Dentists in the New York City area are buying back Halloween candy for $1 per pound from neighborhood kids. The candy they are donating to “Operation Gratitude”.
Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization that ships candy and other items to troops in the war zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, Kwauit, etc. It was founded shortly after the terrorists of attacks of September 11, 2001 when Carolyn Blashek was denied admissions due to her age into the Marines.
She decided to volunteer with the Marines instead when one day a solider came into her office with major personal problems. His wife had left him and he lost his child. He was very upset and the counselor was unavailable. The solider was upset and told that he was getting shipped off again. Carolyn spoke with the solider one-on-one and tried to cheer him, but the conversation left her wanting to do more to boost the morale of soldiers oversees.
"We have two drives a year. Right now, we are in the middle of our holiday drive, which ends on December 19th," Charlie Othold, who is the Director of Operations for "Operation Gratitude" told WOR News Radio exclusively. "We send packages to troops in the war-zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, etc. It gives the soldiers an 'in' with the children of the countries so they can go in and complete their missions. It also boosts morale so that the soldiers know someone is thinking of them back home." Everyone who works here gives their time free. The only advertisement "Operation Gratitude" does is through word of mouth and the only bills they have is the shipping fees, which are paid for through the donations of people, organizations and corporations.
CORRECTION: Please note that in an earlier verison of this article, it was noted that "Operations Gratitude" is headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse. "Operation Gratitude" is headerquartered in Van Nuys at California at Armory National Guard Base at 17330 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406.
You can volunteer or organize a drive with them in any part of the country. For more information on where or how you can volunteer with "Operation Gratitude, you can contact Mr. Charlie Othold at othold@yahoo.com, (818) 437.6201, www.halloweencandybuyback.com or http://www.opgratitude.com.
In a previous blog, “A Runners Wife” I spoke about my husband training for the NYC marathon. All I have to say is that the months of training all came together of an amazing race. Race day is a grueling day for runners, and the family. But a miracle happened...
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the senate judiciary committee and basically shrugged when asked if any other enemy combatant captured overseas had ever been brought to civilian criminal court to face justice. Talk about an incompetent boob, not to mention a disgrace.
Here is a list of wines all from Spain, and menus from restaurants in Brooklyn where a crew of us did a food / wine crawl through Carrol Gardens and Williamsburg recently
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