Supporting Our Troops

"Sergeant Brian Horn from LaPlata, Maryland, an Army Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade was in the Kirkuk area of Iraq when he started the idea of AnySoldier to help care for his soldiers. He agreed to distribute packages that came to him with "Attn: Any Soldier" in his address to the soldiers who were not getting mail.

Brian is no longer in Iraq but Any Soldier Inc. continues with your support.

Any Soldier Inc. started in August 2003 as a simple family effort to help the soldiers in one Army unit, thus our name. However, due to overwhelming requests, on 1 January 2004 our effort was expanded to include any member, of any of the Armed Services, in harms way."

This is a great way to support the troops year round. Especially at Christmas and the Holidays they need to know we remember them and care. Go to Any Soldier today and beging supporting our troops.

The Hugs Project

We came across The Hugs Project a few months ago on a visit to the nearby town of Inveness, FL. In a local paper there was a feature article about Kay Balfour and The Hugs Project. After a fruitless search of the Internet, we found only the following letter and a newsgroup where interested parties could post questions and get answers.

After receiving permission from the Inverness Pioneer, we reproduced the article for this site so visitors can learn more of this interesting, simple and unique project. The cost of involvement is low and the rewards high.

Hugs project hopes to wrap troops in cooling tubes

Since posting the web pages, more information has been posted to the Internet.

More Information: How to make Hugs

Articles:
      Woman Wants to Wrap Hugs Around Military Necks
      How to "hug" a Marine or soldier in the Middle East..
      Woman wants to wrap hugs around military necks

From the e-mail:

"Have you heard about the "Hugs" project yet? It's a really great group of people who are dedicated to sewing and sending evaporative cooling ties to our troops in the "sandbox". We have already sent out over 30,000 homemade "hugs", which sounds like a lot until you consider that we have over 145,000 people in the desert right now.
Cooling ties are simple to make but the benefits are dramatic, they can lower body temperatures by 1 to 4 degrees. They can also be microwaved this winter to use as reusable hand warmers.

We need more people making and sending out "hugs" to our troops and so we're asking you to help us get the word out. Some of the people we are working to outfit right now are in the midst of the fighting and they need a morale booster in the worst way. If you think you might be interested in helping out, please send an email to:
thehugsproject@c... and you'll be sent all the information needed to get you started either making "hugs" or at least forwarding the info and telling others how to do it. Each one of us is funding our own efforts, buying our own material, supplies and postage. These hugs cost about 50 cents to 75 cents each to construct and mail and there is nothing I can think of that you could buy and send to the military people in the Middle East that they would appreciate more. It was 116 in the desert today and and both humans and animals are really suffering from the heat.

We have recently expanded our project to assist our homesick service members who have adopted abandoned pets in Iraq to help fill the lonely hours. We need dog and cat food, water dishes, flea medication, collars, leashes, toys and treats. If you can help, you can contact me at thehugproject@c...

Maybe you have a loved one serving in the desert but even if not, please consider if it were your son or daughter over there, your husband or wife. How good would you feel if a group of strangers wanted to give them a "hug" and say, "we appreciate your service to your country"?

Thank you for taking time to read this message. It is a one time request for help. If you aren't interested, just delete and I won't contact you about helping again."

Karen Stark

The Hugs Project Website and News Group