Afghanistan School Supply Updates
September 7, 2017
We are overwhelmed by the generosity our Angels have shown towards the Afghanistan School Supply effort started by deployed service member Kaylan. The effort has truly been a success not only in meeting the needs for school supplies and educational materials but in other ways as well! Aside from the school supply drive, Kaylan has also been fundraising and thanks to her efforts, they were able to raise enough money to build a new school with a playground!
We wanted to take the time to highlight some of the angels who have helped in a big way, and tell some truly touching stories of how communities have come together to provide these girls with the tools they need to learn. Overall, Soldiers’ Angels was able to send 191 packages and 121 letters!
Susan and her amazing neighbors
Susan, an angel on our Deployed Adoptions team, told her neighbors about the school project and they decided they wanted to help her out. She put a bin on her porch for neighbors to start dropping things off and boy was she surprised! Here are some pictures of what was donated.
Carolyn M.
Carolyn has been with Soldiers’ Angels since 2016. She is an angel on the Letter-Writing, Deployed Adoptions, Cards Plus, Special Operations Forces Team, and Holiday Adoptions teams!
How she participated in the school drive:
“I sent a large flat-rate box of supplies that included pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, erasers, notebook paper, scissors and crayons.”
Why she loves being a part of Soldiers’ Angels:
“I love being able to do something to make our heroes smile. They sacrifice so much to defend our country, and I think they all need to know that there are people out there who appreciate them and are thankful that they serve. I also think that every deployed service member needs to hear their name called at mail call, to know that someone is thinking of them.”
Elizabeth F.
Elizabeth has been with Soldiers’ Angels for 3 years and is on the Letter Writing and Special Forces teams.
How she participated in the school drive:
“Before pulling together and shopping for my items, I reached out to a few teachers in my area. Once I had those ideas I headed out to the Dollar store as my first stop, I sent 30 small notebooks with cute pictures on the front, pencils, pencil sharpeners, loads of fun stickers, packs of pens, and chalk. I also included a fluffy warm fuzzy blanket for the school. I was concerned that as my package was simple with full of basics, it needed more. But my teacher mentors said that this was a great way to support Kaylen, the new school, and precious students.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“What I love most is the connection to our military as they are fulfilling their service to our country, we are also servicing our country in partnership. We get to thank them with every connection and it is a great partnership.”
Ashley D.
Ashley has been with Soldiers’ Angels since June of this year. She is on the Letter Writing, Deployed Adoption, and Ladies of Liberty teams.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I sent two boxes of various school supplies. I took my Grandmother with me to pick out school supplies and we decorated the boxes. She felt so helpful and was so pleased to give back.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“I love being able to support our troops who so selflessly serve our country and sacrifice for our freedom.”
Christine W.
Christine has been with Soldiers’ Angels for 7 months. She is on the Deployed Adoptions and Angel Bakers teams.
How she participated in the school drive:
“Myself, a couple of my employees and some friends shopped during the Back to School specials and were able to purchase enough school supplies to fill 3 large boxes.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“I love that I can support those overseas. I have such a respect for the men and women who are deployed, and if I can bring them a small touch of home, it’s the least I can do.”
Karen S.
Karen has been with Soldiers’ Angels since February 2016. She is on the Adopt a Family, Deployed Adoption, Letter Writing, Cards Plus, Chaplain Support, Living Legends, Operation Top Knot, Special Operation Forces, and Women of Valor teams.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I sent a large, flat rate box packed as full as I could with pencils, erasers, construction paper, college ruled notebook paper, crayons (I hope they don’t melt), markers, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, graph paper, and several math workbooks that I used when I was teaching upper elementary school.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“I average 7-10 letters a day and about 5 packages per week. I love knowing that I can bring a smile to a soldier’s face. As a former soldier myself, I know what it’s like to not hear your name during mail call and I hope to minimize that as much as I can.”
Sue Crocker
Sue has been with Soldiers’ Angels since 2008 and says she “cannot imagine not being a part of this wonderful family of volunteers.” She is on the Deployed Adoptions Team and Special Forces Team.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I shopped at every dollar store in my hometown to get as much as I could in the way of school supplies. When I exhausted that, it was on to Target, Walmart and the office supply stores. Then I started doing research on the internet. Dari is the variety of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, where it is one of the two official languages, along with Pashto, and is used as a common language, or bridge language, among the different language communities. Dari is also used as the medium of instruction in Afghan schools. In researching I found there were bilingual books written in Dari and English. So I bought one of each of the ten books by Idries Shah from Amazon. I also found ABC books by Wai Cheung that showed the letter in both English and Dari, along with a picture for each letter. For example, A for Alligator. The word alligator is shown both in English and Dari. The books are the items I am the most pleased with. I would support this girls school forever if I could. If I had the chance I would go over there without reservation to help teach these young girls.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“I think what I enjoy the most would be the friends I have made on Soldiers’ Angels. We, as a group, try to support each other and make this a safe place to participate. We build off each other’s ideas. We encourage each other. Each and every one of us was new at one time and this comes into play with new angels joining all the time. It is a lovely reminder of how we felt when we joined. Thank you for giving us the foundation of Soldiers’ Angels and by allowing us to participate in this heart warming project for the girls in Afghanistan.”
