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Hello to our faithful volunteers and patrons! We're launching you straight into the "Season of Thanks" today by filling your inbox with the reasons why we're thankful. And every one of those includes the efforts you've put forth to help support our troops. We had a successful month with efforts that put a smile on the face of many Soldiers. We've got a lot to cover and hope we didn't miss a shout out to too many of you. Keeping up with everyone's contributions is a full-time job in itself, but we're trying our best. What each of you do to support this effort is so very appreciated!
Before you get too far into ths month's newsletter, let us just say that we're having trouble with the formatting of this particular issue, so if spacing looks a little off, it's not you, it's US. Hopefully we have an entirely different format for the newsletter in 2012!
We're Thankful for ... Volunteers and Donations at October Events  The first box packing of the month on October 1 was a success. With the amount of donations and volunteers, all candy was packed in 10 minutes, so we sent teams out to buy more! In all, we shipped 79 boxes of candy for the Troops. Special thanks to Dr. Vernon Jones of Cypress and Heidi Evans of Louisiana for your donations (toothbrushes/toothpaste and Christmas Cards, respectively). Pictured left is Nicholas Hunter, who came across a box addressed to his big brother Evan Hunter, US Army, Afghanistan. His mom said that this moment really brought it all home to Nicholas about why we do what we do.
The second box packing on October 8 was another great success. We filled boxes with candy and snack food donations mostly from Church of the Good Shepherd, and a special box of Christmas Cards from Roberta McGovney. Roberta's daughter, CPT Elizabeth McGovney, recently lost one of her soldiers, and Roberta wanted to honor the Soldier's memory. Thanks to tireless efforts of gathering donations from Roberta's family and extended network, she collected enough boxes of Christmas cards for each package in the shipment. Can't remember exactly how many boxes were shipped this day, but we think it was just over 100.
On October 21, we provided the Troops with enough Holiday cheer to spread while at war! Over 139 shoe boxes filled with miniature Christmas trees, decorations, garland and stockings were shipped to our mailing list. Almost every box has one to keep and one to give away in the spirit of the season. We excitedly await pictures of the creative decorations from the Soldiers! Trees should arrive by Thanksgiving so Soldiers have all season to enjoy.
Raquel Cunningham and Allan Cleveland spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Cy Fair last month to promote the effort of Cypress Cares. The Key Clubs at our Cy Fair schools have a strong presence with Cypress Cares, so it was enjoyable to promote our mission and meet the people who commit to helping us make it happen.
We're Thankful for ... Corporate / Volunteer Donations
Sport Clips graciously donated a large portion of magazines to the Soldiers. Since Sport Clips caters to men, the magazines will be just the thing they need to pass the time downrange. This is going to be a recurring donation for SportClips. Special thanks to Leslie Lawson (CC Volunteer) and Monique Minton (of Sport Clips) for brokering this deal!
Last month we told you about the flags that were flown at Cy Woods High School for September 11. We failed to mention that the woman behind that great effort was CWHS parent, Ms. Dana Quinlan. Ms. Stacy Leonard, a teacher at Cy Woods, made a video to promote the effort too. Click here to see the video students had an opportunity to see.
Students at West University Elementary School recently shipped packages to Soldiers on the Cypress Cares mailing list, and donated their residual items to fill boxes at Cypress Cares box packings as well. Special thanks to Suzanne Rose and the students of WUES for their contribution and support of our adopted troops.
Members of Cypress United Methodist Church packed 18 boxes and contributed $200 towards the shipping to the Soldiers. Special thanks to Cypress Cares advisor Allan Cleveland, and to Tami Vossler, Assistant Director of Youth Services at CUMC for your great effort.
Always a welcome end to a long week: one Friday afternoon this October, Brown & Gay Engineering donated 20 boxes with shipping expenses for the Soldiers. Special thanks to Griselda Henry for spearheading the effort.
Special thanks to Mrs. Paula Hoover, Cypress Cares supporter and US Air Force wife, of Broken Arrow, OK for her shipment of Halloween candy from OK to TX! Also to Mrs. CIndy Tyra, US Army Mom, of Claremont, IN for her shipment of Christmas tree decorations. It's great to see the support that comes in from beyond the borders of Texas!
There is a great group of ladies that typically do some quilting who worked very fast and furious to make stockings for our troops. Special thanks to Evelyn Huddleston and her friends, who hand-made 200 Christmas stockings for our boxes.
Special thanks to a number of volunteers. Without you all, our effort would not be as strong as it is today. Army Mom Karen Wilborn's relentless support of our effort keeps the students and staff of Cy Fair Langham Creek High School involved in troop support. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Langham Creek (sponsored by Cody Moore) and the Interact Club (sponsored by Danielle Adams), gathered Halloween candy for our Treats for Troops packages. Teen Leadership students (sponsored by Carey Todd) wrote heartfelt letters for our packages. This is the third year in a row that Langham Creek has been so involved in our effort. Thanks to Air Force Mom / Principal, Dr. Cheryl Johns for supporting our effort and to Karen Wilborn for keeping us in the forefront at the school!
