Anysoldier.com

Donation Program

by James Elliott

The New Helen of Toy Company started a donation program this Fall in support of a great non-profit organization called Anysoldier.com. You may have heard of them in the news recently as they are an outstanding and very fast-growing non-profit with a great mission: getting care packages and letters to our brave combat troops who are stationed in the most violent war zones around the world (especially to those soldiers who receive little or no mail.) The New Helen of Toy Company recently sponsored Anysoldier.com and we have started a donation program that will send 10 percent of our profits throughout the rest of 2004 straight to Anysoldier.com. We have developed a special "Lean & Mean" low-cost version of our Classic GI Footlocker Set which was specifically designed for the Anysoldier Program. Please see our special ebay auction for the Anysoldier Footlocker Set details and photos. You may bid on the Sets each week until the end of 2004 or you may contact us directly at mailcall@helenoftoy.com to purchase yours without ebay involved. The Anysoldier Footlockers contain 100 specially picked green-colored WWII troops and a metal Dog Tag on 4.5" chain. The Footlockers sell for only $10 plus $4.50 Parcel Post Mail shipping. To keep costs down, we ship the Anysoldier Footlockers as is, with none of the extras that usually come with our standard "Fully Loaded" Footlocker Set such as outer shipping box/packaging, Battle Games, Dice, Combat Formation Sheets, Hand Signals Sheet, Commander's Letter, etc. We hope this low-cost version spurs more sales and therefore more donations for Anysoldier. Anysoldier.com was started by Marty & Sue Horn after their son Brian, of the 173rd Airborne, parachuted into Northern Iraq in March 2003. Brian was lucky and received regular care packages from home. But he noticed that many of his brothers in arms in the Airborne never received any mail at all - which was a very lonely and tough experience for them during mail call - especially considering the very harsh living conditions and the fact that they were quietly risking their lives every day for their country. Brian began handing out extra care packages sent by the Horn family to any soldier in his unit who needed some mail. Brian eventually returned from Iraq after his tour of duty, (he has now been told he's getting deployed to Afghanistan next) but the sharing of his care packages went right on without him as the Horns kept sending mail out to the troops who were still in the war zone. The Horns soon started the Anysoldier.com web site and saw it grow at a wild pace right away as more and more folks from around the country decided to pitch in and show their support for our troops overseas. Kind hearted folks from all walks of life have now sent thousands of letters, cards and care packages of all sorts to specific soldiers who then have the option of writing back to the folks that send items to them. The Anysoldier program does wonders for morale in the combat ranks and it is quite touching for those who send mail to know they are helping our troops get by while stationed in hellish war zones so far from home. Anysoldier needs all the support it can get to keep helping even more troops so please stop by their web site and check out their program. You’ll be glad you did and they’ll be very glad to hear from you. Tell them we sent you! Back to Table of Contents -- Helen of Toy Newsletter # 5 Back to Helen of Toy List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Helen of Toy. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com