Troopathon is Today! Get your kids involved by sending a special message to our troops overseas

Today, from 4pm to midnight Eastern at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, a host of personalities and celebrities will be raising money to help send care packages to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at the 3rd Annual Troopathon, a free event brought to you by Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop grassroots organization. It will also be streaming live via webcast at www.Troopathon.org.

What a great project for families – sponsor a care package and put a special touch on the package by allowing your kids to write a message for the recipient. Packages start at just $24.99 for the Standing for our Soldiers Small Pack and go as high as $999.99 for a Battalion pack. Click here to contribute a care package.
“It’s such a small way to express gratitude for what [the troops] have done,” Debbie Lee tells Family First.
Debbie serves as the spokesperson and military liaison for Move America Forward. She is a Gold Star mom, meaning she lost her son while he was fighting in Iraq. Marc Alan Lee was the first US Navy SEAL to be killed in Iraq. He was killed in August 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq.
Debbie has been to Iraq twice, most recently becoming embedded with the 321st air expeditionary wing, so she has witnessed first-hand the special effect the care packages have on the troops. She told Family First many of the troops pass around the items from the packages and the most popular items are the personal notes that come from kids.
Packages include such items as beef jerky, jelly beans, lip balm, cds, Gatorade, trail mix, deodorant, and gourmet coffee, among many other items. Each item is labeled with the message from the sponsors so when the troops pass around the items, the messages are read by many.
By explaining to your kids about how the troops will benefit from these packages is a teachable moment for parents. You can talk about Iraq and Afghanistan – where they are on the map, what the troops do when they are there and how they are helping the residents live their lives with more freedom than what they have had in the past. You could even explain why democracy is good.
Debbie points out that many times American citizens do not hear the successes the United States has had in Iraq. She has interviewed Lieutenant General Anwar Hamad Amen Ahmed, the Iraqi air forces commander, and he told her how grateful the people of Iraq are for the sacrifices the American troops have made for them.
Debbie drew an interesting parallel for the young democracy in Iraq – our founding. Just because our Revolutionary War ended and we declared independence in 1776 did not mean that everything was easy for our citizens from that day forward. It’s the same in Iraq. Things are still tentative and there are still threats but for the most part, our efforts have truly launched a brand new democracy, something that we don’t always hear in the media.

“Dear Madam… you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.” Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to a Mrs. Bixby from Boston.

“It will take longer than most think but we will get Iraq to stand on it’s own two feet.” Marc Alan Lee in his last letter home.

Again, a great lesson for kids – our country fought hard for our freedom; we continue to fight for the freedom of others and many families have paid the ultimate price by losing their loved ones, both here and abroad. The myriad guests will be speaking today about the significance and importance of the successes of our troops for the people they are helping.
Confirmed Troopathon guests include Gary Sinise, Dr. Laura, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dennis Miller, Mark Levin, Victoria Jackson, “Coach K” Mike Krzyzewski, Liz Cheney, Laura Ingraham, Chuck DeVore, John Ondrasik, and many more. New media mogul Andrew Breitbart and radio host Melanie Morgan return this year to host the event.
This year, the organizers and sponsors hope to do better than last year’s $1.3 million raised in a single day. Previous Troopathon events, such as the one held last year at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, have raised a total of well over $2 million, enabling the group to send over 168 TONS of care packages overseas, according to a recent press release.
Executive Producer Shawn Callahan said in the press release, “The 2010 Troopathon will be one of the most significant troop benefits of the year. Never before have so many A-list celebrities and personalities joined together for a common cause – to remember our soldiers and bring them a few comforts from home. It is critical to let them know that the American people stand behind them, appreciate their service, and will welcome them as heroes when they return.”
According to their website, “Move America Forward (MAF) is the largest grassroots pro-troop organization in the United States, committed to supporting the brave men and women of our military and their efforts to defeat terrorism.” Move America Forward is a 501(C)3 so all care package donations are tax deductible.
Ways to follow Troopathon and Move America Forward:
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/moveamericaforward
Twitter page: http://twitter.com/m_a_f
Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/troopathon
Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moveamericaforward/
YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/moveamericaforward

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