Rose McCauley, Christian Author

Support our Service Men and Women

I'd like to use this week's blog to point you to a great project that personally helps our servicemen and women, especially those serving in dangerous areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq and guarding from pirates around the tip of Africa. Please check out http://www.thehugsprojectofwky.com/ I hope you will prayerfully consider giving a gift to this worthwhile endeavor any time of the year, but especially at this time.

This project is very special to me for two reasons: 1) I remember how my own hubby spent two Christmases away from me and the rest of his family, and how much he and the other servicemen appreciated anything we sent from home,(see last week's post) and 2) the Western Kentucky branch of this organization is headed up by my college roommate's little brother. In fact, the picture attached to this post is of his son, Cpl Christopher Ferguson, USMC deployed to Japan who has already served in Iraq, one regular tour and one special op. Christopher is on my daily prayer list for service members, which is the absolute best thing we all can do for them, but I believe this project is one of the next best things we can and should do.

I don't know how to say it any better than Gayron does, so I am copying his letter below. Please check out the site and send a check of any amount to help send all our service members a "HUG" from home this season. I'll close my thoughts by copying what Gayron puts at the bottom of all his correspondence. "Some people's heroes wear capes, mine wear Kevlar." Let's help our heroes in Kevlar have a Merry Christmas!

The Hugs Project of Western Kentucky, Inc.
4931 Epperson Road
Paducah, Kentucky 42003
(270) 898-4464
Email: HugsProjectOfWKy@aol.com
Local website: www.thehugsprojectofwky.com
National website: www.thehugsproject.com
Dear Friend:
We can’t believe it’s almost Christmas again. Just last year, we were able to send our troops 514 packages of love and support because of the people like you who care about our troops.
Imagine if you will, what it would be like to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in a war torn land. A place that is a grimy desert or barren and frozen mountainside filled with danger and yes, even death. You cannot feel the love and caring of your family and friends or see the smiles on your children’s faces each day or the hug of your family when you come home each night. It is the worst time of the year to be in the Theatre. But over 190,000 of our young men and women are doing just that.
We at The Hugs Project of W Ky are doing everything we can to send love and support to our troops in harm’s way each month. Normally we send between 50 and 85 boxes each month, but during November, we send as many as we can get the funds, items and volunteer’s to help. As I mentioned, last year we sent 514 packages at a cost of just under $25,000.00. The postage alone was almost $5,600.00. We received almost $6,000.00 in donated items and purchased another $12,400.00 in additional items to go in the packages. We estimate approximately 1,000 packages will be needed from our group this year. Postage went up $1.00 per box in addition to the cost of the items going into the boxes.
The Major General in Ft. Campbell paid us a visit while we were on base in August and said that over 400 of his soldiers were going to Afghanistan in January and asked if we could work with them to help show support to our troops that were being deployed. As some come home, others go to replace them. That is why this goes on every month of the year. But at Christmas, we want to send as much as possible to make their time in the Theatre as bearable as possible.
We ask everyone who cares about our troops to give what you can to help us show them that America has not forgotten them. We want them to know they are loved and remain in our thoughts and prayers every day. Won’t you help? Donations are tax deductible as we are a 501 C 3 organization. Without your support, we cannot get the job done for them.
Respectfully,
Gayron Ferguson
President