We're Thankful for ... Students who want to help
Cypress Cares would like to start using one student from each of the Cy Fair ISD high schools to serve as a Student Representative / Ambassador for Cypress Cares at their school. This would help increase community awareness of Cypress Cares' efforts, and what better way to do it than with young future leaders of America! If you are an interested student, or if you know of an interested student, please email Raquel by clicking here. The student volunteer will be invited to attend the next Cypress Cares board meeting in December.
And most of all,
We're Thankful for ...
Every One of You.
We hope you had lots of fun, not too much fright and an enjoyable Halloween night! Here's to a chilly, memory-filled and pumpkin-spice-everything-nice start to the Holiday season this week.
The Cypress Cares Team |
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Link your Kroger and Randall's Cards! | |
You know those cards you carry for Kroger and Randall's grocery stores? Well if you "link" your card to Cypress Cares, we will benefit by receiving a check from each store to help support our cause.
- Kroger, click here to get the letter which you need to take to the store and have Customer Service link your card to.
- Randall's, just let the Customer Service personnel know you want to link to organization #12476...that's us!
Tell your friends to link their cards as well; it may not amount to much in terms of money, but it means a lot to the service member who gets to smile at mail call! |
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Volunteer Corner | |
We'd like to shine a little spotlight on another volunteer here at Cypress Cares.
This month, we extend our thanks to Ms. Ann Frayler. Ann's daughter Kathi started working with us near the end of 2010 and this year, when we needed another person to write out all of those dreaded US Customs forms, Ann stepped up. She's been with us for several months now, and not only helps us be ready for our shipping events, but is working ahead to try and help us anticipate our needs. Trust us, those forms are no fun to write out and we're thrilled that she's one of the women behind the pen!
Ann, thank you, we are blessed to have you helping us out! |
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CC Military Family Support Group |
 Are you the spouse, friend or family member of a currently serving US service member? Would you like to meet up occasionally with some others who are missing their loved ones? Contact Leslie Lawson and let her know. Leslie is a Cypress Cares supporter and the mom of a new US Army Soldier and looks forward to getting a group together for a bite to eat or a shoulder to cry on, just every now and then. Please consider a group such as this to help you deal with being part of the military family. You never know...you just might make some new friends! |
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Help a Cypress Cares Supporter... | |
Cypress Cares supporter, Tiffany Hays, is a 16 years old and runs an organization of her own and needs your support. Please read on to see how you can help this young lady carry out her valuable mission. With winter coming up, your help will be appreciated.
My name is Tiffany Hays. I am a 16 year-old student at Waller High School. I live at Boys and Girls Country in Hockley, Texas but visit my mother in SW Houston on a regular basis.
When visiting, I have noticed the homeless in her area and wanted to help them in some way.
Last December, I started a Bibles & Blankets Ministry. By sharing my thoughts on Facebook and at school, I collected over 150 blankets, 76 bibles and over $160 cash (which I used to purchase boxes of snack cakes to go along with the bibles and blankets).
I love the feeling I get in my heart every time I hear someone less fortunate than I am say "God bless you," just for a blanket, bible, and a pack of snack cakes; it really makes me realize and appreciate the littler things in life.
And now, it's that time of year again to get it started up! If you would like to make a donation, please contact my mom, Lisa Hays, at 832-731-7259 or lisahays@sbcglobal.net I would really appreciate your support
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Troop Spotlight | |
WE NEED A FEW NEW SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR SPOTLIGHT! | |
We try to change this feature up every couple of weeks, but need YOUR help to do so.
Consider submitting a service member whom you know for this! |
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Save the date: Upcoming events | |
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
December 22, 2011
Box Packing Event
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church
Huffmeister Rd., Cypress, TX
For the 4th year in a row, we're asking students from Cy Fair ISD to join in the fun while they are on Christmas break! We're gatherin items NOW for this event and hope to have 200+ boxes out in the mail so troops get them in January.
Want to get your church, neighborhood, business on the calendar to have a box packing event in 2012? Let us know. Several months are already taken but we have room for lots more! Contact Raquel for more information. Want to host a box packing event in 2012? Please let us know. We will take January OFF and have February, April, July, and November already accounted for, but that leaves plenty of time the rest of the year! Contact YOUR church or place of business and see if there is an interest in hosting Cypress Cares.
