|
MarineParents.com Newsletter
a Place to Connect & Share™ | |
|
Support Our Marines! |
|
The Care Package Project™
Operation PAL™
Team Marine Parents™
Show your support of our Marines and their families at home! Partcipate in one of the MarineParents.com Outreach Programs today! Our Marines need YOU! |
| Support for You:
a Place to
Connect & Share™ |
|
|
| Regional Support Groups |
|
The following new support groups have been added to our database:
If you are interested in starting a support group, we offer helpful tips and insight here:
|
| Learning Center:
Operations Security |
|
NOTE: When communicating online, your Marine's privacy is as important as Operations Security. Please respect YOUR Marine's privacy! |
| Learning Center:
About Deployment |
|
(from your Marine, with the USMC, and with other families)
(tips, tricks and money savers for mailing to YOUR Marine)
(bills, taxes, legal issues, injuries, notification from the Marine Corps)
|
|
Learning Center:
About Homecoming |
|
(Tip: While in our store, check in your Marine's unit store for more homecoming shirts!) |
| Learning Center:
Bootcamp |
|
|
| Marine Corps Spirit
T-shirts, Gifts & More |
|
Show your Marine Corps spirit and pride! Proceeds from sales support MarineParents.com, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity.
|
|
Graduation Announcements! |
|
Graduation Announcements are now available for your Soon-To-Graduate recruit! Use the coupon at the bottom of the newsletter to save $5!
|
| Newsletter Signup |
 | |
|
Dear Marine Families,
If this is the first edition of the MarineParents.com Newsletter you have received, WELCOME! If you are a returning reader we are glad you have joined us.
It seems appropriate that we begin the holiday season by giving thanks and counting our blessings. Many of our families have loved ones deployed this holiday season, others are struggling with combat recovery, and still others are coping with the emotions of holidays after the death of a loved one. Take a moment this holiday season to reach out to your fellow military families and help one another see all that we have to be thankful for.
On behalf of the volunteers of MarineParents.com, I would like to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful start to this holiday season. May your blessings be many and your hearts be full. |
| Unit Information Pages: UIP |
|
 Find Your Marine's Unit Information
If your Marine is active duty and assigned to a permanent duty station, you can connect with families in that unit immediately by using the "Unit Information Page", or UIP, a unique feature offered only at MarineParents.com. Search for your son or daughter's unit in the simple interface and you'll quickly locate information and message boards with those families.
|
| Care Package Content is Changing |
|
 Cooler weather means home-baked treats will ship better
It's getting cooler in the desert climates so now is the time to start sending chocolate, home-baked goodies, hot cocoa, coffee, and instant hand-warmers to your desert-deployed Marine. You might also consider sending long underwear, stocking caps and gloves.
Quick tip: Home-baked goodies will arrive fresher when they are packed tightly with little chance for air circulation. A food-grade vacuum sealer can help assure your items arrive a little fresher. For more tips and "winter ideas", visit this page of the MarineParents.com message boards:
HOLIDAY MAILING DEADLINES:
If you want to get holiday gifts to a service member deployed overseas by Dec. 25, mailing deadlines are looming!
The first deadline of Nov. 13 is for packages going by parcel post has come an gone, but that doesn't mean it's too late to ship to arrive in time for Christmas or the start of Hanukkah. As the weeks roll by, remember to ship about two weeks out from your desired arrival date when using Priority Mail for overseas shipping.
|
|
Christmas Shopping Ideas |
|
Shopping made easy for all Marine Corps fans and enthusiasts!
 Christmas is around the corner and it's time to Deck the Halls with Yellow Ribbons in honor of our Troops this holiday season! The season of giving challenges us to find unique and memorable gifts for our friends and family. MarineParents.com has many gift items available for purchase through several venues and allows your giving to show two-fold generosity: for your loved ones plus giving back to MarineParents.com, Inc. for our many Outreach Programs to support the Marines and their families.
We've provided a selection of the items we offer here on our "Christmas Catalog" page for your shopping ease. You're sure to find gifts to please the Marine Corps enthusiasts on your list!
Thank you for supporting MarineParents.com this holiday season. We appreciate your support! MarineParents.com, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity. All proceeds go to MarineParents.com, Inc.
|
| Host a Care Package Drive or Fund Raiser for Marine Parents! |
|
New Materials and Posters Available!
 One of the missions of MarineParents.com is community awareness to Support Our Troops. We have three projects that directly support the troops and their families:
- The Care Package Project™
- Operation PAL™
- Purple Heart Hero Support™
We encourage you to get involved in your community by holding a fundraiser or Care Package Drive to benefit one of our Outreach Projects. We will supply you with brochures, posters, and help along the way.
You can hold a care package drive in your office or church or involve the whole community. The posters give you space to write dates, times, locations and your contact information. If you choose to hold a fundraiser, we'll work with you to set a goal and determine the type of funraiser that will work well in your community.
