Thursday, January 31, 2008

Super Bowl Party!!!!!!!!

Greetings Everyone,

Angela Metcalf, Volunteer Coordinator of the Nevada State Veteran's Home has ask that we send about 5-8 volunteers to assist at the Super Bowl party on 02/03/08. The location is the Nevada State Veteran's Home located at 100 Veteran's Memorial Drive, Boulder City, Nevada 89005. She is asking volunteers to arrive at 2:30pm. Game starts at 3:00pm. Volunteers would be assisting the residents with food and visiting with them.


Felicia

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

National Salute to Hospitalized Veteran's

Feb. 10-16 is the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans week. You are invited to visit your local VA hospital and spread some Valentine Angel Love!! Organize a group and call the Volunteer Services office and let them know you are coming. It is such a fulfilling thing and just think about how many lives you will touch! Be sure to check with your VA State Leader (listed on the VA/None Forgotten forum) and see if there is a contact angel at your nearest facility. They might have something organized already and would LOVE to have your help! Be sure to not forget our VA Nursing Homes. Be careful though...that group has a tendency to steal YOUR heart and keep it forever!! If there is no contact angel...visit anyway! This is an open invitation from the VA to visit!! And if there isn't a contact angel there, be sure to tell Volunteer Services allllllll about SA!! You can give them my information if you would like and I will be more than happy to fill them in!
Go here to read about it: http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/nshv.cfm

The Southern Nevada Angels will be visiiting the veterans in the michael Callaghan Hospital on February 10th. If you would like to be a part of our visiting group contact Lou at VACTLNV@gmail.com and she will give you all the details.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

New Flat Rate Boxes

Starting March 3rd, the USPS will offer a larger Priority Flat Rate box. It is 50% larger than the current boxes and will cost only $2.00 more when shipped to a military address.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box (12" x 12" x 5½") can be used for both domestic and international shipments. This extends the flat-rate price and ease-of-use benefits to international shippers. There is also a 5 percent online discount.

There will be a special version of the box for the military, with a $2 discount, if shipped to an Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office (APO/FPO) address.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Reno VA Wish List

Reno Has given me this wish list so if you can help them even on a couple of items it would be greatly appreciated.

They are mostly requesting Lip Balm at this time.

Other needed items are:

Personal Hygiene Items
Shampoo
Soaps
Lotions
Razors
Combs
Brushes
Nail Brushes
Nail clippers
Emory boards etc

Beverages

Teas
Coffees
Sugar
Sugar alternatives
Creamers
Cups
Spoons

Misc. Items
Socks (all sizes)
Underwear ( all sizes)

The Nevada VA team thanks you for you support of this VA. To send items to this VA please use this address, include a note stating you are a soldiers Angel and if you could drop us an email too that would be great at ctlnv07@gmail.com so that we know what has been donated to this VA facility.

The address is
Voluntary services
Reno VAMC
1000Locust St
Reno, NV 89521

Thank you,
Jessica

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Calling All Angels

Hello Nevada Angels,

We have an Angel Alert!!!

I have an urgent request for ALL of you. On Saturday January 26, 2008 there is a Funeral for SSG. Sean Gaul. He was killed in Iraq on January 9, 2008. The Westboro Baptist Church will be there to protest the funeral and I would like to get as many angels as possible to please attend this funeral on behalf of the family to show support and out number the protestors.

Funeral Services for this Fallen Hero will be on January 26th, 2008. They are scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. and will be at Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 100 Bishop Manogue Drive, Reno, 89511.


If you are able to come I welcome you with open arms. If you need help with directions, hotels anything, please feel free to contact me day or night. I will do everything I can to make sure as many Angels are there to support this family that has made the ultimate sacrafice.

Thank you,


--
Jessica Bezanson
CTL of Northern Nevada
VA-CTL of Reno NV
Member of Wounded Soldier TLC Team

I wish you just enough....
May no soldier go unloved.
May no soldier walk alone.
May no soldier be forgotten,
Until they all come home.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Project Rub-a-Dub-Dub

The idea for "project Rub-a-dub-dub" came from something my Las Vegas VA Contact Katherine said in one of our meetings, so I have tried to expand upon her idea and incorporate some of the already exisiting SA programs. Katherine said and I quote" these homeless guys are so grateful for anything they are given even a bottle of water is a big deal" I agree with Katherine, water will be an important part of Rub-a-dub-dub, especially in our 120 degree summer days. However the other items we have decided to include will also be useful and helpful to the veterans.

The Team and I have set a D-day of April 30th for the first recipents of "project Rub-a dub-dub" however our general feeling is that this project should be ongoing as we have so many homelss vets to help. By the way this project is aimed at homeless vets but if it takes off we may expand it to vets who are struggling financially also.