Julie C.
Julie has been with Soldiers’ Angels since 2015. She is on the Cards Plus Team and the Women of Valor Team.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I was so excited to see this opportunity posted on the WOV Facebook page. My husband was deployed in Afghanistan a while back and when I told him about this amazing girls only school opportunity he got as excited as I was! We are thrilled that there is some forward movement in educating girls and that people are standing up for that right. Money is tight but we wanted to help in any way that we could. I researched a lot of back to school store ads for a few weeks and found a huge sale at Staples. I wanted to get my money’s worth and buy as much as I could! Well thank you Staples as everything was $0.50 with a limit of 5 per item; I was so ecstatic! I filled my flat rate box to the max and mailed it! I know we only sent one box but I am sure that every little bit helps those young ladies feel amazing.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“When my husband was deployed a while back; I didn’t have much support. It was very hard, I learned a lot about myself and what it takes to support your Soldier. I searched the web looking for a way to give back as there had to be others like me out there; who love our country and our military. I found Soldiers’ Angels, joined and never looked back. I love the feeling of sending cards and finding fun stamps to put on the envelopes! I humbly embrace the possibility that I could brighten someone’s day who is having a hard time. That is what I love most. The feeling that I could make even a small difference in someone’s day, help them to smile, offer them courage, offer them congratulations or condolences when they lose a loved one. I don’t want anyone to feel alone or that they are abandoned or forgotten; that is why I am a Angel.”
Judith G.
Judith has been with Soldiers’ Angels for a month. She is on the Letter Writing and Deployed Adoptions team.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I went to Target to buy enough school supplies to fill six flat rate boxes. I was able to involve my 11-year-old niece in the effort of boxing it all up and writing cards, which was a great experience for her. I’m also talking to Barnes & Noble about reduced pricing for Dari-English dictionaries. Hopefully we can make that happen!”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“The opportunity to send things out into the world to people you’ve never met, to hopefully brighten up their day and make their time away from family a little more palatable.”
Debbie D.
Debbie has been with Soldiers’ Angels for over 10 years! She is on the Cards Plus, Sewing and Crafting, and Deployed Adoptions teams. She is also in the process of becoming a volunteer member of the Coatesville PA Veterans Volunteer Services and will be assisting in the development of a Soldiers’ Angels team there in the very near future.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I decided to give my support to the Afghanistan School Opportunity because I am also a member of my local Phoenixville PA Kiwanis Club and our commitment is to change our world and community, one child at a time. I also believe that an education is the best way to change a person. The more education a child has, the more doorways are opened for true knowledge. My husband and I bought many school supplies and I asked several of my friends if they would be interested and they all were very excited to assist with this project. After I received all their donations, my husband and I packed and shipped them to the soldiers involved in this project.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“I love soldiers angels because I believe we need to support our troops as they actively fight and do all they can to preserve all the freedoms we enjoy every day. I also feel we should uplift and support our older veterans who have sacrificed and given so much for our country.”
Christine H.
“I participated in the School Supply Drive by sending two boxes full of paper, markers, scissors, notebooks, etc. I have been with SA for only a few months but have participated on the Christmas Day deliveries at Brooke Army Medical Center for several years. I am on the Letter Writing Team, Ladies of Liberty Team, and the Deployed Soldier team. The thing that inspires me most about Soldiers’ Angels is the amount of love that is sent to our troops. My parents were both military and I know from their stories that they were not shown love, let alone respect, for their service. My brother currently serves in the Air Force and I am thankful that he will not have that problem because of groups like Soldiers’ Angels.”
Caroline W.
Caroline has been with Soldiers’ Angels since 2006. She is on the Deployed Adoptions, Special Operations Forces, Operation Top Knot, Ladies of Liberty, Sewing and Crafting, Angel Bakers, and Adopt a Family teams.
How she participated in the school drive:
“I sent several things from Discount School Supplies and a package of stuff from the Dollar Tree.”
What she loves most about Soldiers’ Angels:
“The ability to put a smile on someone’s face when they get the unexpected box or random card in the mail. The ability to help out that Mommy ready to have a baby without Daddy there. To bake cookies knowing that someone or someone’s will be making short work of them when they arrive. There are just so many things I love about it I could go on forever.”
Here is our album of pictures from Kaylan and our angels.
