Thanksgiving/Christmas Campaign

 ships out on November 23, 2008

 

Deadline for request of a

 Letters from Home Package November 1, 2008 

(no exceptions)

Please get your Military Address to us by midnight November 1, 2008 to be included. 

(Volunteers are what makes our program work!! We are proud to say we have no paid staff and are an all volunteer group comprised of caring hearts of proud Americans)

Military address may be mailed/ emailed/or called to us at: 

Mailing address:    Letters from Home Program

6631 Ridgway Jbg Road

Po Box 125

Johnsonburg, PA  15845

email:  lettersfromhome@windstream.net

message phone:

(814) 781 1982 please leave message speaking slowly and carefully so we get the proper spelling and correct address.  Please give us the contact name of the military receiving the package and the number of men/women in the unit requesting a package.

Please leave contact information so if there is a question we can call you back.

Chris,
The boxes arrived and WOW!!! :-)   It has been pretty hectic and
 fast-paced here, and time has flown by.  Today, though, we resolved to
 not let another day go by before thanking you and all the awesome folks
 who took time out, opened your hearts, and reached out to us.   Here's a
 photo of some of the folks on our team when we opened the boxes.  We are grateful--we used and shared the phone card minutes to call home
on Mother's Day, it was way cool for all of us.  Thank you for all you do.

Big blessings to you,
 Dawn

*********************************************

Dear Letters from Home:

April 29, 2008

I just received an absolutely wonderful package from your outstanding organization...God Bless PA!!!  It is difficult to put in words how much the toiletries, snacks, etc. from everyone are appreciated!!  Your devotion of time, energy and  resources is such a morale boost for all the deployed troops.  I can't tell you how excited my troops were when we opened the bags...please thank everyone that contributed to make the care packages...YOU GUYS ROCK :o}  The box arrived in great condition and everything was more than appropriate.  My scheduled return date is July 2008.  Keep up the awesome job that you are doing.  Hope you all have a great spring :o}  God Bless, MSGT Amy *** 

CAMPAIGN # 2 OF 2008 

    

(pictures of Letter Stuffing Party)

"A Salute to our Troops"
 

19,748 CARDS OF SUPPORT ARRIVED  FOR THE TROOPS TO BE SHIPPED IN THIS CAMPAIGN.  On a side note, "Letters" had the request for 7,500 packages to be shipped but due to financial support/ economic times at hand and cards of support being less due to schools being out for the summer, people being on vacation, we were only able to fill 2964 requests. We put a note in the packages to share the love in the packages with each other as we were - for the first time since our start of the program in 2003, short of the product of our program. So we do need your help/support to make the Thanksgiving/Christmas campaign work so that everyone requesting a Letter from Home Package can receive one.  It takes all of our efforts to make this program one of the best for the troops.  They say receiving a package from this group based in the hills of rural Pennsylvania as one of the best to lift their spirits, that we have not forgotten them. They have not forgotten us. They say it is awesome to receive our package just when they need it the most... To hold the hand of the person who wrote the card.  We have not lost our mission statement, "Until they come home, We will send them Letters from Home".  Please join us in collecting cards/letters/treats for the troops.

Some of the items  we will be collecting for Thanksgiving/Christmas 2008

"The Brightest and the Best"

1. Something to Eat -ie: granola bars; jerky, nuts, candy, snacks and gum and tuna in packet not in cans; anything individually wrapped and nutritional that they can pick up and put in their pocket and go

 

2. Something to Drink: ie: crystal light on the go packets;  hot cocoa,  tea, again anything individually wrapped .

 

3. Something personal: 

Items also being sent are:

socks; playing cards; puzzle books; nerf balls, cd's dvd's, yoyo's, small toys; beanies; sunglasses,  body wash, Gillette "Fusion" blades,  shaving cream in tubes not aerosol cans, fly traps, mouse traps, zip ties, dental floss, lip balm and Chocolate.  Individually wrapped items work the best.

4.  Phone Cards- International international only - We can get phone cards at a reduced rate, so if you want, send $5.20 per card and mark it as phone card fund.  All money needs in for phone cards by November 1, 2008.

Last year our phone card fund was able to afford to buy calling cards to use for the entire year, so lets not forget the soldiers would love to be able to call home for Christmas.

