AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Support Effort®
AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Support Effort, founded in 1998, is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to serving deployed United States Servicemen and Women, ensuring that they are not forgotten by a grateful Nation. AdoptaPlatoon strives to provide deployed U.S. Troops with a better deployment quality of life by providing cards, letters and care packages, lifting morale, and assisting military Families. AdoptaPlatoon creates projects that meet the need of military requests, establishes special projects for holidays, and assigns morale-lifting mail support to deployed Service Members representing all branches of the U.S. military serving their Nation around the world.
America Supporting Americans "Adopt-A-Unit"
America Supporting Americans facilitates "adoptions" between towns, cities, or counties and individual military units throughout the country working with the Armed Forces, including the National Guard, establishing "adoptions" between communities and units interested in forming a partnership. In addition to setting up the initial adoption, America Supporting Americans provides ongoing adoption support services needed to help make the adoption a success. Another featured program in America Supporting Americans is the Youth Civic Action and Awareness Program which encourages adoptive communities to use their adoption programs to expand young people's understanding of America's role in global affairs, of the role the military plays in the American political system, and of the experience of American Servicemen and Women. The Youth Civic Action and Awareness Program enables teachers to use their community's participation in the Adopt-a-Unit Program to enrich their curriculums and to add new dimensions to the learning that goes on in their classrooms.
America's Adopt a Soldier
America´s Adopt a Soldier is an effort to formalize a program to better serve and respond to the support demands of Veterans, Soldiers and their families. America's Adopt a Soldier is establishing local chapters, which raise public awareness through collecting and packing care packages for Soldiers, hosting packing events, and raising funds for postage, shipping, and event support. America's Adopt a Soldier also gives back by sponsoring local and national events, which focus on Soldiers, Veterans and their families. For more information visit www.americasadoptasoldier.org.
American Red Cross
Active duty, mobilized Reservists, National Guardsman, and the community-based military can count on the Red Cross to provide emergency communications that link them with their families back home, access to financial assistance from the military aid societies, counseling, referral to community resources and assistance to veterans. Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) personnel forms a global network in more than 700 U.S. chapters, on 58 military installations worldwide and in forward deployed locations in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Blue Star Banners/Blue Star Salute
Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, The American Legion resurrected the tradition of displaying the Blue Star Service Banner, reflecting the pride and sacrifices made by families of those serving on active duty during times of war. While the tradition dates back to World War I and was heavily observed during subsequent wars, American Legion posts around the country have now given banners to families of departing troops engaged in the Global War on Terrorism and supported the troops with morale and welfare packages, many adopting entire units on deployment.
HeroBox myHero
The myHero program is for those who want "adopt" a soldier. This is a commitment to pack and ship one HeroBox each month to your soldier(s) per the length of time you have specified. This is a great opportunity to see the real impact you have on our Heroes.
Move America Forward (MAF)
Move America Forward (MAF) is a pro-troops grassroots organization committed to supporting the men and women of our military. MAF has organized several national tours, hosted dozens of rallies in cities across the country, produced many television and radio advertisements to show support for troops, and shipped over 100 tons of goods to deployed Soldiers since the MAF care package program started in 2006. To learn more about MAF or sponsor a care package, visit their web site.
Operation Gratitude
Operation Gratitude seeks to lift morale and put smiles on faces by sending care packages addressed to individual Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines deployed overseas. Operation Gratitude care packages contain food, hygiene products, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support. Through Collection Drives, Letter Writing Campaigns and Donations of funds for shipping expenses, Operation Gratitude provides civilians anywhere in America a way to express their respect and appreciation to the men and women of the U.S. Military in an active, hands-on manner.
United Service Organization (USO)
The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform. The original intent of Congress - and enduring style of USO delivery - is to represent the American people by extending a touch of home to the military. The USO currently operates more than 130 centers worldwide, including ten mobile canteens located in the continental United States and overseas. Overseas centers are located in Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, and Kuwait. Service members and their families visit USO centers more than 5.3 million times each year. The USO is the way the American public supports the troops.
VFW Operation Uplink
Through this unique program and with the very generous contributions from supporters, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is able to purchase phone time and put it in the hands of those who need it the most, our active duty military and hospitalized veterans. Operation Uplink phone cards are provided free to hospitalized veterans and many of the service personnel currently deployed, even more effective is the Free Call Day program provided through MWR SpaWar internet cafes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait on a monthly basis. A call home can have a tremendous effect on morale. A veteran hospitalized in a distant city or a deployed service member can still enjoy the reassuring sound of a loved one's voice through this free program. Operation Uplink is the only national program of this kind, helping veterans and active duty military stay in touch with their families and friends.