Ways to Support
“Since the attacks on the United States, the support of our soldiers has increased tremendously. What I find most commendable in your case (The AdoptaPlatoon) is that the welfare of the troops has always been a concern. Through the AdoptaPlatoon program, soldiers everywhere know that their sacrifices are appreciated, not only through the packages they receive, but also through the prayers that go with them.”
…David H. Petraeus, Brigadier General, United States Army
Download a printable full color AAP Brochure by clicking here.
ALL BRANCHES OF THE U.S. MILITARY ARE SUPPORTED
FORMS OF SUPPORT
Guidelines for Teachers and / or Adult Youth Project Sponsors
Individual Soldier Adoption:
Anyone can adopt a troop (individuals, families, schools, youth groups, civic organizations, religious institutions, private companies / corporations, etc.)
An adoption link requires that you pledge to send a card or letter to one individual service member on a weekly basis and a minimum of one care package per month. You can “adopt” more than one soldier with a maximum of four service members.
Pen-Pal Support
Anyone can pen-pal with a troop (individuals, families, schools, youth groups, civic organizations, religious institutions, private companies / corporations, etc.).
A pen-pal link requires that you pledge to send a card or letter to one individual service member on a weekly basis. You can pen-pal with up to four troops.
The AAP is not a dating service and soldier support links are made only for the consideration and benefit of our soldiers. The AAP does not link a single individual to a married soldier.
Most of our single service members requesting a single pen pal link are usually young — between the ages of 18-29. Our single service members enjoy receiving letters and cards from single Americans close to their age as this closeness in age might provide something in common to write about. Families, youth groups, and schools can be assigned a single service member in order to send cards and letters support measures as a family / group project. If you are single and fall between the age of 18-29, please be sure to provide us with your age in order for us to assign you appropriately.
Common sense statement: Because the AAP is managed by very talented folks with tons of common sense, we realize that there can be exceptions to our policy never to link a single supporter to a married soldier. If you are a single mother and wish to send pen pal support as a family “motherly” type activity, please be sure to explain this situation in the comment section of the AAP application. If you are a grandmother or single mature lady and wish to pen pal with a single soldier, please explain in the comment section of the AAP™ so we can take these situations into consideration.
PLATOON SUPPORT or MILITARY COMPANY SUPPORT:
Large groups such as civic organizations, schools, youth groups, religious institutions, private companies, corporations, government organizations, clubs, etc. can ADOPT AN ENTIRE PLATOON OR MILITARY COMPANY. Most of AAP’s platoons and companies are Army and Marines. Large groups are given contact to a platoon / company via a military point of contact (POC) to the platoon / company. A platoon or company varies in size. Typically, platoons are between 15 - 40 soldiers.
Your support to the platoon / company will be shared among the soldiers in whatever amounts of support you send. Our soldiers are a “Band of Brothers” and “Battle Buddies” and support is shared within the platoon / company. How to manage platoon adoption support must be decided by the organization or business, but examples are as follows:
A day is designated once or twice a month whereby employees, club members, schools, youth organizations, etc., set out boxes so that individuals can bring soldier support care package items as well as cards and letters. A team is designated once or twice a month to package and mail all support gathered. Some businesses pick up the cost for shipping while the employees / members of an organization supply the “goodies” and necessary care package items. Some employees take up a fund collection to cover shipping costs.
Schools can work to arrange a department-wide, campus-wide or district-wide support measure in supporting a partial platoon or an entire platoon. Students design the greeting cards and write letters (lesson plans can be incorporated) while faculty, paraprofessionals, administration and school staff members donate care package items and goodies. Parents can also participate as well as community leaders and local businesses. Students of all ages enjoy designing greeting cards and writing letters to the troops. Teachers, please incorporate this patriotic opportunity into your lesson plans. While embracing support for our U.S. deployed service members, students can research military bases on the Internet, visit military museums, ask a local military hero to visit the school and write essays such as “What Freedoms do I Appreciate” or “What Does Being an American Mean.”
