"In 2003, my son was called up to go to the middle East. When I went to Fort Riley, Kansas to say goodbye to my son, I met a young man who didn't have any family there to say goodbye to him. I asked if I could 'adopt' him and another who was there with his wife and son and going back for his second time. That is how it started. With 2 troopers then 4, then 10, then 20, and then 150. It has now grown to over 40,000 troops that have asked to receive boxes for themselves and others in their units. " Explains Julieann Najar, founder of "A Soldier's Wish List".
Najar and her organization send care packages to American troops serving overseas. They conduct fundraisers, sell merchandise and collect donations to finance these activities. "Our goal is to fulfill the wishes of our troops to the best of our abilities. This is our small way of letting our brave troopers know that we care about them and appreciate their sacrifices, " Najar says on her group's website.
The American Forces Press Service reports that this troop-support group is putting together a "Christmas in May" campaign to send 2,000 gifts for troops deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Kosovo, South Korea, Qatar, Africa, Italy and Japan. The wrapping and mailing party will take place on May 16th in St. Louis:
In addition to sending care packages to the troops, A Soldier's Wish List "has had more than 60,000 troops sign up for adoption and has lined up more than 30,000 adopters."
As far as her ideology, Najar simply says: "I am NOT a Democrat or Republican or Independent, I am an American and I believe in our country and the support of our troops."
Thank you! What a cool gift that you have shared :)
Posted by: Dana | March 06, 2009 at 07:54 AM