For more events, visit our Upcoming Events page on the web! |
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the reason we serve
...feedback from the battlefield | |
Feedback from the Frontlines,
Dear Cypress Cares,
I want to thank your organization SO MUCH for sending all the Halloween Candy and toiletries to my unit in Afghanistan! There was more than enough to share and pass around, and it was a great surprise :) Thanks for supporting your troops, we greatly appreciate it!
God Bless,
Capt Lindsay Howard
US Army
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Dear Cypress Cares Team,
Thank you so much for everything you do for me, I appreciate it so very much. times are really hard out here in afghanistan but every time I get a package from you guys I smile and makes this deployment a little bit easier at a time! from the bottom of my heart I thank each and every one of you that do this for taking the time to help the soldiers out here,
Sincerely,
PFC Kevin Frayler, US Army *******
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Warrior Dash is Coming |
In March of 2011, Raquel ran the Warrior Dash in Conroe, TX. For 2012, we want to see a Team Cypress Cares run of the Warrior Dash in Splendora, TX. It will be 3.21 miles with 12 obstacles along the way such as a cargo net climb, mud pit and more. Really, it's nothing you can't do (even if you are not a runner), and you'll feel great about finishing.
The event will be held on March 17 and our team will run at 10:00. Please consider registering to join in the fun! It will be a great time for all.
And if you can't run the event, but wish to volunteer instead, that's possible too. For each group of 25 volunteers that CC sends to work, the Warrior Dash folks will make a cash donation to our effort. Click here for more details for the day.
Sign up SOON as the spots will fill quickly. Make sure you choose the 10:00AM slot, too! |
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Because "Cypress Cares" by Kevin Hunter
Perhaps our story is a little different than most. Back in early 2009, I had accepted a job and we were preparing to relocate to Cypress Texas. At the same time, our oldest son Evan made the decision to stay behind and join the National Guard. This was a new adventure for the whole family and our first real experience with US Army.
Shortly after moving to Cypress we attended a fall festival and came across a table set up for people to sign Christmas cards for sending to the troops. We stopped and talked a bit and learned a bit about the group and began to slowly get connected.
 In the fall of 2010, we got the dreaded news that Evan's unit would be deploying to Afghanistan. The entire family had a roller coaster range of emotions from fear, to pride and so many more. We had so many questions and details around the deployment seemed to evolve over the months ahead.
Raquel and the rest of Cypress Cares became an amazing support group for us. We were able to benefit from those that had previously deployed and families that were in the same position as us. The outpouring of support for the troops is so impressive from the Cypress community (and surrounding Houston area). Fortunately we didn't have to go through his deployment on our own.
As I write this, I struggle to even explain the stresses and feelings that Mom (my wife Lisa) has had during Evan's deployment. As you can imagine, the roller coaster of emotions was fast and wild. As this was new to all of us, it was Raquel and Cypress Cares that provided the experience, support and shoulder that Lisa and rest of the family needed.
Cypress Cares is a great cause for the whole family to be involved in and can teach us all so much. At a recent box packing, our youngest son (Nicholas) was helping move the finished boxes and came across one going to his brother. This really helped him understand why we were there. About the same time, his sister (Shea) on her own approached the student council leaders at Hamilton Middle School to organize a drive. At every event it's refreshing and rewarding to see adults and kids from the community come together for a common cause... to say THANKS!
We are blessed to be involved in Cypress Cares, have made some great new friends, had many good times and you just can't beat the cause. It's impressive and rewarding to participate in a box packing event but it doesn't compare to the feelings when you see the notes come back from the front lines. A couple hours of our time and simple boxes of supplies, notes of encouragement and love can make a soldiers day. Although we can never payback the debt and sacrifices that they have made to our country, we can make sure all of them know that we are thinking of them and we support them.
Cypress Cares supports soldiers in so many areas but intentionally targets those soldiers that are in need of support from home. Soldiers not getting much from home are identified and surrounded with support. Just this last week there was a post about a unit deployed in Afghanistan that is stationed in poor conditions: no running water, no cooking facilities, no toilets,...no comforts. They've had a tough time and lost soldiers.... The rally and outpouring of support that followed was amazing. Very soon, these men and women will be showered with support. We can only hope that this small token of thanks will improve moral and let them know that Cypress Cares!
As we all enjoy our comfortable lives, the fall weather and prepare for the holidays, lets make sure to remember the men and women that make it possible. Remember that they all have volunteered to serve this great nation. When we go to sleep at night, the nation is held in the arms of the US Military.
With nearly 5000 boxes shipped since starting out in 2007, let's all rally and increase the support in 2012!
I'd encourage everybody to tell somebody about Cypress Cares and invite them to get involved and support our troops. Print the news letter and leave it around for somebody to pick up and read....who knows, they might be the next family sending their loved one to fight for our freedom.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the next event because CYPRESS CARES!
Kevin Hunter
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