"Some Cypress Cares supporters anxious to give hugs to troops coming off of the bus!" Click to Enlarge

"DISMISSED!" It's the final command that families are so anxious to hear,  as that translates into "go find and hug your loved ones!"

I had the distinct privilege of being at the homecoming ceremony for not one, but TWO different groups that just spent the past year in Afghanistan.  And in between those two events, our team got together to fill and mail more than 200 care packages!!  I'd say it's been a very productive week!

On Friday, 13 August, I joined a couple hundred people from our Cypress, TX community to welcome home members of the 72nd IBCT.  They arrived, on two busses, to tears, flags and lots of cheers - literally, some local high school cheerleaders where there!  Wish I could share with you the awesome picture we took of a little girl who ran through the crowd to find her daddy in formation and hug him.  No one else in that unit moved (except to wipe tears from their eyes) as he broke formation and bent down to hold and hug his daughter.  It was the sweetest moment!

  "The busses carrying our troops, greeted by lots of cheers and waiving flags." Click to Enlarge

Saturday, 14 August was another BIG box packing day for the Cypress Cares crew.  Together with members of a local church, we gathered around a bunch of snack foods, socks, hygiene products, books and magazines as we filled up 220 boxes of love and support that are now en-route to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Wish we could see their faces at mail call!

Finally, yesterday, Wednesday, 18 August, I loaded up my kiddos and went to the homecoming ceremony of the 453rd ICTC in Houston. This group came in on two busses, but they were hours apart, so it was one long day in the Texas heat, but oh so worth it.  Even my 6, 7 and 9 year olds had a good time.  I think they are really starting to "get it" now! Seeing these Soldiers come back to their families really made a difference to the kids.  It made "the troops coming home" a lot less of an abstract thought to them.

"After all the waiting, finally that first hug!" Click to Enlarge "my daughter, Megan, was handing out US flags to anyone who didn't have one in their hand!" Click to Enlarge " " Click to Enlarge

What's next for us and our POTC-supported effort?  Well, it is going to be a very busy fall!  We've got 4 different community events in which we'll participate, a motorcycle ride-fund raiser and a booth at Houston's annual air show!  There is also our third annual Halloween Treats for Troops box packing event on 2 October and the third annual Christmas Trees for Troops on 12 November!  Last year the Halloween event had around 200 people show up to package over 2,000 pounds of candy for the troops.  If you are in the Houston area when we are working, please feel free to join in the effort! Anyone who supports our troops is welcome to be part of our team.

Unfortunately, I can't post more of the pictures or video here as I didn't get release forms signed by the parents.  The link to my website is here though, so feel free to use it to get to the pictures that way.

Well, it's been nearly two months since my last post.  Too long, I know, but I put my passion on hold for 6 weeks and spent that time with the first true passion in my life: my kids.  We took a very extended vacation and drove from Texas to Ohio, threw in about 4 days in Michigan, and then drove back again.  In all, it was me and three young children for 35 days...no separation from each other!  Lots of fun, but clearly a POTC laden month!

Now, I'm back home and back to work and today is going to be a very exciting day.  Myself and some volunteers will be headed out shortly, to help line the streets as Houston welcomes home one of our TX Guard units from a year long stay in Afghanistan.  I'm so excited myself, that I really cannot imagine how the Soldiers' families feel.  I would bet that they've been up for hours!!  How could they sleep?!

About 2 hours from now, I bet the excitement in the Welcome-Home crowd will be so much that our hearts will be pounding, tears will be flowing, flags waving and the energy will be felt in the air...and that will be before we even see the first bus come down the street!

I finally got our Flip video camera (arrived while I was on vacation), so it's going with me today.  I can't wait to share the video of this homecoming! Plus, we've got our box packing event tomorrow morning and another homecoming coming up very soon, so I'll try to get some good footage of both of those events for the blog.

Thank you POTC for helping me to further indulge my passion, and now to be able to share it in a whole new way!

As the word starts really getting "out there" about what we do, more opportunities come up for our Team to get involved in our community. Our calendar is pretty booked up these days, and it's hard to keep it all straight, but this is a good problem to have!

As I write, it is June 20, and so far this month, we’ve participated in two box packing events (one described below), and a community BBQ Cook-Off, plus this week we will work with a local ladies group to fill and mail some more care packages and be part of the Grand Opening event for a new subdivision.  In July, we’ll be working with the Vacation Bible School students of two local churches, as the students include some community service projects in their week of VBS, and a local bowling alley is holding a fund raising event for us as well!  I feel like I’m missing something, but like I said, it’s hard to keep it all straight in my head.

