Thursday, March 2, 2006

PACK-OUT '06 WAS A GREAT SUCCESS! Part 1

Over 5,500  shirts are on their way to our deployed Troops! 

 
The following are our some of our adopted units for HeroToHero.us 2006 who will be receiving shirts in the next few weeks.  We look forward to seeing their smiling faces and posting their messages right here for you all to share.
 
HHC 555th CSB  
HHC 14th EN BN
122nd CSE CO, 14th EN
A/14th EN
C/14th EN
A/878th EN
B.CO 505th EN
C.CO 505th EN
HSC 505th EN
2-1 INF 172nd SBCT 
3/212th MP CO
506 AEG/ECES/CEF
A Co. 3-141 INF 36th DIV 
HHC 51st SIG/TCF
21st CTC
186th QM CO 
542nd Maint. CO
HHD 44th CSB
265th MCT

528th QM CO
508th MP BN
96th MP BN
54th MP CO
452nd OD CO
47th CSH
TF 47th CSH
JTF- NPGB
84th EN BN
SCOUT PLT, HHC 1/6 IN
JAMESON CTC
694th MAINT CO
A CO, 5TH EN BN
TF MED FALCON
542nd MED CO
1-172nd ARMOR
1-140th AVN BN, 42nd ID
 
Camp Murray's Fortson Armory was completely packed with Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Troops and Loved Ones in a common goal that honored not one person, but all of our Heroes.
 
We began at 11am and closed at 5pm, processing over a thousand shirts an hour!  Every shirt was stamped with the official HeroToHero.us stamp, and the contact card was attached.  The final total was 5,501 shirts, 172 boxes shipped, with a shipping cost of over $4800!
 
In the midst of it all, there was drawing after drawing of prizes provided by amazing sponsors andsupporters.  The grand prize for the day was a 32 inch flat screen TV! 
 
Military and civilian agencies stepped up to provide an outstanding combined force just outside the Armory doors.  The static display included a Stryker vehicle, "Godzilla" the TFFT rig, a 1946 restored engine, McChord AFB FD's Crash truck, ladder and engines from local Fire Departments, King Co. Sheriff's, Tacoma PD, and more.
 
For the first time, we "married" units to cities ...
~Olympia FD/PD & the 44th CSB
~Seattle FD/PD & the 47th CSH
~Tacoma FD/PD & the 555th MEB
...Great departments, great units!  We anticipate some great activities between these fine folks.
 
BG Toney & BG Hillman came by to share the day with us, and even played the Left/Right game with us.  It was fun to see all the laughter, and we appreciate their support.  Thank you both!
 
Military Police from Fort Lewis supported us with a great group of K-9 handlersand their amazing dogs.  They did shows throughout the day demonstrating the power and capabilities of these teams.  It was extremely impressive, and their pride was evident, and well earned!  We thank them!  Oh, and word of advice ... Don't ever try to outrun one of these dogs!  Dang!
 
The WSCFFA Burn Calendar Firefighters gave up their time to come out and represent.  They signed calendars and posed for photos, and when they gave away calendars to the wives of deployed troops, the smiles and laughter was a joyous thing to experience.  The ladies loved it!  We had calendars for the guys from the Florida Female Firefighters, too!
 
As if the day's events weren't enough, Tacoma FD Local 31 hosted a post Pack-Out party at their Union Hall later that evening.  A.D. Vickery kept his promise and arranged for the Seattle Firefighters Pipes & Drums to play for us.  It was the perfect end to a year of hard work for so many.  We thank TFD & SFD for their support!  Y'all rock!  And the Pipes & Drums were awesome!
 
There are so many photos, and so many sponsors and winners that to accommodate everyone, this post will need to be done in two parts.
 
We would like to give very special thanks to Sue & Marty Horn of TreatAnySoldier.com & AnySoldier.com  Once again they stepped up for us and helped with funding to get the shirts out.  We will still need to raise funds to cover the difference of their donation, and others, and the final tally.  To this goal we have the official HeroToHero.us T-shirts and polos available in limited quantities, if you are interested, email us at HeroShirts@aol.com
 
On the whole, it was a great day and everyone who stayed with us was there for the right reason .. our Troops.
 
We thank everyone who joined for the day, and every department and agency across North America who gave so selflessly this year!  Canadian shirts were included this time ... nicely done, Sarnia!
 
You are all our Heroes ... We salute you!
 
Mark your calendars for the last Saturday in February annually til the troops come home for good!  We'll be there!
 
**We did have an issue of some unauthorized contact letters being attached to shirts, and ask that you NOT reply to any messages that are not addressed directly to the department providing the shirts. 
 
The official contact card was attached to most of the shirts, it is a business card size message.  Responses & photos may be sent to HeroToHero.us at the following addresses ...
 
or  
HeroToHero.us 
PO Box 98954
Lakewood, WA 98498
 
These are the only approved contacts for HeroToHero.us responses, outside of a direct Fire/Law Enforcement department, or agency contact. 
 
We remind participants in the HeroToHero.us Troop Morale Campaign to follow all of our program guidelines, which have been set in place for the security of our troops, and all agencies involved.  We take our promises and commitments to our participating agencies, and military units very seriously, and apologize for this glitch.  It WILL NOT happen in the future!
 
Enjoy the journal and the photos!
 
lj & the Angels of H2H

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! Look what we did.. I am so proud of the core team as well as all the departments who donated shirts  AND the businesses who donated items to be used as prizes. Without the donations of prizes and shirts from Heroes across America, we would not have been able to pull this whole thing off... WAY TO GO HEROES and ANGLES!!!