Posted on 10/19/2003 5:14:46 PM PDT by tsmith130
For those of you who have been following this, here is the new info from Plunge for mailing packages to the Chief.
WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!!!!
Here is the new shipping address!!!!
Operation Give
7155 Columbia Gateway Drive
Columbia, MD 21046
We'll go through the list of things to send again:
You should definitely not send:
NO Guns of any kind
NO Violent action hereos
NO Violent toys
NO Barbie dolls or dolls scantily dressed
NO Toys that shoot something, no projectiles
NO Water guns
NO Makeup
Also, please be careful with anything that requires electricty. Electricity isn't available everywhere in Iraq, and where it is available, it uses a voltage (220v) that is incompatible with most American electronics. Most electrical devices made in America will not work in Iraq without modification.
Excellent choices you should think about including:
Toys
Balls
Stuffed animals
Puppets
Kaleidoscopes
Pinwheels
Small cars and trucks (non-military)
Flying discs
Non-military toy planes
Kites
Coloring books
Non-toy items
Flip-flops
Candy (hard candy is better, chocolate melts in the heat)
Toothbrushes & toothpaste
Dental floss
Brushes and combs
Socks and underwear, for both boys and girls, aged 3-18.
School Supplies
Pencils and small pencil sharpeners
Lined paper or colored paper
Colored pencils
Rulers
Pens and markers (Avoid crayons, they melt in the heat)
Other than that, follow your heart and use common sense. These kids have nothing, so even small things matter a lot.
Please visit Operation Give to donate to the Toy Drive for Iraqi Children.
Where the toys/supplies are going:
Please read the latest journal entry about the Chief's visit to Children's Hospital. THIS IS WHAT ALL OF YOU ARE MAKING POSSIBLE!
Latest update:
Here is the new process for sending packages of toys, clothing and school supplies to the Chief.
The packages will all go to the warehouse. In the warehouse, they will be opened and sorted. This will save time for the Chief as he and his merry crew have spent endless hours, time they should use sleeping, sorting through the myriad of items. Big thanks to Data Net for helping us get this up and going.
After everything has been sorted and re-packed, it will all be placed in a cargo container. This container will be shipped to Kuwait. From there, locals will move the container to a warehouse in Baghdad that the Chief has secured.
The Chief should then have an easy time distributing items to the children.
This might sound easy, but it has been a Herculean effort getting everything ready to go. Dean is working on front end of donations, getting the letters ready for tax deductions. He should be happy to learn that eFile Cabinet has offered their software free of charge to help in this endeavor. We have also secured the services of a CPA firm to help with the accounting.
This will also take a major amount of donated time by numerous volunteers to keep it going. We want to thank those who have already offered their services.
What else do we need? We need people to send the toys! Send the school supplies! Send the clothes! To see more of what this means, look at these pictures here and here. This is only the beginning!
The other thing we need is monetary donations. This can be done through the Operation Give website. There, using paypal, you can make a donation to this endeavor. You can either donate money with a specific toy or other item in mind, or, you can leave it to our discretion. With our decision to take on the shipping duties ourselves, funds are needed. Monetary donations will be gratefully accepted.
Packages delivered to the Chief: 712 (Toy boxes continue to trickle in, hopefully enough until our first container arrives!)
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