 Volume 2008—Number 2
Soldier Angels Needs you!
Do You Have A Blog, Website, My
Space Page?
If you answered yes we need your help! Our Veterans Support team is asking you to please put a PayPal Donation Button on your Blogs, Websites and My Space Pages. With the money we get from this fund every bit of it will go towards Vet Packs to give to the VA's when they have there Stand Downs, those Vet packs have about $40.00 worth of different things in them. They have hygiene items and clothing and if necessary a blanket. We estimate that the VA's will need close to $1,500,000.00 (this is the correct figure) in Vet Packs this year for our Vets and Homeless Vets. If you can put this Donate button on your site please contact Teresa Younkers at flctlva@ gmail.com and she will send you the code you need to add this button to your website, blog or my space page.
Soldiers’ Angels
Veterans Support Website
Kim Hightower our Houston VACTL and our Administrator
and she is working hard on our website
for our Veterans Support Team. She needs your
help to keep things updated and full of information
for all who stop by to visit. Please email her at
vactltx03@gmail.com to get your VA
“happenings” in the newsletter and on the website.
She is in need pictures of your teams at some of
the VA Events you did this year, send in any upcoming
activities to be added to our team calendar.
Also send her articles about your team and what
wonderful things you are doing for our Veterans.
We need people to see what great things this team
has done and are doing for all our Veterans!
Please make sure you visit for the latest news on
the Veterans Support Team website. The new address
is www.noneforgotten.org . Please put this
in your signature on your email so that we can get
more interest in this team and how people can help
us help our Veterans!
The Soldier of Today is the Veteran of Tomorrow!
TWYLA’S THOUGHT FOR THE NEWLETTER.
LIFE ISNT ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO
PASS….
ITS ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN.
Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 3 Volume 2008—Number 2
Veterans Support Crochet Team
The VA Crochet Craft team is a group of Crocheter’s,
Knitters and Sewers who makes and
provides those items that make life easier for our
Veterans on a daily basis. Examples
include:
· lap afghans 36"x48"
· tracheotomy bibs
· stocking caps and scarves
· wheelchair bags
· slipper socks
· catheter bag covers
These items go to our Veterans' Hospitals across
the country who have made request to us.
When you have an item or items ready to send
to a Veterans' Hospital if you will email
va.crochet.craftteam@gmail.com she will be
able to give you an address to send your items
to.
Please visit the VA Patterns section (within the
VA Teams/None Forgotten section) on the forums
for patterns .
Thank you!
HOW SOLDIER ANGELS STARTED.
Soldiers' Angels was started by a self-described ordinary mother of an ordinary young man turned hero, Sgt. Brandon Varn. Brandon was deployed in Iraq and has since honorably completed his mission and has returned back to his proud and loving family. In the summer of 2003, he wrote home expressing his concern that some soldiers did not receive any mail or support from home. Being a caring and loving mother, she decided not to allow a situation like that to continue. She contacted a few friends and extended family to ask if they would write to a soldier or two. Within a few short months, Soldiers' Angels went from a mother writing a few extra letters to an Internet Community with thousands of angels worldwide. With more and more merchants donating services, money and items for packages, the Angels reorganized as a 501 c 3 non-profit so all donations would be tax deductible. Soldiers' Angels currently supports tens of thousands of American Service Members stationed wherever we raise our nation's flag, and that number continues to grow daily. Soldiers' Angels are dedicated in supporting our military during and after their deployment.
Houston VA Hospital
Opened A New Unit.
Houston VA hospital opened a
new unit for homeless veterans.
The have asked for donations of
white socks, white t-shirts, underwear,
flip flops and toiletries.
If you are interested in donating
please contact Kim Hightower at
vactltx03@gmail.com.
We are also looking for Houston
Angel’s to volunteer for donation
drive’s and bingo. If you are inSoldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 4 Volume 2008—Number 2
Below is a pattern for a wheel chair bag. Many of our VA Hospitals need these, if you can make some
email me and I will tell you where to send them.
Blankets of Belief
CAN YOU MAKE JUSTELINES: link to BLANKETS OF BELIEF
at www.soldiersangels.org
BLANKETS OF BELIEF can be sent to 2 facilities...
if you are EAST of the Mississippi:
Soldiers Angels
BLANKETS OF BELIEF
112 Greenhill Road
Ramseur, North Carolina 27316
if you are WEST of the Mississippi:
Soldiers Angels
BLANKETS OF BELIEF
914 Tourmaline Drive
Newbury Park, CA 91320
please enclose a note inside the box with your name/
address/email so you can be notified that your blankets
have arrived...
Donation from Folsom State
Prison Military Veterans Group
I just got back from receiving this
donation - $3878.31!!! I just had
to share with you since I'm so
proud of these guys... they raised
the money from a bake sale!!!
We're putting together a press release
for your review and waiting
for the warden to send the photos...
Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 5 Volume 2008—Number 2
Veterans Support Team Needs Updated Wish List
We need all of our VACTL’s to get updated wish list from their VA if they haven’t
done so yet. The only way we can meet their needs is to keep an updated
wish list.
