#2 of your thrice monthly poke.
The Army Emergency Relief Fund helps soldiers and families of soldiers in financial need. With something like 40% of Iraq forces made up of Reservists + brutal stop-loss policies, there are thousands of families out there with a loved one downrange and fucking bill collectors at the door.
Me, angry? There's a gym-bag full of neck punches waiting for some suited shits in Washington as far as I'm concerned, but let's focus on doing something constructive.
The reason I'm asking for donations here rather than directly to the AER is so I can track the amount, as I will MATCH what you people kick in. Find an entry or link on the site amusing, kick in a buck. Think I'm a self-righteous hack windbag ... write a BIG check and strip me of my ill-gotten gains!
Oddly, although we're on pace for a private goal (I'll reveal it on the last day of the month), we're doing so because we're getting a mix of bigger donations with the micro-donations. As much as I appreciate those, I'd much prefer to see more one and two dollar donations. The whole idea here is simple -- find one thing on this blog you dig that wasn't here last month, kick in four quarters. Find that this has become part of your daily read, kick in four quarters -- for the whole month.
Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting. Thanks for digging silver out of the couch for people far, far better than I.
2 comments:
I hope you don't mind but I posted a notice about this on the Triggerstreet message board. Thanks for doing this. Hopefully, you will get some more contributions from people who are not yet reading your blog.
Thanks for spotlighting this issue, John -- it's no joke. Military families, particularly those of enlisted service members, often live pretty close to the edge. And it's an unfortunate side price of the modern fighting force and those idiotic policies you mention that the number of families with both parents on active duty is growing.
My mother for many years worked in Navy Family Services (my dad was an officer) and would regularly come home with heartbreaking stories about the families she interacted with: moms who fed their kids popcorn because it was cheap and filling.
"Soft" costs like family services comprise more of the defense budget than most people think, and it's here the cuts get made first.
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