May 12th, we shipped 95 boxes out to our Troops!!
This summer event was held at the C.W. Bill Young Armed Forces Reserve Center in Pinellas Park. One of our own Soldiers, Jennie Saavedra, arranged the use of this incredible facility for us. The ist thing when you approach the building is a beautiful facade and entry. As you come through the doors into the main room the first thing you see is a breathtaking view of a huge American flag and the sheer size of the room. I truly hope we can host more events there, as we had a lot of room for everything, and plenty of parking! Thank you again, Jennie!
The unpacking and setup went very routine for our group. We have become very quick and efficient at setting up our loading zones, paperwork stations, box inspection and closing areas. It is impressive to watch this all in action. Given the size of the room, several of us were worried that we did not have many boxes to fill – it was a funny illusion when we realized just how much we did have to pack! And we also learned that the Soldiers that were there that day, in full uniform, at the gates, at the front desk, in the main area helping us out…were all there as volunteers! This was not a paid day for them! They were there for us! They helped us unload, set up tables, pack boxes, load the boxes, and breakdown the tables. What is a tremendous sign of how awesome these Soldiers are. Thank you very much to all of them!
Thank you again to the parents and teachers who allowed their kids to write letters and draw pictures to send to the Soldiers. This means a lot to our Soldiers, and gives the kids an opportunity to participate in their own way. We even had some cards and pictures being drawn at the event for the boxes at one of our side tables – something we plan to do from now on at every event because it went well and the kids loved it. These small pieces of “art from the heart” hang in camps and bases all over the world and I promise are valued treasures to the folks that have them.
The kids also did a great job of helping us make small goodie bags to pack in the boxes – hard candies, snacks, condiments, etc. all needed to be in zip lock bags. Who better to know just the right mix of snacks!! The kids fill the bags and sort them out and get them ready for packing at every event. They also help pack boxes and haul them to the truck for shipping - their energy is amazing and their enthusiasm is contagious! You young people make us all very proud of you!
We announced this time around that our 501c3 is in process. Our attorney is still working on it and the outlook is promising that it will happen soon. We know that things take time, and for the process to be complete and to get there will happen sometime soon. In the meantime, I want to thank all of the businesses that do help us out with cost and discounts out of the goodness of their management and staff. Thank you!
Our Facebook group is approaching 400 members now. That is really cool to see that number grow. I added a Facebook page for the group, but I am not very proficient at that yet, so the page will eventually be much more robust. Any assistance with that will be certainly appreciated! I encourage everyone to invite someone to join us and be a part of the group so that we can continue to grow and reach more Soldiers with more packages every event! Our new website is going well and I hope to have more updates and news stories added soon. Thank you again to Ken Donofrio (http://www.theideanetwork.com/) for helping build our profile in the wide world of the web!
Never to be forgotten, I want to thank our Soldiers. Those who have been there and back, those who have served, and those that are still serving, and those that served and will not return. You incredible men and women are the reason we do what we do. You make sacrifices every day so that we may live in peace and enjoy the freedoms of our great country. You represent the ideals and honor of the United States of America, and we are proud of you.
You are our True American Heroes.
Respectfully,
--Dave & Rhonda
Read On...
Sending a Piece of Home to The People Who Keep it Free
That's Our Simple Mission.
The Tampa Bay Troop Support group was born out of a common desire to show our appreciation and respect for our Soliders while they are stationed overseas, away from their home, their friends, and their families. We originally started out as a group of friends from Seminole High School, and founded the Seminole Alumni Troop Support group. As word spread, we quickly grew to a solid group of friends that gathered a few times a year to pack boxes to send overseas. Within a year, our new 'family' included folks from all over the Tampa Bay Area and the USA!
So that we could be more inclusive of our new members, and more geographically recognized, we officially changed our name to Tampa Bay Troop Support. All of our packing, goods, and shipping are 100% donation from our members and their friends and families. We are working hard to finalize our status as a 501c3 organization to increase our ability to reach more Soldiers with a little bit of home.Our hope is to make a small difference in the lives of our Soliders by sending care packages to many different units and places. These packages contain things like cards, letters, snacks, personal products, music, magazines, anything to send a little bit of home to a Soldier who is half a world away. We want them to know that they are in our thoughts and we appreciate everything they do. A few times a year, our group meets to pack and send these boxes to the Soldiers.
As long as they are out there, we will be here, and as long as we can keep bringing the donations and supplies in, we will keep shipping them to those True American Heroes.
We appreciate your support! If you would like to help out, please join us at any of our packing events, or donate via PayPal by clicking the button on our page.
Thank you!
Tampa Bay Troop Support
How You Can Help: Postage
| Newsflash |
As with any great project, there are expenses. Our biggest expense is in the shipping cost. Filling the boxes with goodies for the troops comes easy. The shipping is sometimes forgotten in the excitement of it all.
We generally send the large flat rate boxes with the Support Our Troops logo on the side, since these are not only a good standard size box, but are also the best bargain as far as shipping cost is concerned. The post office discounts the shipping on these boxes, and the cost is only $13.45 per box to send out (NOTE - increased from last years cost). Given that our shipments have ranged from as few as 50 boxes, to as many as 160+ boxes, the shipping cost can be significant. ($650 – $2200)
We happily take cash donations, checks, and even PayPal donations for the shipping (see the PayPal button on this website). Checks can be made out to Tampa Bay Troop Support, Inc., and we put the funds into an account and write one big check to our shipping office for the postage when we are sending the boxes out. There are no profits made on any donations for the group. 100% of any money goes straight to the group expenses.
We now have a single point of shipping from one of our own group members, Galen McCarty is the owner of Get Mailed in Seminole, Florida. Get Mailed has become our central shipping point. We have had tremendous success with this, and look forward to this relationship long into our future. At the events, we still need help labeling, taping and logging the boxes for the shipping. So anytime someone can hang around after the event and help, it is greatly appreciated!
2012 Autumn
Packing Event
Come Join Us On:
Saturday
August 11th @ 9:00am
Venue TBD
Click Here for Details!
1,526 Boxes!
Help Us Ship More Boxes!
Donate Goods & Postage!
Check Out All of Our Logo Items!
All proceeds go directly to help the troops!
Visit Troop Support Store
