Help The Marines! - Spirit of America Update

Posted By Blackfive

I just wanted to say "thanks!" to all of you who made donations to Spirit of America this week. We raised $50,000 from the blogosphere! You people ROCK!!!!

Here is an update from SOA's founder, Jim Hake:

Greetings,

Today we delivered to Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA the equipment that will be used to equip Iraqi-owned and operated television stations in Al Anbar province. On Saturday, May 1 the Marines will fly the equipment from March Air Force Base to Iraq. This initiative and the original request is described here. We try hard to provide rapid response to requests we receive. Here is the timeline of this project:

April 8: SoA receives Marines request for television equipment.
April 14: SoA posts the request on our Web site and begins fundraising.
April 29: SoA delivers $82,687 of TV studio equipment to Camp Pendleton.
April 29: Marines pack donated equipment and prepare for shipment to Iraq.
May 1: Marines fly equipment to Iraq.

This rapid turnaround makes a difference in Iraq.

Here is one photo from the event of Col. Robert Knapp, Commanding Officer of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, and yours truly with a small amount of the gear we provided.

Please check Friday's Wall St. Journal, Dan Henninger talks about Spirit of America in his column on the editorial. You can find it online here.

We have received $1,532,931 in donations in the last two weeks. Contributions from 7,438 donors have been made to every request and every area of Spirit of America's operations. I can't begin to describe the effects this generosity will have on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan - both in helping the people of those countries and in supporting the hard work of those serving there.

As encouraging as the last 14 days have been, I believe we are just at the beginning of seeing homefront support for America's efforts in Iraq. We're fortunate to receive emails, letters and handwritten notes from our donors that thank us for finally getting the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution. Since 9/11 many have felt helpless. That no longer need be the case.

You can find more on what's happened and what next at Spirit of America. As promised, we have an accounting there of how the money was spent on the first phase of the Marines TV request.

All the best,
Jim Hake

Thanks to all who took part in this campaign to help the Marines. You made a difference!

And a big thanks to John and Beth Donovan who took me into the Fighting Fusileers despite my poor record on obeying orders...it's been a pleasure to serve your Command.

Update: Smash has more and has links to more.

American Digest has the run down of the event.

Update 2: I am making a bid of $25 for Smash's tie to burn. There is no excuse for a guy, even a Navy man (an Annapolis grad, too!), to be wearing something that heinous.

I think he raided Uday's wardrobe when he was over there...evidently, we didn't use the same extra-crispy recipe on the clothes as we did the scumbag.

So I bid $25 to see that thing burn (or melt). Anyone do better? Go to the link and make a bid. Help the Marines and Help Smash!

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Help The Marines! - Spirit of America Update

I just wanted to say "thanks!" to all of you who made donations to Spirit of America this week. We raised $50,000 from the blogosphere! You people ROCK!!!!

Here is an update from SOA's founder, Jim Hake:

Greetings,

Today we delivered to Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA the equipment that will be used to equip Iraqi-owned and operated television stations in Al Anbar province. On Saturday, May 1 the Marines will fly the equipment from March Air Force Base to Iraq. This initiative and the original request is described here. We try hard to provide rapid response to requests we receive. Here is the timeline of this project:

April 8: SoA receives Marines request for television equipment.
April 14: SoA posts the request on our Web site and begins fundraising.
April 29: SoA delivers $82,687 of TV studio equipment to Camp Pendleton.
April 29: Marines pack donated equipment and prepare for shipment to Iraq.
May 1: Marines fly equipment to Iraq.

This rapid turnaround makes a difference in Iraq.

Here is one photo from the event of Col. Robert Knapp, Commanding Officer of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, and yours truly with a small amount of the gear we provided.

Please check Friday's Wall St. Journal, Dan Henninger talks about Spirit of America in his column on the editorial. You can find it online here.

We have received $1,532,931 in donations in the last two weeks. Contributions from 7,438 donors have been made to every request and every area of Spirit of America's operations. I can't begin to describe the effects this generosity will have on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan - both in helping the people of those countries and in supporting the hard work of those serving there.

As encouraging as the last 14 days have been, I believe we are just at the beginning of seeing homefront support for America's efforts in Iraq. We're fortunate to receive emails, letters and handwritten notes from our donors that thank us for finally getting the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution. Since 9/11 many have felt helpless. That no longer need be the case.

You can find more on what's happened and what next at Spirit of America. As promised, we have an accounting there of how the money was spent on the first phase of the Marines TV request.

All the best,
Jim Hake

Thanks to all who took part in this campaign to help the Marines. You made a difference!

And a big thanks to John and Beth Donovan who took me into the Fighting Fusileers despite my poor record on obeying orders...it's been a pleasure to serve your Command.

Update: Smash has more and has links to more.

American Digest has the run down of the event.

Update 2: I am making a bid of $25 for Smash's tie to burn. There is no excuse for a guy, even a Navy man (an Annapolis grad, too!), to be wearing something that heinous.

I think he raided Uday's wardrobe when he was over there...evidently, we didn't use the same extra-crispy recipe on the clothes as we did the scumbag.

So I bid $25 to see that thing burn (or melt). Anyone do better? Go to the link and make a bid. Help the Marines and Help Smash!

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