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Support U.S. Troops

MTA is encouraging members to show support for the troops throughout the year through Operation Home Front.

United Service Organization

Operation USO Cares
http://www.usocares.org/
You can sponsor care packages provided by the USO with a $25 donation.  The United Service Organizations (USO) has created Operation USO Care Package.  Operation USO Care Package provides care packages to deployed service members.  Through Operation USO Care Package, you can sponsor a care package which includes requested items such as pre-paid worldwide phone cards, sunscreen, disposable cameras, travel size toiletries, and a personal note of thanks for their service and sacrifice.  Approved and endorsed by the Department of Defense, Operation USO Care Package is a way to send a message of encouragement thanking the troops for their service and sacrifice.

The USO is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
http://www.operationusocarepackage.org

VFW's Operation Uplink

http://www.operationuplink.org
Operation Uplink is a unique program that keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with a free phone cared.  Using contributions, Operation Uplink purchases phone cards and distributes them to servicemen and women who are separated from those they care about. 

Operation Pride

http://operationmilitarypride.org/index.html
Volunteer organization, founded by military spouses, sends cards, letters and care packages to troops.  Also distributes names and addresses of participating service members for people wishing to send messages or gifts directly.  If you fill out a form at their web site they claim they will put you in touch with the service member.  They also have lists of needed items and instructions for shipping. 

Operation Iraqi Children

http://www.operationiraqichildren.org
Sends school supplies to the children of Iraq.  In March of 2004, actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit:  An American Legend) announced the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that enables Americans to send school supply kits to Iraqi children.  Through the School Supply Kit Program, American children, can help Iraqis by gathering school supplies in local drives, assembling them in kits, then sending them to the OIC Warehouse for transport to Iraq, where our soldiers will take them to Iraqi villages.  The kits include:

· One pair of blunt-end scissors
· One 12-inch ruler with metric markings
· 12 new pencils with erasers
· One small pencil sharpener
· One large eraser
· One box of colored pencils (Crayons melt in the Iraqi summer heat!)
· One package of notebook paper
· One composition book
· Three folders with inside pockets
· One zippered pencil bag

Massachusetts Based Organizations

Cell Phones for Soldiers
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
Since April 2005, a brother-sister team in Norwell has made thousands of hours of conversation possible between deployed U.S. forces and their loved once.  The have distributed $100,000 in prepaid calling cards to deployed troops, free of charge, through their "Cell Phones for Soldiers" program.  Using cash contributions and money obtained by recycling donated used cell phones, the program buys calling cards and distributes them to deployed or deploying units.

The Friends of National Guard and Reserve Families Foundation
http://www.mangfriends.org/
Provides financial gifts to citizens of Massachusetts who are members of the National Guard and all other Reserve components and who are suffering financial hardship due to activation or extended military commitment.  All members of the Massachusetts National Guard and Massachusetts residents serving in the U.S. Armed Forces Reserve components who have been deployed for at least 30 consecutive days are eligible to apply for a need-based grant for up to $1,000.  In order to qualify, the financial hardship must be a direct result of activation or extended deployment.