The Scoop

Not enough time in a day, just not enough time. I always find myself running into the same problem. So many ideas and goals but I feel like just when I get them all gathered it is time to clock back in on Monday. I can only imagine how much more I could get accomplished if I could simply spend all my time volunteering rather than having to go into work. One day, maybe, one day.

This weekend brought on a lot of accomplishments as well as some progress in Patriot Walk Around Houston. For those of you that may not be familiar with it, I will try my best to sum it up...here's the scoop!

Patriot Walk Around Houston is taking place on March 5-12. Mark will be walking approximately 150 miles, completely circling Houston. He is doing this to rally up support for Adopt A US Soldier and our currently deployed troops. This is an effort in which we are turning into a city-wide show of support. We are looking for organizations and clubs to get involved by collecting care package items as well as schools collecting homemade cards.

We started our Friday by picking up some care package items at WalMart. Our trip included typical items such as Q-Tips, shampoos and toothbrushes/paste. A few things here and there really add up and we want to chip in some, just as others are.

Hearthstone Country Club has stepped forward and expressed a lot of interest in a benefit for AAUSS. We met with a representative on Saturday to discuss our options. It is something that we really look forward to. After the walk, we may have hundred of care packages ready to go yet we still have to cover the shipping expenses. A benefit would allow us to get the community more involved as well as raise the funds needed to get any care packages overseas. It is somewhat hard to tell whether we will have 100 care packages, or as much as 1,000. Next step in this benefit, start lining up sponsors!

We took a drive on Saturday, about 30 miles northeast of where we are located, to meet with Jennifer Kirkham. Jennifer is an AAUSS supporter that saw our information on Facebook and stepped forward to collect cards from her elementary school students. The cards were amazing! Some of them brought me to tears! These kiddo's precious words will bring joy to our troops. Here is one of my personal favorites...

Sunday came with our usual neighborhood pick up. Throughout the week we distribute our information throughout the neighborhood and offer a two hour window for pick up on that Sunday. We had a wonderful turnout this morning and now have a total of 17 full care packages ready to go out. Looks like its going to be a busy week at the post office. Here's what it finally came down to when it was all done. All purdy and ready to go!

I am concluding today with how you can help!

• Are you a teacher or district employee? You can help by collecting cards or letters at your school. These can be homemade cards or we can provide blank ones to be filled out.

• Would you like to sponsor a table at an AAUSS benefit? We are looking for $250 sponsors that will have a half table (5 seats) reserved with your individual or company information shown. We are also looking for $500 sponsors that will receive a full table (10 seats) reserved up front, with your company information shown. As the event gets closer, we will be selling individual tickets.

• Do you have a product that you would like to donate for an auction? We are looking for items that can auctioned off at the benefit. This could be a service that you provide, or a material that you sell at your store. The skies the limit!

Contact us at patriotwalkhouston@gmail.com if you are interested, or comment below.