“Troop 2 Troop” cookie project starts

By Julie Ehlers

Iowa’s Bravest and the Girl Scouts are partnering again in the “Troop 2 Troop” cookie project.   Girl Scouts will be selling cookies Jan. 14-30.  The “Troop 2 Troop” project is a community service program that allows customers to purchase cookies to be donated to Iowa’s Bravest.   The Girl Scouts have made this an easy way for everyone to support our troops.  The customers will not physically receive these packages; the cookies will be delivered from the Girl Scout’s warehouse directly to Iowa’s Bravest.

Last year Iowa’s Bravest sent 16,200 boxes to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This year we hope to surpass that amount with the help of our generous communities.  With  3,000+ deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan we will have plenty of servicemen and women  to ship these cookies to so we are hoping that everyone will order an extra box or two to share.  Imagine being so far from home and seeing hundreds of boxes of cookies arrive at your base. A little taste of home would be very comforting.
Our holiday “adopt-a-soldier” program was so successful we are going to give our community members the same opportunity for the “Troop 2 Troop” project.  For a donation of $25,  a note will be sent along with the cookies to let the troops know who donated towards their gift.  This $25 donation will be used for postage.
They need lots of letters and cards of support for our troops. This is what Sheila Schaffer, who is serving with the Iowa Army National Guard, had to say about receiving a letter “I started to read the letters from kids and I started crying tears of joy.  It is a reminder of why we are here.”    
Please take the time to write letters of support, it means so much to our troops to know they are remembered and supported for their efforts.  Send them to Iowa’s Bravest by April 15.
They also need help with getting names and addresses of enlisted members of our military.  Please send this information to juliea58@mchsi.com so we can add them to our list.  The deadline for sharing names and addresses is April 15. The Girl Scout cookies will be shipped to the troops the last week in April.  Anyone wanting to help with the packaging is welcome to attend.
They are partnering with “Dog Tags for Kids” to get dog tags sent to every child that has a deployed parent in Iraq or Afghanistan.  For a $5 donation you can help support this wonderful project.  It is a great opportunity to do something for the entire military family.  Dog tags will be sent to the  deployed parent and they will then be able to send them home to their children.  This is a small project with a big impact and will make an immediate connection between parent and child.
Iowa’s Bravest has a variety of patriotic items for sale to help with our fundraising.  Flags with logos of every military branch can be ordered with your soldier’s name embroidered on it.  Garden stones, wind chimes and clocks are also available with the military logos.  They make great gifts for Veterans and those serving today.
Please send your donations, names and letters to Iowa’s Bravest, P.O. Box 3084, Evansdale, IA 50707.  If you need more information visit our website: www.IowasBravest.org or contact Julie Ehlers at 319-232-3795, or juliea58@mchsi.com.