Valour - IT: Army Strong Proves to Be Very Strong!

We're still awaiting check totals, but here is what we have so far.... As of midnight Pacific Time, these were the standings...

Army: $53,023.00
Marines: $39,673.00
Air Force: $25,638.34
Navy/CG: $20,081.75

Way to go Team Army!

Blackfive notes: That "the three soldiers in this USAToday article are Valour-IT recipients."

Please, visit the fine blogs of Team Army and give them a hearty thank you!
Sgt Hook
Wake up America
Big Dog's Weblog
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Blackfive
Love, Mom Notes from the Fridge
From My Position... On the way!!!
Righty in a Lefty State
Gazing at the Flag
Asymmetric
Homefront Six
Take Our Country Back
Tammi's World
My Life As A Military Spouse
Danger Room
The Thunder Run
Dadmanly
The Fast Squirrel
Techography
Maggie's meandering and shameless plugs
Badgers Forward
Dhimmi This!
Conservativa
A Storm in Afghanistan
Hooah Wife & Friends
PatriotDefender
Technicalities
Ladies Logic
Noblesse Oblige
Signaleer
Ayatollah Ghilmeini's Neocon Madrassa
Eighty Deuce on the Loose
Miss Ladybug
spamanda
Winds of Change
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
Most Certainly Not
From Cow Pastures to Kosovo
Cursed by a Classical Education
ArmyWifeToddlerMom
Random-American
Musing Minds
Shultz Infosystems
One Day At A Time
confabulation
You Betcha I'm a Proud Army Mom
Cop The Truth
The Life and Times of a Butterfly Wife
When the Smoke Clears
Cool, Calm and Collected
Conservative Musings
J's Cafe Nette
Tanker Brothers
Cassy Fiano
Where I Stand
Psycmeistr's Ice Palace!
Second City Sarge
The Irate Nation
G.R.I.T.S. a/ka Keep My Soldier Safe
Military Crop Talk
Insanity
JammieWearingFool
Milblogging.com
Infamy or Praise
Power Line
GM's Corner
Iraq War Today
Angel Stampers for Soldiers
AmeriCAN-DO Attitude
Knee Deep in the Hooah!
Laughing Wolf
Utah Hates Bush
billoblog
Patriot Pursuit
Babalu Blog
Ace of Spades HQ
Balloon Juice
tikadee
Oh!That'sGonnaLeaveaMark
Blue Crab Boulevard
Military Families Voice of Victory
Another Annoying Little Twit
Combs Spouts Off
Blackhawk
A Soldier's Perspective
The Kneeslider
Blonde Sagacity
Right Wing Champ
My Side Of the Puddle
Jig's Old Saws
Ranting Owl

Valour-IT 2007 Fundraiser

[Ed Note: This post will stay at top until November 11, 2007 to track the progress of the fundraiser. To learn more about Valour-IT click here:]


To donate, click the button above (division by service branch is for the purpose of friendly competition; all funds ultimately go into the same account, so if you wish to join another team click on the link below). If you are a blogger who would like to join the effort, click on "copy" to get the widget you want, then go click on the appropriate link below to join that team:
ARMY
NAVY
AIR FORCE
MARINES

Valour-IT: Your Help is Needed

Today is Veteran’s Day. It means you have a ready-made excuse to do just what it is I’m about to ask you to do - donate to Wounded Warriors by making a donation TODAY to Project Valour-IT. To date Project Valour-IT has given out more than 1600 voice-activated laptops to veterans with hand injuries and other traumas. That may not seem like the a big deal but, for some injured soldiers, it is an absolute life-saver.

From the reports of family and friends of a triple amputee:
The laptop was the first step to the road to recovery. It proved that he was going to be able to do all the things that he did before.

From the CO of a wounded soldier:
He expressed to me today in an email how much that [laptop] helped him. So thank you. Very much. For taking care of my Soldiers when I no longer could.

From a laptop recipient:
I can't begin to tell how much [the laptop] has changed my stay at WRAMC; I am able to correspond with my Soldiers, and my family. My Soldiers are still down range in Iraq. They are coming home soon, and I look forward to being back at my post to receive them. Again, thank you so much.

From the mother of a wounded soldier:
Buzz reports having the laptop has made staying at the hospital more tolerable. It turns out that the laptop is also becoming an important factor in his treatment because besides using it to stay in contact with friends and loved ones while he's hospitalized, he and his wife are using it to gather information on the latest research about spinal cord injuries.

