Keeping Afghanistan Warm

The kids in Afghanistan are one step closer to being warm this winter. Braden mailed the boxes to Will right before he left to go back after his R & R early this month. I might get the numbers wrong, so correct me if I'm wrong Traci, but Will received 26 boxes of coats, etc. which we collected and Braden and a lot of the Ward in Nephi (Traci might have helped a little too!) washed, dried, vacuum packed, boxed and mailed...thanks to contributions from wonderful family and fabulous friends!!

Traci said that they also collected enough money to send 6 or 7 more boxes of blankets. The Relief Society in our old ward in Nephi tied 36 quilts and families also donated NEW blankets to send over! Will said that they will take the blankets and the 6 boxes from my nephew, Tyler, to a small village near or in Kabul on a later HA drop. Tyler put together a flier and collected school supplies from his neighborhood and friends for the kids also! He's such a sweetheart!

This is the post office at Camp Blackhorse in Afghanistan. All the boxes came here and then... Will had arranged for a connex (container) so they could store all the boxes until the ANA had organized the HA (humanitarian aid) drop. This is a picture of LTC Yeager and LT Swabota...of the Air Force. This HA is going to include medical help, food, supplies and clothing including all the coats from Braden to the people in the Tag Ab Valley, which is East of Kabul. I found a blog of a soldier over there who has served in the Tag Ab Valley and I thought his explanation of what the area is like is interesting. You can go to his blog HERE.

In one of my text conversations with Will, he said, "I'm excited to serve the people by taking them these coats and help them get the medical attention they need. Its getting cold at nights here."

It's been so very overwhelming to see and be a part of this...in a good way! I want to thank all of my family and friends who helped contribute to this project. I was so touched at how fast so many of my friends responded to my request for contributions to "sponsor a box"! My peeps are AWESOME!!

These are some of the boxes from Braden.

And these are the boxes going into the ANA's 7 1/2 ton trucks. Will made sure that you can see the address labels on the box. If you zoom in you can see that these are some of the boxes from Braden.

Will was also very proud of himself that he got the bag of flower in mid-air! Ohhh, the talent! :)He said that the food went in first and then the coats. They plan give medical aid to the people first...since Team Spike (Will's ETT team) is out on this HA drop, he will send more pictures and info when he gets back.

I am so excited to see the children wearing their coats and to hear how they reacted. Will knows and I know that there is such a great need for EVERYTHING over there. Will's greatest desire was to make a difference. He didn't want to go to Afghanistan and waste ANY time. He has said that if he is going to leave his family to serve his country, he is going to make his service worth that sacrifice.

We love you Will. We are so proud of you and that you had a desire to make life a little easier for these very humble, very tired people. We're so happy that Braden took this challenge. If he hadn't of, I would have had to do it and I don't think I could have taken another "serving" on my plate! It has been a HUGE undertaking. He definitely deserves his Eagle Scout Award. I'm sure I have no idea how much time has gone into this project.

Can you feel the warmth?