Project Valour-IT 2009

This is up top until the Fund Drive ends on November 11, 2009. New posts come in below.



Donate here!

Project Valour-IT 2009

The annual fund drive is almost over and barring a miracle Team Marine is going to clean up! I credit all of that to Team Marine's Leader Cassandra. I knew Team Army was in trouble when Cassandra emailed me a couple of weeks prior to the fund drive asking me to join Team Marine, that is one organized lady!

So seeing as it is the Marine Corps Birthday and all...how about dropping a few bucks in their pot and help put them over the top.



As John notes:

Something to consider boys and girls - the greatest casualty producer in the war is the IED. If President Obama gives General McChrystal more troops, there are going to be more personnel in theater.

Which means, just like after the Surge in Iraq, casualties are going to spike.

Which means more wounded warriors with the kinds of wounds that Project Valour-IT is designed to help.

How 'bout sacrificing a little green for those who are making the red sacrifice?

Come on...DONATE TODAY! A Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman or Coastie may be thanking you tomorrow for it.

Smithsonian to Honor Benjamin Kopp and Joseph Etchells

Michael Yon informs us:

Greetings,

Smithsonian Air&Space asked to publish photos of the Kopp-Etchells Effect. Smithsonian is an incredible venue to honor a U.S. and a British soldier who each gave their lives this year in Afghanistan. It looks like the names Benjamin Kopp and Joseph Etchells will be remembered for many years to come.

Very Respectfully,

Michael Yon

Please give the gift of independent reporting. Your gift goes far and is used for transport, lodging, living expenses, satellite communications and for repairing and replacing gear that fails due to the rigors of the battlefields. Millions of people, in more than a hundred countries, see these photos and words. Your generosity goes very far, and is greatly appreciated.

Also don't forget Project Valour-IT Soldier's Angels and click on that Army button...



Donate here!

Hairless for Our Heroes

Soldiers’ Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000

Pasadena, CA November 3, 2009 – Members of Soldiers’ Angels’ volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year’s online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition, which helps provide America’s wounded soldiers with voice-controlled laptops and other technology that supports their physical and psychological recovery.

Divided among four “virtual teams,” a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11. If the teams of online fundraisers can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement.

In just over four years, Project Valour-IT has given 4,100 voice-controlled laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, and has supplied additional items that may be a surprising fit in a recovery regimen--Wii game systems and handheld GPS devices.
“This project changes lives,” says Patton-Bader. “Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again. Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports! And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope. With all that this project can do for our heroes, I’m happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!”

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence. Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Details of the current fundraising competition are available at www.soldiersangels.org and www.valour-it.blogspot.com. Donations can be made online at Soldiers' Angels, or by sending checks or money orders to Soldiers' Angels, Valour-IT Fund, 1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104.

Established in 2003, Soldiers' Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing aid and comfort to the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, veterans and military families. For more information, www.soldiersangels.org or 623-570-3903. Tax ID# 20-0583415

Now get on over to Soldier's Angels and click on that Army button...



Donate here!

Project Valour-IT 2009 - Day 8

Team marine is in the lead...Team Army can not allow that to stand, so here is a little video interlude to get you in the mood to dontate more to Project Valour-IT

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Now get on over to Soldier's Angels and click on that Army button...



Donate here!

Project Valour-IT 2009 - Day 6

When you make a donation to Projecy Valour-IT all of the money, 100 cents of every dollar, goes to procure the hardware and software that makes the life of a wounded troop a little easier. What little overhead costs there are get paid from different funds. You donate to Valour-IT, your money buys hardware or software, and nothing else. C'mon, it's payday. You know you want to do the right thing and click that Army tab and donate. You wouldn't want to click any of the other services tabs to donate, even though they would take you to that services donation page. But you wouldn't want to do that. Nope. Click the Army tab.

Project Valour-IT 2009 - Day 3

Cox and Forkum figured it out a long time ago....



Now its your turn help us raise some funds....Click Here to donate to Project Valour-IT.

The Value of Valour-IT

What follows is just one of many examples that illustrates the value that Valour-IT provides to our Wounded Warriors, not from the warriors point-of-view but rather from the point-of-view of the warrior's family.

Project Valour-IT is more than giving a laptop and voice-activated software to our wounded warriors. It's about bringing a sense of normalcy, outreach, and an outlet to our service members who shed their blood, sweat, tears, and body parts on the battlefield.

