With Veterans Day and the holidays just around the corner...what better time to share ways we can EASILY show thanks and appreciation to our troops...Operation Gratitude annually sends 100,000 care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions, to their children left behind and to Wounded Warriors, Veterans and First Responders. Our mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member’s face and express to our Armed Forces the appreciation and support of the American people. Each package contains donated product valued at $75-100 and costs the organization $15 to assemble and ship. For safety and security, assembling of packages occurs at the Army National Guard armory in Van Nuys, California. Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude volunteers have shipped more than 815,000 packages to American Military members.

To Join Our Mailing List and receive news and updates, please click here: Mailing List

Find out how to help and get more involved : http://www.operationgratitude.com/

**Thanks to guest Dana Chotiner of Operation Gratitude who spoke of ALL the different ways we can help show our 'gratitude' and appreciation for our soldiers over seas...via letters, teddy bears and the really cool care packages they assemble and sent out throught out the year...

The Children's Tumor Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) medical foundation, dedicated to improving the health and well being of individuals and families affected by the neurofibromatoses (NF).

The mission of The Children's Tumor Foundation is to:

  • Encourage and support research and the development of treatments and cures for neurofibromatosis types 1 and 2, schwannomatosis, and related disorders (hereafter collectively referred to as "NF");
  • Support persons with NF, their families, and caregivers by providing thorough, accurate, current, and readily accessible information;
  • Assist in the development of clinical centers, best practices, and other patient support mechanisms (but not including direct medical care) to create better access to quality healthcare for affected individuals; and,
  • Expand public awareness of NF to promote earlier and accurate diagnoses by the medical community, increase the non-affected population's understanding of the challenges facing people with NF, and encourage financial and other forms of support from public and private sources.

involved

Learn more & ways you  can help: http://www.ctf.org/

**Thanks to my guest Mom/CTF volunteer Kim Robinson, who talked about what its like to have a child living w/brain tumors, what signs parents need to look for and how the CTF offers incredible support to families emotionally and financially...