Our college friend Steve was deployed yesterday for the third time. Having before leaving behind his wife, now he leaves behind his young son. For ten months... TEN MONTHS. You can imagine that during this goodbye they would say, "see you next year."
My Dad served in the Army in Vietnam, flying shanooks... but this long before he and I would ever meet. I can't imagine saying goodbye for so long to my Daddy... I can't imagine being without my husband, my partner, for ten long months.
Mia and I try to say thank you every time we see a soldier in uniform. Today we met a man in this same uniform as Steve when we were leaving Chick-Fil-A. I told him thank you for what you do and that we have a friend who just deployed yesterday. He told me the absolute best thing while away in the foreign lands is to have letters from home. He told us to make sure we send our friend letters.
When asked what we could do for Steve while he was away, he came up with this simple plan. Most everyone has heard of "RAOK" or "Random Acts of Kindness." For the over 250 days he'll be overseas, he asked that we all pitch in and do our own versions of RAOKs and send him a letter telling about it.
You don't have to know Steve to participate in this! Only if you've ever wished there was something you could do personally for a soldier who has left HIS/HER family to fight for YOURS, then this is your opportunity!! Below you will find instructions on what to do.
Thank you Steve, Marissa and Jackson for your sacrifice.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me start off by saying thank you for your support on this operation. Without you guys this would never happen and I cannot thank you enough.
BACKGROUND: During my last three deployments people always asked what I needed and how they could get it to me. I never needed anything due to the fact that everything was available downrange. The only thing I really looked forward to, were letters from home. I felt bad when people spent money on me only to give me things I had access to on a daily basis.
This little endeavor will keep people from having to send me stuff while they give to others in more need. I don’t know how I came up with this idea, but thought we could give it a try.
PLAN: 1.) Complete your Random Act of Kindness between 01MAY13 and 01DEC13. This will give enough time for your mail to reach my location before I head back home.
2.) Write a letter with the following information:
a. Date the Act occurred / Date you wrote the letter
b. Who you are and how you know me
c. What your Act of Kindness was
d. What brought you to do the act
e. Reaction of the person (If Any)
(You can add to the list above if needed)
3.) Send the letters to:
MAJ Kane, Steven L.
11 MP BN (CID)
Bagram Airfield
APO AE 09354
THE ACT: The act does not need to be money driven. Anything you can think of is in play. You can even bring your kids into the mix. They can draw a picture of what they did instead of a letter. This can be a whole family activity and they are highly encouraged to participate.
Thank you again for participating in this operation. I cannot wait to see how this turns out!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Bella Photography,
ReplyDeleteWhile I have only known MAJ Kane for a short 6 months I have grown and learned that he is a great man, an amazing Soldier and leader with great experience and knowledge, a good husband and great dad, not to mention a good boss. So I thank you for sharing this and ask anyone reading this take a moment and do something great for this fine Soldier and man and don't forget to write Steve so he can enjoy what you did in his honor and absences! Thank you again!