2008
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
November 2008
Bernard, our veteran at MEGA Brands America, came through once again in a big way! MEGA Brands supplied us with enough toys to allow each and every soldier who receives a box to be able to give a toy to an Iraqi or Afghan child on Christmas morning. This is a request that came last year and we feel honored to have been able to more than meet our goal, thanks to Bernard and all the guys. Paint sets, art supplies galore, games, puzzlez things children love. Bernard understands this to be a great way to promote peace. something we all cherish.
Blessings to all our friends at MEGA Brands. You have MEGA hearts!
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
November 2008
The Share and Care Club at Wilder Elementary School in Woodinville, WA collected thousands of pieces of candy, lots of magazines, puzzles and other gifts to send to the front lines. WOW! You guys rock and we could not have done this without you this year! The 6th grade took the leadership in this effort what wonderful role models!
Thanks for being on the front lines here at home,
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
November 2008
Greetings Everyone,
As I was leaving our Kiwanis meeting I thought that it might be a good idea to draft a letter so you might encourage your friends and family to assist us with our Operation Iraq project this year.
I am Ruth Ann Young, the founder of Operation Iraq: The Spirit of Christmas.. member of Kiwanis of Kirkland. For six years now, we have collected and sent boxes to our troops on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. We make an effort to identify those troops who do not receive anything from home at Christmas. We also include donated toys in our boxes for our troops to give to Iraqi and Afghan children to promote peace. This has been an exciting grass roots effort..we have sent 43,500 individual Christmas packages in the past five years. Operation Iraq: The Spirit of Christmas has also been given the coveted national Raytheon Award for outstanding use of volunteers and patriotism.
That said, this year is more difficult for us. Not only the economy but war fatigue has set in and our donations are slower. We have managed to get our transportation taken care of, but is there anything you could do to help us fill these boxes? Is there a possibility that you have contacts that could help with large quantities of the following: trail mix, cracker pkgs (peanut butter or cheese), peanuts, beef jerky, hot chocolate pkgs, chocolate bars (yes they ship well at this time), lip balm, eye wash, toiletries, white socks.
We just hope that you might take a moment and look at our website operationiraq.org. It will no doubt bring a smile to your face! We are determined to send 7,000 Christmas packages to the front lines this year, and could really use your help. Thank you so much for your time, and we hope that you might find it possible to help us touch the hearts of our young men and women on the front lines. Together we can make these Christmas Packages all that they deserve to be this year!
P.S. ***** We are packing at the Northwest University on the 21st of November from 9:00am to 12:00 (the students) and 4:00-8:00pm that evening. (my friends and family night) ************ Please feel free to come by and join in the fun! If nothing else you will see first hand “The Spirit of Christmas” hard at work, and our volunteers throughout the community packing these precious packages! We will break the 50,000 mark with everyone’s support and God’s hand!
Blessings,
Ruth Ann Young
Founder and director
425-885-0796
operationiraq.org
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
October 29, 2008
It has been our joy and priviledge to join in the Spirit of Christmas with
our soldiers in Iraq. From it’s beginning the students in our schools ages
K-12 have enjoyed creating artwork and letters to send to our troops and the
parents have joined in providing needed items to send as well.
This small act of kindness that we send to our men and women serving in the
armed forces is just one way for us to obey God. Galatians 6:9-10 says:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at a proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers.”
Merry Christmas and may God bless America!
Cedar Park Christian School
Bothell Campus
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
November 3, 2008
Some information about our Military Appreciation Day for UW Volleyball:
Husky Volleyball vs. UCLA Sunday, November 9 at 1pm – Bank of America Arena
FREE general admission for current and former members of the U.S. military
with ID FREE general admission with a soldier care package item The match
will be televised on FSN!
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
Week of October 13, 2008
This last week was a wonderful kick off for Operation Iraq. We had Ben Nyquist come in uniform and speak during chapel services at Cedar Park Christian School.
Ben did a fantastic job telling of his own experience serving in the Army, and about the loneliness he felt during the Christmas Season. Then he continued to explain
how exciting it was when he received a precious Christmas package like ours during that time. What joy it brought to his heart, and how much it meant. What a great job he did!
Kiwanis member George Fouch made sure we got a trailer donated and delivered on site this year. Thank you so much!!! It arrived on Monday of this week, and created some real excitement on the University Campus! Yes, Operation Iraq is now in progress, and in about 4 weeks) Nov.21st) the students and community will be at Northwest University preparing these Christmas Packages for the front lines once more!!! Yeah!
Office Max’s store manager Archie Wabschall at the Totem Lake branch, also a veteran, stepped up and spoke to other schools throughout our area this week and told of his time away from home serving our country. He wanted all the students to know how important these packages were to him as well! Office Max has been so generous in supplying us with ALL of our printing needs for this entire project. Archie comes from a family of veterans, and I encourage everyone to stop by Office Max and he will gladly take a moment to say hello!
Seneca was there waiting for us on Friday morning! Ready to deliver 5,000 bags of Apple Chips! We were so delighted to see them once again this year! They have been with us since day one! That is six year’s now! They have continued to give the troops these apple chips that our troops continue to rave about each and every year! Yeah!!! And Tim’s Potato chips showed up within 10 minutes of Seneca with 2,000 more bags for the troops! And the guys and gals absolutely love these too! So now we have a total of 7,000 bags of chips to send! Our goals are now met of having enough chips for the front lines! Yeah!!! Let’s hope that all the other items needed come in soon too!!
We have had a few other things that ended this week on a positive note, however, I would like to write about them in another corner! Have a wonderful Sunday with your loved ones, and thank you all for the prayers and kind thoughts regarding this very challenging year we are facing! Together we will send “The Spirit of Christmas” for the front lines once more. With God’s hand, strength and guidance our men and women will feel the true appreciation we have for their sacrifices. No Bail Out here!!!
When to going gets rough…. the tough get going! That is what the people of the Pacific Northwest are made of!
Desk of Ruth Ann Young
July 25, 2008
On this important Memorial Day I would like to extend a very
“Heartfelt Thank You” to all of the veterans who have served our
country, past and present. Each and every day that passes we value our
freedom more and more here at home in the U. S., and have become aware
of how precious it truly is…
The genuine love that you have shown by making this choice to serve leaves us all humbled
for sure. We are understanding more about these sacrifices you have made in the past and
continue to make presently in Afghanistan and Iraq these last five years…
The 7,500 Christmas packages we sent this past year is merely a token of what you have given
us. However, it has allowed us the opportunity to unite here at home and show our support to
you our wonderful military men and women. Together many Americans from the Pacific Northwest
joined hands, (even as far as Michigan stepped up to help), to send a “thank you package from
home” last Christmas season. There have been a total of over 43,500 individual holiday packages
sent to date in the last five years. We want this to bring a little joy to your hearts today
even though many of you are from home. There are many who do understand and appreciate this gift you have given us.
You and your families have our support and prayers always. We recognize that;
“You are all our Real American Hero”.
Everyone continues to pray for your safe return back to our beloved America, and that it will come soon.
Blessings & Hugs from Home,
The volunteers at Operation Iraq,
Ruth Ann Young
Founder and Director
OperationIraq.org