From US to You works hard year round to send care packages to our troops in need. We take pride in doing the special and unique projects to not only raise money for postage and care packages but to also instill community awareness and patriotism.

Here are just a few things that we have done on behalf of our troops. New updates will be added as events and projects develop. Your support is welcome in keeping our efforts going. It is folks like you that make From US to You successful. The projects listed here were funded entirely by donations be it through volunteers donating their time, the media, restaurants, local business owners etc. Due to the kindness and generosity of the Charlottesville and Valley community as well as many others all proceeds and earnings go entirely to care packages and shipping fees.

Soccer Uniforms

Our latest project at From US to You was to get a few of the guys out of the 11th MEU some new soccer uniforms. Through email it was learned that soccer is very important to these Marines as a form of activity and exercise. Once it was discovered that some T-shirts that were sent to the unit were going to be used to make up “team uniforms” by marking them with ink to distinguish the players, we searched the net and found Mike Carter at:

www.codefourathletics.com

Operation Troop Support

In conjunction with From US to You Sperry Marine in Charlottesville sponsored an employee drive September 7th –24th to raise money and donations for our troops overseas. Not only did they collect funds and product donation they paid for shipping! HOOAH! 76 big boxes of “good stuff” as the Soldiers say, were sent to various units through out Iraq and Afghanistan. Some much needed specialty items like a microwave, mechanics gloves, and a high powered lantern were all part of Sperry’s generous efforts that reached some Soldiers in need. The project was a huge success, many, many thanks to the staff at Sperry Marine for a job well done.

Pennies for Postage & Letters from Home

On September 24th 04 the great folks at Shenandoah Harley invited us over to do some troop efforts at their annual Valley Thunder event. We set up a table and asked for one-dollar donations in exchange for a post card with a written message of support for our troops. Some of our local military came out and supported our efforts and worked the crowd. It was a fun day had by all. We raised over $200 in pennies and came home with over 60 post cards to mail out to our guys. The Troops say there is nothing like a letter from HOME!

Support Our Troops Week

For Memorial Day Living Stones Motorcycle Club, From US to You, Shenandoah Harley and Shenandoah HOG Chapter teamed up so sponsor what was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. We worked hard for 3 months to put together a weeklong event from May 23-30 to honor our military.

Freedom Relief Ride III

The week was kicked off with Freedom Relief Ride III. Over 150 bikers showed from the area and out of town to raise money doing a poker run for From US to You. The bike ride was police escorted and every traffic light and intersection was made to come to a complete stop so we could ride through. I wish our Soldiers could have been there to see it. It was a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride and lunch. Several Soldiers back from deployment came out as our special guests. They expressed gratitude and shared with everyone just how important the letters and care packages are to morale while serving us.

Operation Carry the Flame

On the following Thursday Operation Carry the Flame was sponsored by Bob Ladd and Shenandoah Harley. The Carry the Flame riders were welcomed and celebrated with live bands, a wonderful feast, and the entire Waynesboro community. Be sure to check out their website www.carrytheflame.org. They do invaluable work for our troops and POW/MIA issues. There are no words to express the emotion as the flame was passed from person to person to honor our fallen, our MIA’s, POW’s and active duty.

Tears flowed when Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers sang his song about the Vietnam Wall. Everyone stood out of respect as he played in honor and memory of our Vietnam Veterans. Stand up America singers came from Maryland and sang patriotic songs for us while the torch was passed. Fletcher’s Bridge ended the evening with some mighty fine rock’n roll Southern style.

We were America at it’s best that night, and I have never been so proud and honored to part of an event in my life. From US to You received product donations from the community and with funds raised from the poker run we were set for five months in doing our care packages.

May 29th local bikers from the area went to the National Cemetery in Staunton and placed a wreath for our Soldiers that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

May 30th the bikers rode in mass to Washington DC to be part of the annual Rolling Thunder event where thousands of bikers rally to take a stand for Veterans rights and POW/MIA concerns.

Giant Food

Numerous times Giant Food has allowed us to set up shop in front of their store, as well as donated gift cards to purchase care package items. We do the Pennies for Postage and Letters from Home and put out a package donation list to invite the grocery shoppers to purchase an item or two for our troops to help us fill up our grocery cart by our table.

Songs for Soldiers

In the fall of 03 a Soldier inspired a project to be organized to raise money for CD’s. It was written that CD’s were the only form of escape and entertainment that the Soldiers had. The request was for some new CD’s. The sand and environment were harsh on the disks and new ones were wanted. With the support of Plan 9 Music, a local music store, area bands, and radio stations a drive was put together. The goal had been to raise enough money to send 200 CD’s to Iraq and Afghanistan. In the end 1,152 CD’s were sent to our deployed troops.