From Our Hearts to Theirs ~ Thanks From the Heartland!

Iowa's Bravest's mission is to support our military personnel who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We have been sending appreciation boxes to our brave servicemen and women since the start of the Iraq war in 2003. To-date we have sent 3,659 boxes which included over 76,845 pounds (38.4 tons) of gift items. With your continued support and generosity, we will send boxes for the holidays and Girl Scout Cookies in the spring until all of our Iowa's Bravest come home.

You are making a difference - Just Ask a Soldier

Got Freedom - Thank our Troops!

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Holiday 2011 Project

Holiday boxes will be assembled on Thursday, November 3rd at 4 pm at the UAW 838 hall which is located at 2615 Washington Street in Waterloo.  Please join us in the fun!  We always need help setting up so if you have time please join us on Wednesday at 4 pm to help with that.

This year we will be sending to an Army Reserve unit from Decorah PLUS any names we get from our Iowa men and women enlisted in all the branches of the service.  Please submit their name, APO address and expected return home date by October 17th in order to get them added to our holiday list.  At this time, our plan is to send 200 boxes.  It is nice to see our number so down.

Please consider writing a short message in Christmas cards for our troops.  We would love to get around 1,000 cards to include in these boxes.  Our troops always enjoy reading messages from home and knowing they are supported.

If you have questions or would like to submit a name, please email Julie at juliea58@mchsi.com.

Thanks for your continued support.  Our community members are the greatest!

Our garden stones, wall clocks and wind chimes are 25% until the inventory is all gone.  Check them out on tab at the top of this page.

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Private Joe Bravest

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I have loaded the pictures that Sheryl Strohecker took during the assembly night into the photo gallery which is on the Articles/Photo page.  If you see a picture that you would like me to send you just email me at juliea58@mchsi.com

Thanks Sheryl, you always do a great job of capturing these great memories.

A Huge THANKS to all the volunteers that helped us pack the 710 appreciation holiday boxes for our Iowa's Bravest on November 10th!  You did a GREAT job and the servicemen and women think so too!
 

I've mentioned this before but it's worth saying again "We have the BEST volunteers around!  Over two hundred people of all ages joined us at the UAW 838 hall to help assemble the boxes for our troops.  As usual, we put them together in record time.  In 105 minutes we made all 710 boxes which is about 7 boxes each minute!!  Everyone worked really hard.  It is always nice to see so many caring people in one room working towards a common cause - To Support Our Troops!  We hope everyone enjoyed themselves too!

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Iowa's Bravest and "Dog Tags for Kids"

We hope that people from all across the state will help us send dog tags to all of our service men and women from Iowa (2,800+ National Guard Soldiers plus the enlisted) that have children at home.  The dog tags say "With Love, From Dad (or Mom) US Army (any Branch of Service) and Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan 2010.

The tags will be sent to the Soldiers directly so that they can send these gifts home to their children.  Rose Sliepka the organizer of this project says that the dog tags "are a little gift with a BIG impact.  It's an immediate connection between parents and children when the kids can wear them close to their hearts.  Kids can hold on to the dog tag every day and it reminds them that their Mommy or Daddy loves them."

• Please send a $5 donation to Iowa's Bravest and for that donation you will receive a dog tag that Rose has designed especially for us.  It will say "I Support Iowa's Bravest."  The most important part of your donation is that you are donating towards the tags that will be sent to our 3,500 + Iowa children with a parent deployed.
• All donations should be sent to Iowa's Bravest at P.O. Box 3084, Evansdale, IA 50707. (Donation Form at the end of this information).
• We need all of the Iowa Family Readiness Group leaders to contact us so that we can work together to determine how many children each of the Iowa Guard units have.  The dog tags will be sent as one package to each unit - NOT to each individual Soldier.
• We need family members of enlisted Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force service members to provide us their loved ones name, APO address, number of children and your contact information in case we have questions.  We want to include EVERY child in the State of Iowa with a deployed parent to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
• We need businesses to consider making these dog tags available for their customers or employees.  Please contact us to get this arranged.
• Questions? Contact Julie at: juliea58@mchsi.com or 319-232-3795.
  

Comments from families that have received the dog tags:

Our daughter received a dog tag (which she called her jewels) from her Daddy and immediately put it around her neck.  While at pre-school that day the recess monitor told Olivia to remove her dog tag so that she wouldn't get hurt.  Olivia's response "then I'll wait in the classroom until recess is done."  It's amazing how much of a sentimental value a 3 1/2 year-old could put on that gift.

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I recently requested dog tags to be sent to my husband's unit in Afghanistan.  I just want to tell you guys what you are doing is an awesome thing.  Those tags truly blessed a lot of children.  I watched my children open their tags and it made them feel so special to be thought of in a way so special.  My husband spoke of how touched the soldiers were to be able to send them to their children.

When our twelve year-old son received those tags from his father, it gave him hope and made him feel a little  closer to his father.  They all wear them around their neck and never take them off.  He told me it made him realize that although daddy was fighting a war so horrible he was still thinking about me.  Those words from my son touched my heart in a way I can't describe.  I understand wanting him close because I have a purse made of his cammies I vowed to carry with me until he returns.  So these dog tags are indeed a symbol of closeness.

I don't have money to donate all I have to offer is encouragement to keep making a difference in these families.  Your work is not going unnoticed it is touching so many lives.  I can't wait to go to our Family Readiness Group to hear the other stories and I will indeed share them with you.  May God bless all of your wonderful works!"  Tanya Harper, Proud Military Wife of SGT Jared Harper.

Donation Form

All of our patriotic flags (garden and large sizes) can be embroidered with a rank and name.  Just send us an email to place your order.  Our patriotic items are available year round!  This helps us send boxes and cookies to our Iowa's Bravest.This is a great way to honor your loved one serving today and our Veterans. 

NEW Sweatshirts - Order now for the cold weather!

Iowa's Bravest logo is embroidered on the left chest.

Small to X-Large = $25, XX-Large = $27

50% Cotton, 50% Polyester - the sizes run big.  Email Julie at  juliea58@mchsi.com or call at 232-3795.

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