If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact the MarineParents.com, Inc. office, Monday - Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. central time. We look forward to talking with you!
|
| Operation PAL™ Holiday Cards |
|
| Start writing Christmas Cards now for our Injured Marines
To assure Christmas delivery, we need to receive your cards and letters for Operation PAL™ Marines and Navy Corpsman in our Jacksonville office by December 12. If you haven't visited the Operation PAL™ website recently, please take a look and write a card or two for our newest Marines in the program.
Operation PAL™ is an outreach program of MarineParents.com that offers opportunities for the community to support our injured or ill troops through Prayers and Letters. Please take a moment to reach ou to them today through prayers and letters.
|
| Brand New T-Shirt Design |
|
 For everyone in your Marine Corps family!
It's new, it's fresh, and it's another original from MarineParents.com! Let your entire family show they are the proud family member of a United Stats Marine! Shirts available for adults and children, t-shirts or sweatshirts, in whites, lights, and an array of "Ooh Rah" colors.
FREE SHIPPING LIMITED TIME!
Get free shipping on all orders of $75 or more only through midnight, Friday, November 16. Use coupon code FREESHIP_50 at checkout (be sure to include the underscore!).
|
| MarineParents.com Partners with SendOutCards.com |
|
Send Printed Greeting Cards via US Mail with a few clicks on the Internet
 MarineParents.com has partnered with Send Out Cards to bring you a great new service.
You can send a printed greeting card plus your own personalized message via US Mail to friends and family with a few clicks online in just a few minutes. Using your account, you can set up the cards in advance to make sure you never miss another birthday or anniversary. Holiday cards are a snap. Sending thanks and good wishes on an impulse now takes only a minute or two--and will be remembered for a lifetime. The best part is, you can easily select from literally thousands of greeting card styles.
|
| 200 "Non-Deployable" Marines Volunteer for Iraq |
|
 TF-National Capital Region "Pops Smoke"
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (Nov. 2, 2007) -- Task Force National Capital Region deployed last week to Iraq for seven months. Made up of more than 200 Marines from various commands in the Washington, D.C. area, the task force will conduct security operations while overseas.
The unit was formed in June and was assembled to give Marines a chance to deploy from nondeployable duty stations such as Quantico Marine Corps Base, said Lt. Col. Robert Clement, the commanding officer. "That falls in line with the commandant's directive to give every Marine the opportunity to fight," he said. "The Marines jumped on it."
The majority of the Marines who make up the task force volunteered for this deployment.
|
| Purple Heart Hero Support™ Lunch |
|
Our next lunch at Bethesda will be Sunday, November 25
 Our next event for Purple Heart Hero Support™ (PHHS) will be a lunch served to Marine families waiting at the bedside of their Marines at Bethesda Naval Hospital. If you would like to contribute to the cost of meals served to the families of injured Marines, please visit the PHHS website.
|
| Once a Warrior: Wired For Life |
|
 Book Discussion Group Now Online
We've opened a new discussion group for family members and military personnel to have discussions with one another about the book Once a Warrior, Wired for Life. You'll find the discussion group here: USMCParents.com
The authors, Dr. Bridget Cantrell and Chuck Dean, (also of the critically acclaimed book on PTSD, Downrange to Iraq), have once again written a self-help guide that will assist the families of Warriors understand "why" the civilian world is tough for anyone who has been in combat (downrange). The book will guide the Warrior through different scenarious, validate the feelings and emotions and difficulties they face at homecoming, and provide them with practical, useful suggestions for living life as a civilian. The authors take this one step further by encouraging our Warriors to make good use of their military skills outside the military--yes, even infantrymen have skills and qualities that will be useful in civilian professions.
| |
|
We hope this week's edition of our email newsletter has been useful for you and your family. If there are topics you would like us to address, or if you have other suggestions for the newsletter, please contact us.
The banner used at the top of this newsletter is a USMC photo of Iraq-bound leathernecks from Marine Corps Base Quantico and throughout the National Capital Region. Marines listen intently as Lt. Gen. James Amos, commanding general of the Marine Combat Development Command, imparts words of encouragement and wisdom during their sendoff Nov. 2 at Quantico's Barber Physical Activity Center. Photo by: Sgt. Jennifer Brown.Click here to read accompanying story.
MarineParents.com, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. MarineParents.com, Inc. was founded in January, 2003 in response to parents' needs to find information and to Connect & Share™ with one another during deployments. Our free online services and connections have expanded to support and educate Marine moms & dads, spouses, families and friends and we'll be offering the 3rd Annual National Conference in Washington DC, 2008. We've helped over 40,000 Marine and recruit families during bootcamp, training, active duty and deployments. We've shipped thousands of care packages overseas to our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, sent thousands of prayers and letters to injured Marines and served hundreds of lunches to families caring for their Marines at Bethesda Hospital. You've found a Place to Connect & Share™.
God Bless and Semper Fidelis,
Tracy Della Vecchia
Founder and Executive Director MarineParents.com, Inc.
Neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this service. |
|
|
