Single digits ... YIKES! lol
That's the scary part. The comforting part is that big boxes of shirts are showing up daily. In fact, as the shirts arrive, finding places for them gets to be more fun. The dining room is full, in fact, I have not seen the floor in there for months.
The kitchen has boxes of "swag" from our local recruiters and merchants, and community efforts. (This is for the PackOut) The living room is an assembly line of ill proportions. Somewhere in all of this my poor dog is barking ... Hope she isn't boxed up!
We're still not certain that we will reach our goal, but I have given up worrying about that part. We've never had to say no to a troop asking for a Hero shirt, but then we've never had a number this high ... and there are only a few of us at the core, making it happen. I can tell you this team has done a lot of work this year to make this happen, and I am sooo proud of every member of our teams.
We have probably got close to 5,000 shirts here, or enroute. Shirts always come in on the day of the PackOut, too ... Hand carried by firefighters and police. *The graph represents shirts we have already stamped, and checked.
This year has been different. Without a doubt, interest has grown. We get more personal messages from the troops, and the hometown heroes are taking the time to really "get it" ... that is borne out when you see the huuuuge boxes showing up at our door!
Recently we have seen logos and postmarks from, Tillamook, Oregon - Fairfax, Virginia - Wrangell, Alaska - Bozeman, Montana - Cleveland, Ohio - Spokane, WA - Durham, Connecticut - Wheeling, West Virginia - Kansas City, Kansas - Shreveport, Louisiana - Berkeley, California - The Pentagon ... & more!
Some of these have added things in their boxes. The shirts are getting creative too. We have to get a shot of one of the Wheeling FD shirts, they added our name below their logo ... What an honor! Thank you WFD!
We have seen Challenge Coins, blinking pins, and donations to help with the shipping -- Boy, do we appreciate that!!!
We keep hoping to kick up the idea of every year on September 11th, you remember & honor our Troops by donating a shirt off your back and a dollar. If all of our firefighters and law enforcement did this, we could make sure that every troop asking for a Hero shirt would get one. Work with us and we can make this one happen! 1 shirt, 1 dollar. Think about it ... we really do make a great team!
So, as we prepare for the 4th annual PackOut, this coming Saturday, we're hoping for ...
*More shirts
*Enough funds to get them all shipped
*Lots of smiles as our Heroes & Angels come together to make this all happen once more.
*Blue skies the day of the PackOut ... Because the Hero Static Display is gonna be an amazing (outdoor) thing!
Thank you all for staying with us as the years pass. i know, sometimes we are probably a pain in your (you choose it). But the reality is that every shirt is a troop getting an assurance that no matter the politics, or what is on the news ... They are not forgotten by the folks back home who understand what it is to put it all on the line in a moment's notice. These are our Heroes.
We have promised to stay with this effort til they are brought back home, and we will ... but we will need your commitment to keep it going.
So, we keep going toward the PackOut. Tomorrow I will post the day's events.
Thank you all for what you have done ... and for all the smiles you are about to send! Without a doubt, you are all Heroes!
lj
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