With my husband Shaun's recent deployment and my new son Desmond Kai, I have had very little time to do much of anything, let alone write a blog. However, there are some issues that force us to squeeze out some extra time to address them. One of these issues was brought to my attention by my husband, a Captain in the U.S. Army currently deployed to Camp Taji Iraq. As we know, education is one of the most important gifts that children can receive and after the birth of his son, my husband realized how lucky we all are to live in America. The children of Al Awad however are much less fortunate. Many have been victims of terrorist attacks and are still suffering from their injuries. Many have lost parents, siblings, and other relatives to those attacks and are crying out for normalcy and peace. The elementary school there is in desperate need of supplies. My husband told me that the most rewarding experience he has had since his deployment in December was when he gave a simple pen to a little boy. The little boy's reaction was so powerful that Shaun realized he had to do more than just hand out a pen.
In an effort to rebuild and maintain peace in their area of operations, my husband's company, part of the the 1-27 Wolfhounds, within the 25th Infantry Division, has asked those of us here at home to donate school supplies to the elementary school in Al Awad. When I mentioned this to Oils of Aloha, naturally they felt compelled to help. They have pledged 5% of all internet sales during the month of February to the school at Al Awad. These funds will be used to purchase and ship the much needed school supplies the troops have requested. Now is the time to stock up on your Kukui and Macadamia seed oil products because both you and the children of Al Awad will benefit!
Thank you Oils of Aloha for your incredible generosity. It will make the lives of many children more bearable and will foster good will between the citizens of Al Awad and our deployed soldiers.
For more information on the efforts of the 1-27 Wolfhounds, or ways to help in addition to purchasing the wonderful products from Oils of Aloha, please feel free to post your questions here or e-mail me at keri7773@msn.com.
5 comments:
In the USA, one of the joys of childhood is getting brand new school supplies every year (and most times twice a year). We don't realize that in many parts of the world a small scrap of paper can't be thrown away until every inch on both sides is written on. It's been many many years since I've seen a pencil stub shorter than those used for golf. This request from our local troops is very much worthwhile and Oils of Aloha is proud to take a leading part in this goodwill donation of school supplies. I only wish we could see the children's faces light up with joy.I fondly remember those days when my son spent hours organizing his new school supplies for the first day of school.
We put the school supplies headline on our Oils of Aloha home page. Our plan is to ship school supplies using flat rate priority mail. If anyone would like to help with the shipping costs - you can mail us a stamp for $8.95
For your information, we're already past $250.00 for our contribution and it's only 7 days into February.
I can't tell you how wonderful that is to hear. There are going to be some very happy children, and of course some very happy soldiers. The support of this school is such an important part of Alpha Company's goal towards fostering good relations with the Iraqi community. The more the community sees our troops as a source of support, the safer they are there. Thank You so much.
It's the middle of February and we're up to $800 in our donation amount. That will be a lot of pens and pencils. We wish to thank everyone who placed an order from our website at www.OilsOfAloha.com
My heart just sank when I heard the news about the 4 Stryker Brigade soldiers from Hawaii. In making this school supplies donation we're not saying we're for or against the war - we're saying we want to help our soldiers.
Anyone know of a good school supplies store? Any suggestions on what kind of school supplies would be best to ship to Taji?
More good news! Again, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear of so much generosity. I've been "hounding" everyone I know as much as possible to get some pictures of the school. Their internet has been down for a couple of weeks now, so I'm just waiting.
The school's students are between the ages of 5 & 17. Also, I've had to remind several donors to remember that their alphabet is Arabic (I've received several story books, writing tablets, etc all geared toward our English Alphabet.) I think they are in short supply of any art supplies, because I know that my hubby and his soldiers sent lots of pens and pencils from their own supply. I've been sending crayons, blank paper, construction paper, etc. But, of course, pens & pencils are always important.
Again, the 1-27 Wolfhounds thank you for your support. Everyone is talking about Oils of Aloha because of this incredible generosity.
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