So please help us with getting these list. We ask that you post them on the forum
Have a Story or Question for the Regional Managers or Veterans Support VP?
Please send us your comments, thoughts and what you would like to see in this
newsletter. Without all of you we wouldn’t be making the difference we are today.
We need your success stories, your needs for your VA’s. Share your fundraising
tips with us, so that we can share with the team. Please email your suggestions,
stories to sa.veterans@gmail.com
Fisher House Support Team
A Fisher House serves as a “home away from home” for the families of
military personnel and veterans seeking medical care at major military
and VA medical centers. They are designed to accommodate 16 to 42
family members at any time and feature common kitchens, large communal
dining rooms and living areas stocked with books and toys for the
children. Families can stay free of charge.
The average stay in hospital for a combat- wounded serviceman or
woman is 45-60 days, and in many cases can go well into a year or
more. Providing the means for families to be with their loved ones is
critical in their recovery process. Also, support from other families experiencing
the same issues can be vital in helping the loved ones of the
injured soldiers, sailors and Marines cope with their changed circumstances.
All of the houses are built by the Fisher House Foundation, and Soldiers
Angels works with the House staff to meet their ongoing needs. As the
number of combat casualties continues to climb, these facilities will be
called upon to serve more and more families. We at Soldiers Angels are
proud of our support to the Fisher Houses across the country, and we
have had many drives for supplies, food items, holiday decor and other
items needed by these houses.
Wish lists are submitted and posted on the Angel Forums. items requested
can range from kitchen supplies to DVDs to crafts supplies to
gas cards. Angels contribute what they wish directly to the Fisher
Houses. We also have teams that help at the holidays with goodie
bags, cards, decorations, etc.
Gift Bags made by Soldiers’ Angels volunteers
for Easter and St. Patrick’s Day
The role of the Fisher Houses Support team is
varying, depending on the needs of each house
and what they ask from SA. We are truly grateful
for the invaluable services provided by the
Fisher Houses, and are always ready to provide
Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 6 Volume 2008—Number 2
As First Responders, you are our Heroes in each community, city, and state. When help is needed, you are the
ones who run willingly into the streets and buildings that everyone else is running away from....
We are contacting you because you share your courage, dedication and spirit with another group of American
Heroes who need our help now more than ever.
"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The
United States of America ', for an amount of 'up to and including their life."
We hope you will join with us to welcome these Heroes back into our communities, help them and their families
heal, and to allow them to regain a strong sense of community back on American soil once again.
In order to do this we need your help and the help of the communities that you serve. We are in need of donations
of goods, money and gas cards to help us make sure that our Veterans are not forgotten.
Any monetary donations will go to help support our program for Homeless Veterans by sending Vet Packs
(backpack that has a knit cap, T-Shirt, underwear, clean socks, and toiletry kit) to the VA’s across the country
to give to those who have no place to stay and are in need of a set of clothes to keep going. These Vet Packs are
also used to assist those who are admitted into the VA with nothing but the clothes on their back.
With the current gas price crisis we are in need of assistance with is our Tank Support program. We are asking
for $10.00 major gasoline gift cards to be able to give our veterans so that they do not have to choose between
purchasing food and getting to the VA for their medical appointments. They are also used to help them in their
search for jobs or when they start their new job and when they get their first paycheck after they have transitioned
from the war in Afghanistan/Iraq.
For more information on how you can help please contact sa.veterans@gmail.com or your local Soldiers Angels representative for your area listed below.
<Registered SA Authorized To Send Donation Letter>
<Title>
Soldiers’ Angels
<Contact Tel #>
<Contact Email Addy>
1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
(615) 676-0239 – www.soldiersangels.org
Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-run, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization
Tax ID#: 20-0583415
The First responders letter below is a wonderful way to show your appreciation and
give them a chance to support a great cause.
Soldiers’ Angels Veterans Support Team Newsletter Page 7 Volume 2008—Number 2
Give A Veteran Some Tank Support
Thousands of troops are returning home and making regular trips to their local VA Hospital
for evaluation, treatment or rehabilitation, and regular health care. With the high cost of
gas, these vital trips are becoming more and more of a burden for some veterans.
Now the Soldiers ’ Angels VA Team is stepping up to help with the Tank Support program.
Grateful Americans can help give a veteran some “ tank support ” by purchasing a
gasoline gift card. All gas cards received will be sent to the VA Hospitals across the country
to help ensure returning OEF/OIF Veterans get the checkups and medical care they
need.
“ I t ’ s so important that our returning heroes get regular evaluations and basic healthcare
after having been in combat, ” says Soldiers ’ Angels founder Patti Patton-Bader. “ The
Tank Support program is an important way to help veterans to stay on top of their ongoing
healthcare needs. ”
You can help returning veterans by purchasing a $10.00 gas card today at any chain gas
station in your area or ordering online through www.svmcards.net and using the shipping
address below. You can also make a donation through the Soldiers' Angels site and indicate that it is for the Tank Support program. Gas cars should be mailed to: Soldiers ’ Angels Tank Support 914 Tourmaline Dr. Newbury Park, CA 91320 Please help us ensure our veterans get the healthcare they need!