 

It is usually better to make monetary donations earmarked for phone cards as the program gets them at a competitive rate through the Army exchange.

 

5.  Christmas tree ornaments-unbreakable - help us have enough tree ornaments for each soldier to have one special ornament in each of their packages.  

Remember you can find great tree ornaments at garage sales.

6.  Boxes of Christmas cards to include in their packages for the troops to have a card to mail home to their families.

 

(Our packages are being loaded to send to the troops in our local Straub Brewery Truck, with boxes from St. Marys Box Company. Thank you to two awesome supporters of the program.)

 Please remember we DO NOT send liquids or aerosols, if they leak they ruin the entire package.  

Reminder: Currently Letters From Home is not sending magazines or books to our troops overseas.

We also always are in need of sturdy sandwich size and snack size zip lock bags

to package the items in.

 

Also keep in mind, when making your cards of support, the soldiers don't like glitter all over the cards as it makes a mess in shipping.  But please, remember to a man/woman overseas a LETTER FROM HOME is worth a million dollars.  There is nothing better..

 

Letter Stuffing Party:

Help us assemble all the packages of support for the troops..

All are welcome to attend.

November 23, 2008 mailing.

"The Brightest and the Best"

Sacred Heart Activity Center

Center Street

St. Marys, PA  15857

12:30 pm Registration - 1:00 pm Start of Packing.

Directions
 

Web Site Logo (psd format)

 

From the Desk of:  Ms. Christine Jovenitti, Founder and Director of LETTERS FROM HOME PROGRAM
 
MAILING ADDRESS:  

6631 RIDGWAY JBG ROAD - PO BOX 125

     JOHNSONBURG, PA 15845  

questions for the director (814) 335 5579

 
 OFFICE:                     (814) 781 -1982 Our office is staffed by volunteers and is open Tuesday evenings from 6 - 9 pm  at Sacred Heart Activity Center on Center Street, St. Marys PA  15857  -

Help is always welcomed at this time and place.

EMAIL: lettersfromhome@windstream.net

A BIG THANK YOU

Thank you to the awesome Anonymous donation (rent check for September to December 2008 ) What a surprise to our program to help pay the rent to keep us in operation.  If you would like to help keep us in operation, please send your financial support to us with a note earmarked.  We are always looking for operational funds to keep us alive and up and running. Contact Christine Jovenitti, Founder/Director at (814) 335 5579.

 

Letters from Home Program is a non-profit, 501c3 corporation dedicated to supporting our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guards stationed away from home.  The program is run by dedicated volunteers, but we are growing at such an alarming rate that the current leadership is stretched to capacity. 

Just like the military, WE NEED YOU!

Everyone working together is what makes this program so SPECIAL!

 
TO AMERICA'S FINEST,  May we take this third campaign of 2008 to remind you that YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!!  WE at the LETTERS FROM HOME PROGRAM
have all of you serving our fine country in our thoughts and prayers!  We want to say "THANK YOU" for your unselfish courage in defending and protecting our great nation.  We would also like to remind you that the folks back home support you 100%.  The Letters from Home Program motto is:  "UNTIL THEY COME HOME- WE WILL SEND THEM LETTERS FROM HOME!"
 
TO THE FOLKS AT HOME:  Our third campaign for the year 2008 has been released.  Please join us in helping by collecting cards and letters of support or treats for the troops.    IF you would like to include a person in the military in any of our campaigns, we would be honored!  Please let us know by e-mailing or sending us your name and mailing address along with the military address of your loved one and how long they will be stationed at the address given and how many others are in their unit that would like to receive a "Letter from Home".  If you have a special need /or request for the soldier, let us know and please include a mate/female ratio if you have one. Deadline for this campaign is midnight November 1, 2008.  All addresses received after this date, will be earmarked for our spring campaign in April 2009.

Letters from Home Program ships three times yearly, April, July and November.

We run our program with hand decorated large bags, filled with greeting cards from good Patriots from all over the USA, along with something to eat, something to drink and some fun stuff from home.  It is something we take pride in - in the fact, we are not commercialized and we are homegrown in the hills of rural Pennsylvania. Please join us!!