On June 5, we had our third official box packing day for the year.  I guess there were about 45 volunteers that showed up to help box up 156 care packages for our troops. That part, in and of itself, would be enough to make it a great day, right? Well, to top it off, we started the event with a phenomenal guest speaker!  USMC Capt (ret) Daniel Moran came by and spoke to our Team for about 15 minutes before even one box was packed. Capt Moran was very seriously injured while serving in Iraq and was burned over a great deal of his body. He is now medically retired from the Marine Corps. He said he's been asked many times, "was it worth it?"  His answer? He couldn’t speak on behalf of the Marines under his command who had died or been injured, but only for himself.  He said that after many surgeries and lots of pain and rehab, he is able to look down at his daughter (who was seated on the floor in front of him) and know that as an American, she is free to grow up and do as she chooses which to him, at that moment, makes all of his sacrifices "absolutely worth it."  

It's kind of ironic; we send our care packages to troops, most of whom we never have and likely never will meet, as a small token of our thanks, for they are serving on our behalf, and here he was, telling us how much a box of snacks and hygiene items meant to him and thousands of others.  We just want these service members to know they are not forgotten and they are appreciated.  It seems like such a small offering on our part.  But Captain Moran stood there in front of us, thanking our team. He stressed to them that "right now", at that very moment, a doctor may be sitting down after closing up a wound on a US service member, or providing aid to an enemy insurgent; a 19 year old might be coming in off of a long patrol looking for IEDs; or chopper might be landing after providing air support for ground troops, and that one thing all of them have in common is that they all look forward to coming back to their bed and finding a letter or a care package waiting for them: a package from someone who does know them at all, but wishes to let them know that their service, their sacrifice, is not forgotten.  He said that for those next few minutes as that service member tears through their box, they can escape from the reality of where they are, and enjoy the snacks or read the letter that was mailed to them.  Even though it’s such a small effort on our part, it means a whole lot to the persons who receive "our" packages.

I'm quite sure that when Captain Moran was done speaking, there were few dry eyes in the room and our Team was pumped up and ready to roll.  And a few weeks later, 156 service members had that chance to sit down and escape their reality in a Cypress Cares package mailed to them.  It is these few minutes of peace that are the reason we serve our troops from here in Cypress, TX.  I am so proud of what this little organization has been able to do. With the support of Prilosec OTC, and additional packing from individuals across the country, we will continue to ‘do what we love’.

"Me with USMC Capatin (ret) Daniel Moran. Capt Moran is also a resident of Cypress, TX!!" Click to Enlarge

The next time you are out and about, and you see a uniformed service member, please stop and thank them. Trust me, they’ll remember that moment for the rest of the day; when a complete stranger came up to them, and told them ‘thank you’ for stepping up and answering the call to duty!

Well, after a lot of work by a great committee and our volunteers, the first Cypress Cares Golf Tournament was finally put into the books this past weekend! 

On Sunday, May 16, 128 golfers and 20 volunteers got together for this fund raising event.  The jury is still out on how we did financially, but we're hoping that we've raised enough money to pay for MOST of the shipping of our troop care packages for this year.

It was something else to see so many veterans, currently serving military members, two West Point cadets, and a LOT of civilians there to support our effort.  Nearly all of the veterans got to play for "free" as we had local businesses that put up the funds and asked us to fill the slots with veterans as their way of saying Thank You for the having served.  And we found out that a lot of people had never heard of Cypress Cares before this event, so what a great way to get the word out!  We can only hope that they left with such a great feeling about what we do, that they tell others as well.

So, now that the first one is done, some people are already talking about "next year" and how to make it bigger and better.  Until then, we've got lots of other things to look forward to, including yet another box packing party on June 5. Anyone in the Houston area is welcome to come and join us while we fill another 150 packages bound for Afghanistan and Iraq.  We already know that one recently returned US Army SGT will be joining us to help out, and a retired USMC Captain will be speaking to our group before we get to work.  So not only can you come and help to support those currently deployed, you will also have the opportunity to thank those who have already "been there, done that" and work right alongside them as well.

If you are interested in participating, please contact us for information about where/when.  Our email is info@cypress-cares.org and the website is www.cypress-cares.org .  All of our events for the year are already listed on the "upcoming events" tab of the website.

Remember, Memorial Day is coming up, too.  Fly your flag if you have one and say thank you to at least one service member that day!

Cheers,

Raquel

This past week was great!  I think we got something like 6 thank you notes in the mail, from troops who received our care packages.

Now, six notes out of more than 200 boxes that were shipped in the past four weeks might not seem like much to you, but we all have to remember that these men and women have other, more important things to deal with than to send a note to someone that shipped them some a few snack foods or magazines. So to us, just one card in the mail is a good thing...six in a week, now that's GREAT!

Check out our website sometime, www.cypress-cares.org, and view that page "from the troops".  We try to keep up-to-date there with the emailed notes we receive.  We also have a scrapbook which is beautifully maintained by one of our volunteers. In it, are all of the letters, photos and certificates we have received via snail mail.  I think it is great for our supporters to have the opportunity to see just how they help to impact the life of our troops. 

Visit the website and see for yoursele