Hello Everyone! First, Operation Give is going wonderfully!

A very important update on the toy drive. Anyone who wishes to send toys for this part of the toy drive must have them shipped by the end of the first week on January! Otherwise, they will not arrive at our warehouse in time to be shipped to Iraq.

So is this the end of the toy drive?

NO! Just this phase of things. We will soon be announcing the location of a new warehouse, probably in Salt Lake City. The toy drive effort will be a bit scaled down, but just until the Chief returns in mid-March. (Tenative Date) Anyone in the Salt Lake area willing to help with this, finding a warehouse, manning the warehouse, etc., please email me.

So, what will happen when the Chief returns?

The Chief has already made arrangements for the toy drive to continue even after he has left. He will just be able to be more hands one when he gets home.

So, if I can't ship items, is there anything I can do?

YES! Monetary donations will continue to be accepted even during the transition. Our paypal account will remain open! You may also continue to mail donations to the address given on the Operation Give website.

What else can be done?

There is much to be done! There are other, wonderful and worthy places to donate. While we love having your donations and, of course, want you to continue to help, there are others doing a great job. You might want to look at these sites, given in no particular order, as well: Operation Gratitude, Iraqi Schools, Operation A/C (now shipping heaters and other items),Operation Military Pride, Books for Soldiers, Adopt a Platoon, Law Books for Iraqi Law Students, and Musical Instruments for Iraqi Kurds. I hope I haven't missed any.

Finally, I really want to thank everyone that has helped out. I enjoyed meeting some of you at the toy drive in Salt Lake, it was nice to put some faces with email addresses! I also want to give my sincerest thanks to the volunteers. Without these folks, this just wouldn't have happened. A big thanks to Matt (basically has held the whole thing together), Michele, Dean and Val. If you have a moment, click on their names and send them a note. They have worked without compensation and without recognition. If I could, I would also visit the warehouse in Maryland and thank all the wonderful people who have given their time to keep things going there. I don't know their names, but being able to glimpse even just a few of their faces on the CNN broadcast was heartwarming. (BTW - Some have wondered if the videos are Macintosh only. NO! Just go to the Apple website and download the free quicktime software to view them)

NOW! LET'S HAVE A BIG PUSH TO FINISH THIS PART OF THE TOY DRIVE OFF IN STYLE!