The basic premise of Project rub-a dub-dub is to provide homeless vets with the basic supplies to keep clean, have a little something to eat, give them hope and most of all let them know their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

To do this the VA team has come up with this project outline.

We propose to involve the community in this project in as many ways as possible so our plan is to provide the homless vet with a pack of things (listed below) that they may find useful and that we hope will let the Nevada vets know that they have support.

The Pack we are hoping will be some sort of back pack.

These back packs we are hoping to get donated by Children in the school district, sort of a way to recycle back packs they are no longer using. They do not have to be new but in good condition.

Blankets of Hope - this is our biggest item in the bags, I have posted in the sewwing forums asking for donations but we are also asking girlscouts, churchs and other veterans groups to help donate the materials and to help make them.

Gift cards- We're planning to sit outside local grocery stores with flyers and request items like $5 gift card to fast food restaurants like McDonalds, TacoBell and Jack in the box And also write to these plus other companies for donations such as Dunkin Donuts

Personal Hygiene Packs- This is to be the main focus of the pack. Items to be included are combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, soap, shampoo, wet wipes, lotion, sunscreen and chapstick, washcloths (possibly a small towel), shaving kits for men and famale products for women. Al items to be trail sized. Oral Hygiene products we are asking dentist offices to provide. Other items to be collected in tradional donation drives.

Clothing - T-shirts, underwear, socks. Items to be included in each pack. Items to be donated from local church groups, veterans groups and from donation drives.

Food stuffs- Bottled water, crystal lite, ceral bars and other no cook easy open foods. The idea behind this os to give homeless vets a healthy snack that they can eat when they might not have anything else and as an alternative to fast food, whoch is neither healthy or nutricious.

Pet Products-[color=][/color] This item is still under review however as all the VA CTL's are huge dog lovers we felt it had to be addressed. many homeless vets ahve companion animals, especially dogs so we thought we might ask our respective vet clinics if they would donate a couple cases of canned dog food to provide to these homess vets with dogs.

Cards of support- This is the final item we have discussed adding to the pack. We felt it was important to include a card letting these vets know that they have support and that their sacrifices have not been forgotten, however it can also be used as a good tools for sponorship. We discussed this evening that by including a card a fmily or individual could donate monetary funds to this project to cover the cost of putting this pack together and could simply signt he card from the Jones family for example. or from our insurance companies. We plan to target companies we work for for monetary help, especially Prudential for who I am a Realtor and all the mortgage companies I work with.

Other ideas-

Traditionally these projects have items donated from individuals at venues like outside the local grocery store but the team feels that this project would be better co-ordinated working directly with companies, while acknowledging that someof these types of fundraisers will still need to be done. The biggest partnership we hope will come from Prudential, as I am one of their Realtors but also because simply with 1200 Prudential agents in the valley and 6 offices we have the perfect place for individuals to drop off items or being to a Prudential Open house for the agent to bring back to their respective office. I am currently working with my company to get an interivew with the CEO, who works out of my office.

We also felt that by asking dentists, vets, chruches and boys and girls clubs to help with this project we could raise awareness in our local communities of the veterans needs and inspire more people to sign up and become VA Angels.

In addition to these ideas we have decided to implement money raising ideas such as loyalty cards for grocery stores such as Albertson's who give non profit groups like us a pack with 100 cards that when swiped will donate a portion of the monies spent to a fund like the VA team that we in turn would send to SA.

Potential Problems- The one place in our entire plan that has in our opinon the biggest weakness is the Blankets of Hope, mostly because the blankets are fairly expensive to make (Around $10) we really need to figure out if we could get support from angels accross the country to help us make the amount of balankets that we would require as because of the size of this project, expecting them to all be donated from Nevada ( for this year at least) would be extreamly difficult.

The size of this project is also difficult but we have set a goal of at least 5,000 but not to exceed 10,000 of these packs to be donated to homeless Nevada Veterans this year, this first ones being donated at the Las Vegas Stand down on April 30th 2008, after that we plan to distribute them through the VA and the CBOC with another big push at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is our goal that this project put the NV VA team in the spotlight and increase our overall numbers for the VA team along with Soldiers Angels.

Please let me know if there is anything you think we can improve upon and if you have any suggestions. The current plan is to lauch this project tomorrow on forums with the NV VA team newsletter to be mailed out this week alerting all NV angels of the project even those not on forums. Donation letters will be mailed out early next week.

Thank you for your help, support and guidance it's appreciated more than you know.

Lou and the Nevada VA Team

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Funeral Services for SSG. Sean Gaul

Funeral Services for this Fallen Hero will be on January 26th, 2008. They are scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. and will be at Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 100 Bishop Manogue Drive, Reno, 89511.

SSG Sean Michael

GAUL

Staff Sergeant Sean Michael Gaul, 29, of Cresco, IA, was killed in action January 9, 2008 in Sinsil, Iraq. Sean was born June 25, 1978 to Christine M. Minear and Michael F. Gaul. He moved to the Reno area as a child in 1985. He attended local schools and was a member of JROTC at Reed High School. He joined the US Army in November, 1999. He was a career soldier first serving with B Co., 1/505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. He then transferred to a Stryker Brigade at Ft. Lewis, WA and currently was stationed in Vilseck, Germany as a Recon Platoon Squad Leader. He attended Ranger School, sniper school, and was also trained as a paramedic. This was his 5th deployment.

Sean was a very enthusiastic athlete. He trained in kenpo, aikido and ninjitsu. He ran many races, participated in triathlons, biked, swam, and loved to hike. He loved the outdoors.

Sean was a family man. Married in June 2000, he is survived by his wife, Jessica L. H. Gaul and daughter. His love for work was second only to his joy while being home. He will also be missed by his mother; father; four sisters; three grandparents; seven uncles; nine aunts; numerous cousins; much family and many friends. An incredible man and grandfather Irvin J. Minear and cherished baby boy Ian Michael Gaul precede him in death.

Memorial services are scheduled for 11 a.m, Saturday, January 26 at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 100 Bishop Manogue Drive, Reno, 89511. At Sean's request donations may be made to the SSG Sean Gaul and Family benefit at Wells Fargo Bank. He hopes to be honored by helping many others. The family would like to thank everyone everywhere for their support. May God bless you and keep you. We invite you to send a condolence message in the family guestbook at www.waltonsfuneralhomes.com Sean we will always love you as we always have. POW, MIA, KIA Gone but never forgotten.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Funeral Services for Sgt. Drakulich

Services for this fallen Hero will be held on Saturday January 19th, 2008. They will be at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, 310 West 2nd Street in Reno. The service will begin at 10:00 A.M.

David Drakulich
Sgt. David Joseph

DRAKULICH

Sergeant David Joseph Drakulich, son of Joseph and Tina, and eldest brother to Thomas and Dana Drakulich, bravely fought and died for his country in Afghanistan on January 9, 2008. David was born April 3, 1985 at St. Mary's Hospital in Reno, NV. Sergeant Drakulich graduated from Hug High School in 2003. After attending TMCC for two semesters he proudly joined the army in 2004. There he served as a forward observer, rifleman, and parachutist with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division based out of Fort Bragg, NC. Sergeant Drakulich has been awarded the Bronze Star for his heroic efforts and his sacrifice for our country. After completing his third and final tour this May, to once again rejoin civilian life, he looked forward to returning to school to pursue art in the fall of 2008.

David was an avid artist who also enjoyed snowboarding as well as listening to rock and roll while smoking a tobacco pipe or good cigar with his father. He was ushered into heaven by his lovely grandmother, Jan Lesperance; great-grandmother, Josephine Caviglia; great uncle and aunt, Ceasar and Katie Caviglia. David leaves behind his proud and loving grandparents, Tony Lesperance and wife Nancy, as well as Ina and Duke Drakulich. He will also be greatly missed by aunts, uncles, cousins and friends too numerous to mention.

A rosary will be held this Friday, January 18, 2008 at 6 p.m. at Mountain View Mortuary, 425 Stoker Ave., Reno, NV. David's life will be honored through the celebration of Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. Donations may be made to the David Drakulich Art Scholarship Foundation at Wells Fargo, as well as, “In Memory of David Drakulich“ TMCC Foundation at 7000 Dandini Blvd., RDMT 2001, Reno, NV. Any and all donations made are greatly appreciated and will go to support the arts and education. David's family finds great comfort in knowing that he will now and forever bask in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May God Bless and Protect Our Troops.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Updated Wishlist for Las Vegas VA

Hot Needs

Winter clothing
i.e Gloves, hats scarfs, cats, sweaters, socks, sweatshirts and thermal underwear.

Donations for funding of Annual Award Banquet

Need supporting funds for Paralyzed Veterans Of AmericaTo send team to the annual Wheelchair Games in Omaha Ne.

Everyday needs

Clothing
Personal Hygiene Products
Food / non perishable items
Phone cards
Gas Vouchers
Funds for bus passes ( to help vets attend job interviews)
Money Orders ( to help Vets obtain DMV I.D's)

If you can help with any of these items please email me at vactlnv@gmail.com

Thank you!