Project Valour-IT was started in the summer of '05, when then Captain Chuck Zeigenfuss woke up in Walter Reed Army Medical Center unable to use his hands after being hit by an IED – feeling humiliated and broken. “Being fed, bathed, taken care of like an infant” not exactly a fitting role for a tank company commander (and blogger) who's used to being the one who helps others. It sure wasn't a role that I wanted," he noted.

But that began to change, when the Soldiers' Angels charity provided him with a laptop, and a buddy got him voice-controlled software to operate it. Suddenly, he was able to connect to the outside world. He was able to take up his blog again, too. And from that, he was able to muster the self-esteem and internal strength to begin his recovery. And Project Valour-IT was born. Chuck states: It was the first time I felt whole since I’d woken up wounded in Landstuhl.

Today is the last day in the annual fund-drive and we are short of our goal of $250,000 so on this Veterans Day I’m asking you to "support the troops" in a powerful and life-changing way. As Chuck says, "I can't wait to give that feeling to another wounded soldier." Please help him do that.

Go to http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it and click on Fundraiser and make a donation to Project Valour-IT.

Project Valour-IT: Time is Running Out!

You have given haven't you?

Time is running out on this years fund-raising event which ends on the 11th, so time is of the essence...come on Join Team Army and help us make a difference.

Soldiers Angels Project Valour-IT provides voice-controlled and adaptive laptop computers to wounded soldiers recovering from handwounds and other severe injuries. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they can send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the ‘net, and communicatewith buddies still in the field.

Delivering over 1500 laptops so far, Valour-IT helps the wounded reclaim a bit of wholeness and independence in the face of life-altering injuries, repeated surgery, painful physical therapy, and the isolation of the hospital room. At a cost of $500, each high-quality laptop helps reconnect a soldier and reestablish personal dignity.

All funds will go directly to Project Valour-IT to purchase and ship thelaptop that will provide independence and freedom to wounded Soldiers,Sailors, Airmen, and Marines.

How can you not want to be a part of that? Give...because they already gave more than we could ever imagine.

Project Valour-IT 2007 Fund Drive

Project Valour-IT began when Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss was wounded by an IED while serving as commander of a tank company in Iraq in June 2005.

During his deployment he kept a blog (an online personal diary, opinion forum, or news analysis site-called a milblog or military weblog when written by a servicemember or about military subjects). Captivating writing, insightful stories of his experiences, and his self-deprecating humor won him many loyal readers. After he was wounded, his wife continued his blog, keeping his readers informed of his condition.

As he began to recover, CPT Ziegenfuss wanted to return to writing his blog, but serious hand injuries hampered his typing. When a loyal and generous reader gave him a copy of the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred software, other readers began to realize how important such software could be to CPT Ziegenfuss' fellow wounded soldiers and started cast about for a way to get it to them.

A fellow blogger (blog author) who writes under the pseudonym FbL contacted Captain Ziegenfuss and the two realized they shared a vision of providing laptops with voice-controlled software to wounded soldiers whose injuries prevented them from operating a standard computer. FbL contacted Soldiers Angels, who offered to help develop the project, and Project Valour IT was born

The largest military blog fund raiser begins right now and we need your help!

Let's see who can raise the most money to help reconnect our wounded warriors with the world!

WHAT: Friendly fundraising competition for Valour-IT.
WHEN: October 29th through Veterans Day, November 11th .
WHERE: Based in the blogosphere, spreading everywhere else.
WHY: Because giving wounded warriors with hand and arm injuries access to a computer supports their healing and puts them back in touch with the world.
HOW: Blogger teams will be divided along military branches, with civilians "up for grabs."

The lines are drawn by service rivalry:
Jarheads (Marines) will be led by Holly Aho
Zoomies (Air Force) will be led by Mrs. Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette
Squids (Navy) will be led by Chaotic Synaptic Activity.
Doggies (Army) led by Matt and Jim of Blackfive

Non-military bloggers should choose a branch the Army to support (they are called the Army's sister services for a reason):

Sign up for the Army team by enlisting at the Project Valour-IT site and click (under Army) "Join". We'll generate links, buzz, and get these heroes some Commo support!

It's a tax-deductible donation and eligible for matching funds from companies who do that sort of thing (see: IRS INFO for proof for the cautious).

The snail mail address for those who'd rather donate that way (be sure to put ARMY in big letters on the check):
Soldiers' Angels
Project Valour-IT Fund - ARMY TEAM
1792 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, Ca 91104

Be a part of something big.