HOLIDAY, CAMPAIGN, or ONE-TIME SUPPORT:
Any individual or group can support one of our holiday support measures (i.e., Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc.). For more information, please click on “Campaigns” on the AAP website. Also, our special campaigns are provided in your Soldier Delivery Letter so that more support can be sent to the troops as you wish. However, if you decided to send support to one of the campaigns in your SDL at a later date, be sure to check with us beforehand to make sure the address is still good. You may also contact our Campaign Director for more information on campaigns.
Examples of AAP Campaigns (visit our campaign section for more info).
Operation Crayon™ (Iraq and Afghanistan) - This campaign assists military units in their effort to help the children in war-torn regions.
Operation Underwear Afghanistan – Only mothers care about the condition of our soldiers’ underwear.
Operation Afghanistan Aid – Supporting our Troops as they provide humanitarian aid to war torn areas.
Supporting the troops via military chaplains or civilians – This is usually a group of 100 or more and is shared.
Special Holiday Support Campaigns
Chow Hall Ministry in Iraq
Download the AdoptaPlatoon pamphlet from the website and present this information to your schools, business, and civic groups!
Don’t Bug Me
Our summer campaign to send bug spray, suntan lotion, etc.
Dee’s Pillow Campaign….Do you like to sew? Do you want to make fun, bright pillow cases for our injured troops in the Middle East? Or, how about making a drawstring bag for our deployed doctors and nurses to put important info about the injured troop in for safekeeping? Then this one is for you! Contact Arline at aapcampaign@adoptaplatoon.org for more info or to participate. A poster will be coming out soon!
MINORS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION!
Unless you are supporting the troops within a family adoption, school, youth group or church organized support measure, minors under 18 years of age are not permitted to participate You must be 18-years of age or older to participate. For example, children can participate via a family supervised adoption or as a school / youth group supervised project. For both the Adoption and Pen Pal support links, care is taken to ensure that the person requesting the support link is sincere, committed to that responsibility, singles do not wish to use the AAP as a dating service and that children under the age of 18 are not applying for the program on their own. Please ask your parents to contact us on your behalf.
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FROM MINORS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DELETED!
Direct Support to the AdoptaPlatoon: If you find you can’t personally support a troop at the moment, but would like to make a tax-deductible gift directly to AAP, we will see to it that your gift is used to help support deployed troops asking for support. However, please note that you do not have to make a donation to participate! AAP also supports Special Forces troops that cannot participate in the public support measures. The AAP creates and maintains special campaigns to supply a much larger degree of support to the troops. The AAP must shoulder the cost of implementing a safe mail support system and secure data storage of our databases. If the AAP cannot continue this patriotic project, thousands of troops will not receive the much needed support. The AAP sends a minimum of 85% of all donated funds back to the troops in the form of support packages and meeting specific needs. The AAP also must maintain an organization non-profit corporation and we depend on your generosity to meet this need. So your tax-deductible gift is truly a gift and very much appreciate.
Corporate / business monetary gifts are needed. Please don’t forget the AAP!
| Please send your tax-deductible gift to: AdoptaPlatoon
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We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the American people for never forgetting our Nation’s Heroes.
“In war, there is no second prize for the runner-up.”
-General Omar N. Bradley, U.S. Army, 1950
No matter your political opinion or whether you agree with present powers that be, NO MATTER WHAT, our TROOPS are still there!
Please help our United States of America Troops, our deployed sons and daughters, serve our Nation knowing that America stands right behind them!
We thank you in advance for putting your trust in us and sending your personal information to be considered for a soldier support link! Each and every one who wishes to support the troops in a spirit of patriotism should be counted among those who protect the freedoms of our country! Please contact us at: info@adoptaplatoon.org.
AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Support Effort™ Board of Directors
Ida Hägg, Chairman of the Board
Board Members:
Joyce Lisiewski, Ohio
Fran Dobson, New Hampshire
Karen Ballard, Texas
All Rights Reserved
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