February 2017 Monthly Newsletter
SHARE THE LOVE!
Valentine’s is a day dedicated to demonstrating our love. Why not take a moment to share just a little bit of that love with our troops. Our soldiers show us their love every day; their love for our country, their love of freedom, and their love is demonstrated over and over again through their selfless sacrifices. Every day our troops declare their love for us. Why not take just a moment to remember our deployed men and women and make sure these brave hearts won’t be lonely hearts for Valentine’s Day this year!
Share your love with one of our thousands of deployed troops this Valentine’s Day. To make our Valentine’s package even more special MAF will include yummy and fun Valentine’s candy conversation hearts, hot cocoa packets with marshmallows and peppermint stirring sticks and extra special home-made Valentine’s cards provided by some caring school children and church groups from all over the country.
Of course, our troop support packages will include all our regular great treats like cookies, premium beef jerky, woolen socks, Aloe infused Dude Wipes to handle tough grime and much more. Everyone loves to get a reminder on Valentine’s Day that they are loved and part of a bigger family, let’s take the time to give some of that love to our troops!
It’s easy to do and our Valentine’s packages start at a super affordable $24.99.
Author Reid Lance Rosenthal Partners with MAF for Great Christmas Surprise for our Troops!
Move America Forward was surprised and delighted to receive a special donation this past Christmas from Wyoming rancher and nationally acclaimed author Reid Lance Rosenthal –an amazing 9,800 copies of his #1 Best Selling Threads West, An American Saga, the first historical fiction novel of his iconic epic saga of the same name! The series enjoys a virtual even split between male and female readers which means all our troops will just love receiving this great read. Threads West is the recipient of a whopping twenty six National Awards. Threads West is compared to Lonesome Dove, The Sacketts, Dances With Wolves and Centennial. Reviewers have dubbed the series the “Gone With The Wind Of The West”.
Threads West, which begins in May, 1854, is the story of America set in the West–it is our story–the tale of the weave of the American tapestry from the threads of lives of brave men and independent women of differing origins, uncommon cultures and competing ambitions over four generations in the West
Reid is fourth generation land and cattle. In addition to writing and ranching he is a well-known talk show host and is fiercely and proudly pro-American military. The inspiration for his remarkable donation, already in the hands of eager military readers around the world, is perhaps best summed up in his own words: “It is an honor and a privilege to provide these books to you–the brave men and women in harm’s way and far from home who protect the people and values of the red, white and blue.
I chose Move America Forward after much research. They have not disappointed my faith in their leading resolve, organization and abilities to get these books in your hands, wherever you may be protecting America around a dangerous globe. You, like the courageous men and women of the past who live in the pages of these novels, are the contemporary heroes and heroines leaving their legend and footprint upon America and Freedom. The books are merely a humble thanks from one proud American. Be safe. Enjoy.”
We are delighted to be informed by Reid that he plans to make these types of amazing donations an annual holiday event for our troops through Move America Forward. Thank you, Reid! For more information on Reid, his books, ranches and radio show, www.threadswestseries.com, www.reidlancerosenthal.com, and www.ontherightsideradio.com, and be sure to throw a Like to the Threads West Facebook page www.facebook.com/threadswest/
A Word from MAF Co-Founder Melanie Morgan!
On January 25, I had the opportunity to venture forth from the Bay Area to visit the MAF offices in Sacramento as the volunteers there were preparing our first shipment of 2017 care packages.
Ever since co-founding Move America Forward back in 2004, I have been so proud of the great work done by our volunteers do to honor and thank our troops. Only by their efforts AND our donors who sponsor the care packages are we able to send them to our troops on the front lines.
Check out some of our great volunteers that made this huge packing party possible!
Send you Endless Love through our Monthly Smiles Support!
Set up to schedule a monthly troop support package now and we will remember to send a package out through our Monthly Smiles Club for you each month. Our Monthly Smiles Club provides an easy way to keep those smiles coming all year long!
At the bottom of a care package donation form there is an option to select either a one-time gift or join monthly smiles. Just click where it says “Yes, I would like to make a Re-Occurring Gift” and choose the frequency you wish to send.
