8th Annual Holiday Love Campaign for Our Troops Thanks to eMailOurMilitary with Your Help

This email I received is so important because Trish Forant and eMailOurMilitary are such a wonderful support for our troops. Read this email and act now.

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Subject: Happy Holidays! A Holiday Newsletter from eMOM

We're just 7 days away from Christmas!

We're hoping you haven't forgotten our guys and gals serving across the globe this holiday season. We've got some great ways you can show your support no matter what your financial situation or schedule is.

We haven't talked about it much but this year was the hardest yet for eMail Our Military. After 8 years of supporting our troops we've had to cut back our hours of operation to accommodate for our volunteers work schedules.

We lost quite a few volunteers because of the economy. No one at eMail Our Military takes a paycheck and there just wasn't enough time for people to volunteer AND manage their work schedules just to pay the bills.

Sadly, this is also the 1st year we weren't able to send out massive amounts of care packages to our troops in time for Christmas. Financially, ff things don't change dramatically in 2010 we may be forced to close our doors forever.

It's been a wonderful 8 years and we're still optimistic that we'll get the support we need as an organization to keep supporting our military in 2010 and beyond - we'll definitely need your help.


8TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY LOVE CAMPAIGN - HOLIDAY MAIL TO OUR TROOPS

This holiday season you can make the holidays a little brighter for our troops overseas and stationed far from home. Consider becoming a Postage Patriot or a Care Package Patriot. Starting at just $5 you can make a huge difference for our troops: www.facebook.com/l/a7bb1;emailourmilitary2008.chipin.com/holiday-mail-for-our-troops


MESSAGES TO THE MILITARY

We're still hopeful that many of you will take a moment to register to send a message of support to our troops in time for the holidays.


ONLINE REGISTRATION

Though we still don't have our official online eMOM registration form up and running, we've got an online registration form that will get the job done! If you've been waiting for online registration now is the time to sign up. We can't leave this up for too long because it isn't tied to our database but we want to make sure that everyone who wants to email our troops has an opportunity to do so this holiday season.

If registering isn't your thing then why not send a one time message of support to our military instead? You can email a message of support to Messages@http://www.facebook.com/l/a7bb1;eMailOurMilitary.com and your message may appear on our website, blog, facebook page or in one of our care packages to our military!


TWEET US

Are we connected on Twitter yet? If not, you're missing out! Join us at http://twitter.com/mailourmilitary (or get our blog headlines at @EMOMS)


FACEBOOK PAGE

Are you a fan of our Facebook page yet? We share different information there than we do here to give you the best of both worlds. Join us at www.facebook.com/eMailOurMilitary


HONOR, DUTY, EMAIL - THE BLOG

Did you know we have a blog? We sure do! It's called Honor, Duty, eMail and you can find it at www.emailourmilitary.blogspot.com

There we share tips for supporting our military, discounts, deals and all kinds of patriotic goodies and military news and information. You can even subscribe to our blog so you never miss a minute.

We hope you'll keep our troops in mind this holiday season and always!

Happy Holidays,
Trish & the eMOM Team
www.eMailOurMilitary.com
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Help eMailOurMilitary Show Love and Support to Our Troops This Valentine's Day

I chose this photo of two hands forming a heart instead of a more traditional red Valentine's Day heart because I want to emphasize what Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary.com is doing for the organization's personal outreach Valentine's Day project.

Go right over now to the organization's blog to read about the 7th Annual Valentine's from the Heart project. And then join in at showing your love and appreciation for our troops.

BlogTalkRadio New Show: Your Military Life

The BlogTalkRadio Show “Your Military Life” will be co-hosted by me thanks to an invitation to do so from Nancy Brown of www.yourmilitarylife.com, who has just created the show.

Our first “official” show will be on Wednesday, November 19: 11 p.m. Eastern, 10 p.m. Central, 9 p.m. Mountain, or 8 p.m. Pacific. We will be interviewing Trish Forant, founder of eMailOurMilitary (www.emailourmilitary.com, about the organization’s holiday program to send cards and packages to deployed military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. And we’ll take questions from the audience at 646-929-0021.

(We’re actually testing out the format on November 17 at the same times as above by interviewing my husband Mitch Miller on why a will is not enough.)

To find out about our upcoming shows, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/search/YourMilitaryLife.

Why Support Our Troops? eMailOurMilitary Asks This Question

Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary in her blog at http://snipurl.com/4mzj5 writes a terrific post explaining why supporting our troops is NOT supporting the war. She reminds us of the other work our troops do (my note: such as patrolling the streets of New Orleans after Katrina hit) and asks that other bloggers answer the question “Why support the troops?”

Here’s my response:

Why do I support the troops? The answer is a direct line from the Vietnam War until today. Let me explain:

Growing up in Elgin, Illinois, in the 50s and 60s I didn’t know many young men serving in the military forces. Of course, most fathers I knew had served in the military during World War II, but that was to be expected.

I clearly remember two boys a few years older than I, sons of my parents’ friends, who were drafted and served in Vietnam. But no one I knew volunteered to serve.

And then I met my to-be future husband at Michigan State University, and he was in ROTC. He had volunteered to be a U.S. army officer.

Because we got married before he went on active duty, I was introduced to the world of the military. And as Jews stationed in Munich, Germany, we particularly appreciated being remembered at holiday time by the Jewish Welfare board. I learned first-hand how important it is to know that there are people who care about military personnel serving their country.

Thus it was natural that, when I was the co-author of the 1992 Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION (written with Rabbi Karen L. Fox), I included in the book a request for donations to the Jewish Welfare Board “in support for our women and men serving abroad.”

It was equally natural that, when my book MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL came out in April of this year, I included on the website (www.mrslieutenant.com) information about organizations, including eMOM, that help support military personnel and their families. And this is why I frequently write posts about such organizations for my blog.



Recently I was thrilled to participate with eMailOurMilitary and Nancy Sutherland of www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com on Operation Soldier Care, and I’m currently sponsoring the Facebook event Honor a Veteran at http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant. Please visit the page to honor a veteran you know or admire.

Having experienced what it’s like to be part of the U.S. military, I feel strongly that all Americans should do their part to both support military personnel today and to honor those veterans who have come before.

I believe that eMailOurMilitary is doing a particularly important service by demonstrating to deployed military personnel that people care. And I’m personally in email contact with a National Guard infantryman in Iraq whose blog is on my blogroll.

November 11th is Veterans Day – may we all remember with gratitude the men and women who have served and are serving our country.

Technorati Tags:
Mrs. Lieutenant, www.eMailOurMilitary.com, Iraq War, deployed troops, Trish Forant, Nancy Sutherland, veterans, Veterans Day, www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com, Facebook, Jewish Welfare Board

Milblog Conference Report Thanks to Email Our Military Blog

Thanks to the Twitter presence of Trish Forant of www.emailourmilitary.com (on Twitter as @mailourmilitary), I have a front-row seat on updates of military news.

Trish also blogs at www.emailourmilitary.blogspot.com, and today her blog features a guest post from Lauren Vargas about the Milblog Conference track of Blog World Expo 2008 just held in Las Vegas. Lauren is a community relations manager at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) as well as a blogger.

The overall topic of milblogs is an interesting one. To learn what the conference discussed on this topic, use the following link to Lauren’s guest post:
http://snipurl.com/milblogconference

Technorati Tags:
Mrs. Lieutenant, Twitter, Trish Forant, Lauren Vargas, AAFES, www.emailourmilitary.com, Milblog Conference, Blog World Expo 2008

Easy Way to Support Our Troops: Introduce Trish, Nancy and Me to a Company Interested in a Social Media Promotion

I’m taking my own advice and networking through this blog to find a possible connection for a fundraising project that I want to do to help www.emailourmilitary.com.

Here’s the story: Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary and Nancy Sutherland, sales director of May Kay, and I conducted a successful fundraising campaign for Operation Soldier Care (see http://snipurl.com/oscsuccess) using primarily social media such as Twitter and Facebook and our own blogs.

Now eMailOurMilitary is getting ready for its holiday project for deployed troops. How to help raise funds for this project?

Why not have Trish, Nancy and me recreate our successful Operation Soldier Care social media fundraising campaign for a company that wants a promotion to help expand awareness of its products or brand? In fact, I’ve just written a proposal as to how this would work for a cable tv network. But the overall promotion plan could work for any type of company.

If you’re reading this blog post, I’d appreciate it if you would put on your thinking cap. Let me know if you can make an introduction for us to someone at a company who might be interested in this proposal. For example, it could be a military-related insurance company such as USAA or a new magazine or new website that wants exposure in social media and on blogs.

And if your introduction is the one that succeeds in getting a promotion partner for us, I’ll be happy to send you an autographed copy of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL.

Helping to find a company interested in this fundraising project is an easy way to support our troops. (And, of course, we’ll thank you in all our blogs.)

You can email me through my website www.mrslieutenant.com.

Technorati Tags:
Mrs. Lieutenant, www.emailourmilitary.com, Nancy Sutherland, Trish Forant, Mary Kay, Twitter, Facebook, USAA, www.mrslieutenant.com

U.S. Army Introduces Interactive DVD to Help Prevent Suicides

Thanks to Trish Forant (www.emailourmilitary.com) for her tweet on Twitter I learned about the U.S. Army’s new efforts to prevent suicides.

Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, director of the Army Medical Department’s Strategic Communications and formerly psychiatry consultant to the army’s surgeon general, said that soldiers might be aware of risk signs of suicide in other soldiers but not know how to approach those soldiers.

The army is now rolling out a new interactive DVD that features realistic video vignettes about two soldiers who have problems. And this DVD will allow soldiers to practice how to aid potential suicide victims.

According to the September 3rd article in www.army.mil/-news by Gary Sheftick titled “Interactive DVD among new tools to prevent suicides”:

The video, or “virtual experience immersive learning simulation,” also known as VEILS, follows the problems of the two soldiers and their stories change based on input from the viewer.

If the viewer says the wrong thing and gets bad results, Ritchie said the DVD will allow the trainee to re-do the vignette until the outcome is more favorable.

Thousands of copies of the DVD, developed by Lincoln University in Missouri, will be distributed this fall. And the vignettes can be seen on the web page of the Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at http://snipurl.com/armyprevention.

Read the full article at http://snurl.com/3mykk.

Technorati Tags:
Mrs. Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Lincoln University, www.emailourmilitary.com, www.army.mil/-news, Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, Gary Sheftick, Trish Forant, Twitter

Operation Soldier Care Successful: $6822 of Mary Kay Sun/Skin Care Products En Route to Iraqi Desert

Operation Soldier Care ended at midnight Pacific time on August 18^th with $3411 in donated funds. And thanks to the generous matching funds of Nancy Sutherland, sales director of Mary Kay (www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com), the total of sun and skin care products is $6822.

Nancy also handled the packaging and shipping of eight large boxes. And these sun/skin care products are now en route to our men and women deployed in Iraq with its brutal desert climate.

To learn who were the top five donors and thus the recipients of all the terrific gifts provided to encourage large donations, see the www.emailourmilitary.com post by Trish Forant at http://tinyurl.com/6qltdn. (Trish’s blog link is on the Mrs. Lieutenant military blog roll.)

Technorati Tags:
Mrs. Lieutenant, Operation Soldier Care, Trish Forant, Nancy Sutherland, Mary Kay, www.emailourmilitary.com, www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com, Iraq War

National Guard Member in Iraq Reports the Convoy Made It Through Safely

I'm back a little earlier than I thought. Everything is fine.

This is the email I received Saturday evening Pacific time from the National Guard member whom I wrote about in my post on Friday – http://tinyurl.com/6otpao.

I immediately responded that I was glad to hear from him. Then, because a few days ago he had mentioned concerns he had about this mission, I asked him for more details. This is his response:

Boring day which is the way I like it. We are going out for most of the week, but odds are I will not be doing this. HQ just provides fills when the line units need a body. So I'll be in the TOC [Tactical Operation Center] on the radio or watching a movie.

I want to be out with my guys, and that can happen on some missions, but it’s just not my job. I'm supposed to make sure my guys run the TOC and my mechanics are fixing vehicles. I can go out, but from now on, it will be as a Joe, not as a leader.

Now Operation Soldier Care only has one more day to go – tomorrow, August 18^th. And I want those of you reading this blog to think about “the guys” of this National Guard platoon sergeant who are struggling through the desert in convoy formation. (FYI – The “guy” on the gun on Vic 6 – vehicle 6 – of the eight-truck convoy was a woman.)

Thanks to Trish Forant of www.emailourmilitary.com and Nancy Sutherland, sales director of Mary Kay who is matching up to $5,000 of donations, in a few days sun/skin care products will be on the way to help our troops in the Iraqi desert.

And Trish just won the Blog of the Day Award! See http://tinyurl.com/6mden8 to read about this terrific honor – then click through to read her most recent blog post on Operation Soldier Care.

And while you’re cruising the internet sitting in comfort, click on the link from Trish’s blog to the Mary Kay skin/sun care product page and send a little comfort to our troops in the blazing Iraqi desert. Or click from here directly to the Mary Kay product page – http://tinyurl.com/5dmwq4. Consider buying multiple packages – the top five donors will receive an incredible array of donated prizes.

If it were your loved one serving in harm’s way under these difficult conditions, you’d want the American public to show appreciation.

Now’s your chance to show appreciation to the loved ones of other Americans. Do this now before the clock ends on August 18^th.

Technorati Tags:
Trish Forant, www.emailourmilitary.com, Nancy Sutherland, Mary Kay, Mrs. Lieutenant, Iraq War, Operation Soldier Care, National Guard

A Convoy Coming Up Tomorrow: Donate to Operation Soldier Care

As I got ready to write this blog about Operation Soldier Care, I received an email from a deployed National Guard member. In order to protect his platoon he hasn’t told me his name or his location. Here’s what he wrote:

I have a convoy coming up tomorrow. Prep starts today. If I don't respond to your emails, that is why.

So I hope you understand that, when I write about deployed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’m not writing about some imaginary people that I don’t know. I’m writing about this platoon sergeant and the men and women under him as well as all the other platoon sergeants and their platoon members.

And that’s why I’m urging you to donate to Operation Soldier Care – a project to send sun/skin care products to the blazing Iraqi desert. The project is sponsored by Trish Forant of www.emailourmilitary.com and Nancy Sutherland, sales director of Mary Kay, who is matching all donations up to $5,000.

In order to encourage people to donate more than a minimum amount, donations have also been sought as prizes for the top five donors. And terrific prizes have been donated. Yesterday Nancy emailed me about a new incredible donation:

I have another HUGE CONTRIBUTOR! Zna Trainer (www.znatrainer.com) is giving away $15,000 worth of personal training! She is giving $950 personal training for each of the top 5 contributors PLUS 5 for lucky soldiers and their spouses! A total of 15 personal training packages!

If Zna Trainer can step up to the plate, you can too.

To read about Operation Soldier Care and all the prizes for the top five donors, go to Trish Forant’s blog entry “Giving Back to Those Who Give So Much” at http://tinyurl.com/67srcm. The deadline is August 18^th.

Think of that platoon sergeant’s convoy coming up tomorrow through the blazing Iraqi desert. What must it feel like to be out in those incredibly high temperatures (wearing full body armor) and with blowing desert sand stinging your faces?

Please donate to Operation Soldier Care to help give a little comfort to these men and women fighting in our names.

Technorati Tags:
Operation Soldier Care, Iraq War, Trish Forant, www.emailourmilitary.com, Nancy Sutherland, Mary Kay, www.znatrainer.com, Mrs. Lieutenant

Operation Soldier Care and Supporting Our Troops

I emailed a deployed National Guard member about Operation Soldier Care – a project to support the troops sponsored by www.eMailOurMilitary.com and Nancy Sutherland, sales director of May Kay. (Read about the project and the prizes for the top five donors at http://tinyurl.com/55vlqe.)

I had hoped that the National Guard member would forward the announcement to people he knows. Instead I got him in a mood that, as he said later, was caused by a bad case of timing. He was annoyed at Fox News coverage of Lizzie Palmer, a 16-year-old girl who made a tribute to the troops video entitled “Remember Me.”

The National Guard member said that everyone wants to support the troops as long as it doesn’t involve becoming one of the troops.

My reaction when I watched the video was that it’s definitely moving, but there’s no specific call to action – only the general theme of supporting the troops. Such a video would have been much more effective if it had included URLs of organizations that support the troops and specific actions we could take to do this.

Which is all the more reason for people to support Operation Soldier Care – a project with a specific call to action.

Read Trish Forant’s blog post at http://tinyurl.com/55vlqe and then take action to support the troops.

Technorati Tags:
National Guard, Operation Soldier Care, www.eMailOurMilitary.com, Nancy Sutherland, Mary Kay, Trish Forant