Chuck started his blog in March 2005, just 2 months into his deployment to Iraq. It quickly gained readership and became his outlet on many fronts. He told me he didn't want to "burden" me with things he was thinking about, so his blog became his outlet. I didn't really "get" the whole concept of a blog at first, then, when he was wounded on 21 June, a mere 6 months into his deployment, I began to understand the power of this blog.

While in the hospital at Walter Reed, Chuck wanted to blog SO BAD that we even tried to have him dictate what he wanted to say while I wrote it down (on paper). After about 5 minutes, we both became frustrated and stopped. I felt helpless. I couldn't help him say what was on his mind and he couldn't type it out. It was tense in the room for a while as we both tried to figure out how to resolve this issue.

Shortly thereafter, Chuck spoke to Patti Patton-Bader (founder of Soldiers' Angels) and he asked for a laptop. Patti sent him a laptop and we were thrilled! We set it up in his hospital room with a sense of relief and resolve to our previous frustration. Then, when Chuck tried to blog... he could only get a few sentences out. Both of his hands were heavily bandaged and he could only use two of his fingers on his right hand. His left hand, at that point, was useless. Fortunately, Chuck's few sentences sent overwhelming responses of Dragon Naturally Speaking software.

Once again, Chuck was able to blog. This is a post he wrote just before Project Valour-IT kicked off in 2005.

Not only was Chuck able to blog with his new laptop and voice-activated software, I was able to relax a little bit more. Instead of trying to figure how to get Chuck some sort of outlet, I knew he had one. Instead of going to the Mologne House every night, wondering how Chuck will manage throughout the night, I knew he had an outlet. Instead of feeling guilty as hell when I went somewhere without him (for ME time), I knew Chuck had his connection to the outside world.

The laptop and software were truly a gift that can not be put into words. Even after Chuck was initially discharged from Walter Reed, we returned MANY times for subsequent surgeries. His Valour-IT laptop and software were always there for him, especially when he couldn't type with his hand(s). I could go on all day about how amazing this program is...

This post is not a request for donations, although that would be wonderful. The intent of this post is to give you my perspective of how Valour-IT can be so healing to our wounded warriors and their families. If anything, I ask that you share this post with everyone in your e-mail/facebook/blog list and let them decide whether they want to donate.

For those who decide to donate, please click here. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Thank you Carren for that insight into the value of Valour-IT.

Something like 25,000 Service members have been wounded in combat. Of those, most were wounds to extremities. The need is greater than we can meet, but if we all pull together and donate to this cause and Valour-IT nets 1 Million dollars then Soldier's Angels suddenly has the buying power to cut deals with the big guys (Dell, HP, etc) and can provide over 1000 laptops to our wounded warriors.

So how can you help us reach our goal?

First, click on the VALOUR-IT donation thermometer over there on the right of the page.

Second, tell everyone you know about VALOUR-IT and I mean everyone: Your neighbor, your paperboy, your postal carrier, hairdresser, barber, local police officer, firefighters, Congressmen, everyone. If every person in the US donated 1 cent, then VALOUR-IT would net over 4 Million dollars to purchase over 4000 laptops for our Wounded Warriors those men and women out there on the front lines defending your freedom.

Freedom isn't free and the check is due, so do your duty.

Soldiers Angels is a 501 (c) 3 charity, VALOUR-IT (Voice Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops) is a project under Soldier's Angels.

Wounded Warriors, Soldier's Angels and Valour-IT Needs Our Help

The annual Valour-IT fundraiser is kicking off TODAY (26 OCT 2009) and runs until Veteran's day.

I of course am once again on Team Army and our team goal is to raise $250,000--that will provide over 250 laptops for service members that have lost the use of their eyes or hands, or otherwise can't use a mouse or keyboard.

The total goal for all services is $1 Million. That's more than one thousand laptops, That will give us the ability to meet every need we currently have, and should help us (god willing) have enough to last throughout the year. Injuries we see today take arms and legs and eyes. Taking away eyes and arms isn't something we can fix, but we do have the opportunity here to give the men and women who've lost the use of theirs the technology to help them get some function of normality back in their lives.

Stay tuned for more info and more importantly a link over there on the sidebar that will replace last years link to facilitate donations.

Soldiers Angels is a 501 (c) 3 charity, VALOUR-IT (Voice Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops) is a project under Soldier's Angels.