April 16 , 2015

 

 

In honor of National Volunteer Week, which runs from April 12-18, THANK YOU to all the wonderful volunteers who create the beautiful cards, pen the eloquent, heartfelt letters, and keep our wounded and their family members close at heart and in prayer always! Your combined efforts in showing support of, and in raising the spirits of, our wounded heroes is appreciated more than you will ever know. 

 

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone."

- Winston Churchill

 

To learn more about National Volunteer Week, please click here...

 

Thank you for your continued support of MarineParents.com and the Operation Prayers & Letters outreach program.

 

Take good care,

 

Angie Regan

Volunteer Manager
Operation Prayer and Letters™
MarineParents.com, Inc.
Card Writer Spotlight:
Creative Cards From Thankful Kids  

The most recent batch of cards.
recently received another great batch of cards from a group of elementary school children who know that ANYTIME is the right time to say "Thank you for your service!"

Thank YOU so much for your creative cards and kind messages for our Operation Prayers & Letter participants!

If you would like to send cards & letters from your classroom, package them all together in one large envelope and mail them to: Operation Prayers & Letters PO Box 758 Columbia, MO 65205 Your messages will then be sorted and sent directly to an active participant in the program. 

 

Click Here: * OperationPAL Active Participants * for a current list of participants.  

Participant Highlight:
Sled Hockey Teammates, Sgt Rob & LCPL Josh 1/5

While checking in on Sgt. Rob 's progress for the lengthening process to his left residual femur, I found out some great news!  Megan, Rob's wife, reports he has gained just over an inch from his new rod, bringing the total growth for this year to approximately 3 inches. Megan and Rob are hoping to make it to a total of 4 inches, but it all depends on how much more Rob's skin, muscle, and soft tissue will stretch.  

Thankfully, Rob continues to remain active in sled hockey. Megan tells us that the USA Warriors recently took home the championship title for the Northeast Sled Hockey League, which also landed them a spot in the 2015 USA Hockey Disabled Festival!   

Megan shared the following article from the USA Warrior Ice Hockey Facebook Page, which not only mentions Rob's goal, but aslo mentions teammate and former Operation PAL participant LCPL Josh's goal as well. In fact, it was team-captain Josh's goal clinched the win!

From the article:

"In the final day of the USA Hockey Disabled Festival, the USA Warriors finished the tournament strong: the National Division team tied former National Champion Buffalo Sabres with a goal by Josh Misiewicz with 21 seconds remaining in the game. It was Josh's second goal which followed an initial tally by Rob Easley. Strong defense and opportunistic offense kept the USA Warriors in the game. In the shoot out, the Sabres prevailed with a single goal.   

 

The combined USA/Ohio/New England Warriors took third place in an adult C Division with a 9 to 3 victory with goals from Kaz Kazimir, Khach Khachadurian, Bob Costa, Shane Parson and Christy Gardner.


 

A great ending to a great season for the USA Warriors sled program; hard work, continued improvement, national recognition and camaraderie."

 

 

Photo courtesy of USA Warriors Ice Hockey.

 

Support Military Kids

Did you know that April is recognized as the Month of the Military Child?


 

Each year, the Department of Defense Education Activity encourages communities to honor and celebrate military kids from all over the world for their ability to adapt and overcome the challenges they face by being in a military family. 


 

Research shows that, on average, military kids move and start over every 1-3 years, attend 6-9 different schools from kindergarten to high school graduation, and endure multiple deployments of their military parent.


Purple is the color of choice to represent this awesome campaign. In the military community, purple symbolizes all who serve - including the military member's family. Purple also happens to be the perfect mix of Army Green, Coast Guard Blue, Air Force Blue, Marine Corps Red, and Navy Blue!


 

I'd like to challenge you to wear something purple during the month of April and show your support of Military Kids everywhere. For more information on the Month of the Military Child, please click here...
 

Warriors Need Your Votes!
Support Marines Today!

We'd like to share a story about a group of stylists at United Hairlines in Chicago who recently held a fundraiser on our behalf and raised $2,700. 

Now, the same group has entered a contest to have the chance to win $10,000, which they will donate to our Warrior Support Team outreach program if they win. And we need you, the Marine Parents family, to help make that happen!

Vote once each day for Michelle E. through April 26 for the Warrior Support Team to win a $10,000 donation!

Mission Statement & Thank You

The mission of Operation Prayers and Letters™ is to provide support to wounded, ill, and injured troops through prayers and letters written by people in communities throughout the United States.

Thank you so very much for keeping our wounded, ill, and injured service members in your thoughts when you write and pray. Your kindness is most appreciated!
In This Issue
Total Cards Sent:

96,996
Most Recent Changes:


Added: None

Removed: None

Operation Prayer and Letters™ Writer Spotlight:

We welcome photos and stories from all our Operation Prayers and Letters writers. Thank you for all the love, support, and encouragement you send to the wounded, ill, and injured participants! You truly are making a difference.

Join Their Fight Campaign

Send Cards and 
Letters to:

Marine's Name & Company
c/o Operation PAL
P.O. Box 758
Columbia, Missouri 65205

Spread the Word!


Join Us Online

We hope this week's edition of our email newsletter has been useful for you and your family. If there are topics you would like us to address, or if you have other suggestions for the newsletter, please contact us.  

 

MarineParents.com, Inc., is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity. MarineParents.com was founded in January 2003 in response to parents' needs to find information and to have a Place to Connect and Share® with one another during their Marine's career. Our free services and connections have expanded to support and educate Marine moms and dads, spouses, families and friends. We've supported more than 400,000 Marine and recruit families during boot camp, training, active duty and deployments. We've shipped more than 40,000 care packages overseas to our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, sent 90,000 prayers and letters to injured Marines and served thousands of meals to wounded, ill, and injured warriors and their families at military treatment facilities on the east and west coasts. You've found a Place to Connect and Share.®