For the Troops
By: Nancy | November 29, 2007 | Category: General
DeVonna is the first person you see when you walk into our office. Her smile and warm welcome make all of us forget instantly about cold, crowded subways and traffic tangles. We appreciate DeVonna. 
But we've done a terrible thing to her in the process of doing a very good thing. For the next week, DeVonna will be hidden behind a big, gold box that we put on her desk. The box is for collecting gifts that our office, like others throughout GSA, plan to send to the troops overseas this holiday season.
Collecting snacks and supplies to send overseas isn't the only way you can reach out to deployed members of the military, their families and veterans, though. The Support Our Troops section of USA.gov's Help Your Country page links to programs and organizations that show our troops and their families that America cares about them:
- When times are challenging, nothing feels as good as hearing the voice of someone you love. Operation Uplink accepts donations to buy phone cards for deployed and hospitalized members of the military so they can call home and reconnect with family.
- For the last 40 years, Operation Dear Abby has been sending caring notes to troops on active duty from people around the United States. The program is now completely online and it's become a place where troops can go to get some encouragement when they really need to hear from home. Even if you're not in the military, you can still read the messages. I got a little teary looking at a few sweet notes from kids from Richmond, VA's Tuckahoe Middle School.
- Looking for one site that gives you the chance to help out in a variety of ways? The organization America Supports You has a comprehensive website featuring more than 300 home front organizations that help the troops through your donations of money, goods, time and talent. Many of these organizations accept things like donated computers and frequent flyer miles. You can send care packages and learn how to help wounded and disabled vets. One organization that caught my eye was Sew Much Comfort, which provides adaptive clothing for veterans who return from active duty injured and with special wardrobe needs. If you're part of the Armed Forces, the Service members section of the America Supports You site connects you with services and information that can make this time easier for you and for your family.
Although we think about people who are deployed more around the holidays, they'll still need our support come January or July. So consider writing a note on your 2008 calendar to stop back to the Support Our Troops section on USA.gov to discover new ways in the coming months to show you care and to say thanks.
As for our collection box...well, it's just getting started. So far we have some bottles of lotion, lots of tubes of lip balm, snack size cans of tuna, and a big multipak of minty gum (good after eating all that tuna!). In a week, the box will be full and on its way overseas. And we'll see DeVonna's smile again first thing when we walk through the door in the morning. In the meantime, we'll have to peek around the box to see her famous grin--which about doubles in size every time someone puts something in that box for the troops.
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