Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 4/3/03 Section: News

President George W. Bush in Florida during the USA Freedom Corps launch tour. Photo courtesy core web site.

On Mar. 25, the USA Freedom Core began its "On the Homefront" program, which offers the public several opportunities to directly support troops in Iraq.

The USA Freedom Corps web site, www.usafreedomcore.gov, highlights several programs, like Operation USO Care Package. Individuals can donate a flat $25 toward a care package, which would include sunscreen, toiletries, prepaid international calling cards, and disposable cameras-items the military has specifically requested, according to the web site.

Donations can be made through the web site or standard mail. Corporations can also help by donating funds or selecting employees to serve as liaisons.

Operation Dear Abbey offers a faster way to send letters to troops by using email instead of traditional mail. To send a message, logon to anyservicemember.navy.mil and click to the "Send a message" form where you can provide basic personal information and type a message limited to 1,000 characters.

Through the Defend America program, the public can sign an online "thank you" card to troops in any service. All it takes is filling a short form that includes name, city, state, and country.

Local chapters of organizations like American Legion, American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, BPO Elks of the USA, National 4-H Headquarters, The Salvation Army, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and YMCA of the USA are among organizations providing ways for volunteers to help local military families.

By searching the Network for Good, also on the core's web site, visitors can find local opportunities for many ways to help, like opportunities in Sheboygan.

At Lakeland, the Alpha Psi Alpha sorority is sending letters to troops overseas starting April 8. To participate, contact Pattrice Pettigrew at 565-1806.

The USA Freedom Corps web site is a conglomeration of hundreds of resources, all aimed at enabling Americans to support the war on the homefront. Initiated by President George W. Bush, the USA Freedom Corps was launched on January 30, 2002.

The USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network, part of the USA Freedom Corps, is the largest clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever created, according to the web site. It includes millions of opportunities to work with more than 60,000 organizations in the 50 United States as well as in U.S. territories and countries around the world.

Between Sept. 2001 and Sept. 2002, more than 59 million Americans age 16 and older volunteered through a nonprofit or other community-serving organization, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.



Sources: www.usafreedomcore.gov.

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