Operation: Love From Home UPDATE 10-8-06

Well, would you believe that Operation: Love from Home has been officially "on" for only 8 days and yet, we have already received 113 cards!!!! Wooohooo!!! *high fives to all*

As you know, the official kickoff of Operation: Love From Home began on September 30, with me sharing a table with the Grayson Chamber of Commerce at a bazaar at the local Elk's Lodge. That day netted 31 cards, plus five more in my P.O. box. Over the past week, I've received in the mail wonderful cards from Sarah W., in Waynesboro, VA; Gretchin N. of West Chester, Pa.; and Dustin H. of Rockmart, Ga.

Then, on Friday, October 6, my family and I had the opportunity to be present at a very, very special event: a highway out in Coweta County was named after our local hometown fallen hero, Sgt. Michael J. Stokely, and we had been invited to the dedication. It was truly a beautiful service. Guest speakers included my adopted medic, who was really close to Mike, a state Senator, and a Georgia Supreme Court Justice. The Patriot Guard Riders, coincidently, were also present (as you can see from the above picture, hehe) - so I got to stand with them again in honor of this very special hero, Mike Stokely. A week or two before the road dedication ceremony, Robert Stokely emailed me and asked that I set up my table at the BBQ receptionfollowing the service. My first reaction was that I did not want to do anything to detract from the purpose of the day -- I didn't want to distract people or take the focus off of Mike. He emailed back and said something like, "What better way to honor Mike, than to take care of those who have followed him over there?" Now, how could I argue with that? I couldn't, of course... and thus agreed to set up my table for Operation: Love From Home at the reception.

It was pretty windy out that day, and it was a constant battle to keep my sign and flyers from blowing away. I never did get to eat any of my own apple pie I brought, haha, since I couldn't let go of my sign long enough to go get some, haha! One of the kids did bring me a hotdog, which I scarffed down real fast while hubby held onto my table sign to keep it from blowing away. :) Oh well, no biggie - I'll just bake another. ;-) Anyway, I got a pretty good response and collected close to 30 cards that day, in a short period of time. Many, many thanks to the Stokely Family for inviting us to this wonderful event, and for allowing me to collect cards for my "soldier-babies" afterwards!!!

So, all in all, we are off to a great start -- only need just under 2,900 more to make that goal of 3,000! Keep those cards, letters & emails pouring in! Our heroes out there in the Sandbox need to know we care! :)