Help us support our troops! [Knives for Soldiers] Update: 1,000 shipped to date and counting!

As some of you know, The group of friends here at Free Republic known as the Hobbit Hole thread, have been contributing to a small project to buy pocketknives and other needed tools for our deployed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It started out as care and comfort packages, and grew into pocketknives because we learned that while sweets and snacks were good, there were very practical tools, such as a good pocket knife, that our troops didn’t have unless they purchased them themselves. Handy items that would actually help them do their job.

Since we started we have shipped 700 knives as well as other tools, flashlights, EMT shears, seat belt cutters, and other gadgets to our troops overseas. Please visit our newly updated project blog to read about the rest of the project! The Hobbit Hole project blog

One of our pocketknives, in Iraq

Our project leader, 300winmag, has spent thousands of his own money to meet demand just hoping enough donations would be made to keep him out of the poorhouse. My husband ecurbh and I have sent at least $100 per month, and others in the group have sent more or less, depending on what they can afford. But still demand has outpaced the funds coming in. Requests for these knives continue to pour in at the rate of dozens per week:

July 27, 2005
I recently found out about your organization. It makes me feel really good to know there are people out there who care about us and the equipment we carry. I can’t express the amount of gratitude I felt when I found out about your organization. Many of us are junior enlisted, and just can’t afford a quality knife (which tends to be essential in our environment). I am an infantryman fulfilling a combat medic/shooter role because of civilian paramedic training. I was hoping I could get a few knives for the guys in my team if it isn’t too much of a burden. Check out my blog to see what we have been doing here, we are doing a good job of training the Iraqi soldiers if I may toot my own horn! - Chad in Baghdad

Much of the feedback we get are letters from deployed troops who have seen our knives, and went to our site to see about how to also receive one. (More emails from troops)

We have all donated as much as we can and will continue to regularly, but we have reached a limit on how much we alone can do. We’ve decided to both scale back on the more expensive knives we had tested sending, but also decided to ramp up the project and ask for money from outside the group... To ask fellow FReepers, and all our friends and family if you would consider sending a donation to our cause.

We aren’t official enough to fundraise in any kind of big way, we aren’t an official charity with financial statements and tax benefits, and we don’t want to be. We just want to help out just a little, the men and women that are sacrificing overseas for all of us. If you are reading this post, and agree with our mission, we hope you will help us . There is a donation link at the Hobbit Hole site linked above. We guarantee that every dollar you send will be spent on knives.

- HairOfTheDog, ecurbh, and 300winmag, for The Hobbit Hole.

Email received this morning! Thank you everybody!

I can't explain to you the gratitude of my men and me for what ya'll have done. Again, thank you. I really enjoy wearing the knife that you sent me. I'll be honest, its the third I've worn here. I quit wearing the others due to comfort or akwardness of the knife. I forget I have a knife on when I wear the one you sent. Its definately a spectacular peice of equipment. I'm trying to get pictures of my guys wearing their knives. I am attaching a picture that was taken on July 29, 2005. From left to right: SPC. B., SGT. R., SSG S., SGT. A., SFC. C. Alpha Section, 1st Platoon, [redacted]. In the picture we are at FOB [redacted], an Iraqi Army post. We a waiting for one of their platoons to link up with us to go out and patrol our sector, [redacted], located in West Baghdad. Well send more pics when I get them.

Thank You,

SSG. S.

I hope you guys will forgive me using my old ping lists for this purpose...you know I rarely did anything like this but this is near and dear to my heart and I'm pinging you as friends.

Several Oklahomans have received these knives, including the Army National Guard that circles my house occasionally in their Black Hawks.

And I know that homeschoolers love to support our troops!

I've been selling stuff on Ebay to help raise funds...you can see my latest auction here. This one isn't going so well, but I raised $11.50 with the last one!

Frodo Please support our Hobbit Hole Pocket knives for the troops project.

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