The default we recommend is every 1 month, meaning 12 care packages per year. If you change the number, the system will skip the intervening months.
So, for example:
That’s all there is to it. Then you’ll know each month you’ve put a smile on a soldier’s face. Our Director of Troop Support, Lisa Baron personally oversees our Monthly Smiles program and she will make sure that your monthly package contains a personal message from you to the troops with every package we ship out on your behalf.
We can also set up programs that send packages out for all the different holidays through the year. We have members who send out packages for Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and others who send out packages every other month or even quarterly. We’re here to help with whatever you or your company, group or organization wants to do to support the troops. There’s no obligation, and you can stop sending packages at any time. Plus Monthly Smiles donations are always 100% tax deductible!
If you have questions about setting up a Monthly Smiles program for holidays only or would just like additional information, contact Lisa Baron, our Monthly Smiles Director at LisaBaron@MoveAmericaForward.org.
MEET OUR TROOPS
Registering a Soldier is Easy
Registering a soldier to receive support packages is free and easy. If you have the address of someone deployed on active military duty, click here for our Military Sign-Up Center or copy this link (http://www.moveamericaforward.org/soldier-sign-up/) and e-mail it to them so they can sign-up themselves.
Once signed up they’ll be eligible to receive packages and messages of support from caring fellow Americans.
Amazon Smiles makes giving even easier!
Move America Forward is now partnering with Amazon.com and participating in their Amazon Smile Non-Profit Program, where Amazon donates a portion of whatever you order to MAF so we can send even more support packages to our troops!
How does Amazon Smile Work?
It’s simple: All you have to do is use the link below to select Move America Forward as the charity you would like to support and a small portion of what you buy on Amazon.com is donated. No extra cost to you, just extra support for our brave defenders for buying the things you normally would. It’s a WIN-WIN!
CLICK HERE TO SET UP AMAZON SMILE
Millions of Americans already use Amazon to purchase clothes, books and movies to tech gadgets, or almost anything you can think of. Chances are, if you’ve ever bought anything on-line, you have probably used Amazon.com at least once or twice.
Now with Amazon Smile, you can support Move America Forward at no cost to you, simply by buying the same things you would have bought anyway.
Prices are the same, shipping is the same, and nothing changes except Amazon donates .05% of your purchase to MAF on your behalf!
TWEETS FOR THE TROOPS @M_A_F
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Move America Forward Gets Platinum Rating From GuideStar USA!
We are proud to announce that Move America Forward has obtained a new PLATINUM Rating from the popular charity-ranking service GuideStar USA!
We are very proud and excited to be named a Platinum Participant. For the third year in a row we have been recognized as one of the top charities supporting our troops, and being upgraded from Gold to Platinum level shows that we’re making progress and our efforts are paying off.
We work hard every day to show our supporters know we appreciate their time and effort. We also fulfill all the transparency requirements and recommendations by GuideStar to assure our donors that every contribution you make is used as efficiently as possible to fulfill our mission to support our troops.
The Platinum level rating awarded to Move America Forward is based on each nonprofit’s mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finances, programs, transparency, governance, and so much more from information provided by Move America Forward and data collected by Guidestar. Guidestar is used as a reference by thousands of organizations and agencies including the Department of Defense to evaluate non-profits.
GuideStar USA, Inc. is an information gathering service used by the Department of Defense specializing in reporting on popular non-profits. They collect information about Move America Forward and tens of thousands of other non profits and give us a grade based on our overall mission, transparency, impact, reputation, and finances.
GuideStar has partnered with and serviced such companies as American Express, Grassroots.org, JP Morgan Chase & Co., the Schwab Charitable Gift Fund, T.Row Price, Lexis Nexis and many more. We are so proud of obtaining the highest PLATINUM Participant rating from this reputable charity grading service.
Great Non Profits Check out one of our latest reviews!
Do you have unused or unwanted gift cards?
Now, you can use them to sponsor care packages for one of our brave men or women of the military. Not only will you brighten the day of one of America’s finest, but your gift card donation to Move America Forward is also tax deductible, a win-win!
For every $25 dollars in gift cards we receive, we will send a care package in your name. Click here to get started!
As always, special thanks go out to our Sponsors!: