12 November, 2008

Give it Up for the Troops!

The need is great right now--the accounts are empty and the only way the wounded will get laptops, Wiis or handheld GPS from Soldiers' Angels to assist their recovery is through the money raised by this competition. Financial times are uncertain, of course, but that doesn't change the needs out there.

Captain (now Major) Chuck Ziegenfuss used a voice-controlled
laptop after he was seriously wounded in Iraq in 2005.

This year's theme is "give up something to give to the troops." We may be worried about the future or feeling a financial pinch right now, but how many small luxuries do we spend our money on each week, luxuries that add up?: that $4 cup of gourmet coffee instead of the plain stuff that's free at work ($20 for the week), the $50 movie night out with weekend with the family when $10 would get a recently-released DVD and a couple bags of microwave popcorn (that's $40), the nice shirt on clearance at the department store that would look great on you but isn't really needed at this time ($15?)... the candybar you buy from the snack machine every afternoon to get you over the 3:00 hump ($5 a week), and on and on. The luxuries add up...

There's a lot of talk about how America as a whole isn't sacrificing for this war. How about we change that, starting with the small things?

Join us as we blog, share, and "sacrifice" something for the wounded whose sacrifice gives that very word its true meaning. Freedom isn't free, of course. And as blogger Grim says, "Project Valour-IT is for the ones that have paid some of the highest prices. The only ones who have paid more are beyond earthly help."

What are you going to give up today to give to the troops?