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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Easter Gift for Troops

I thought I'd pass this along from my e-mail box:

Dear Patriotic American,

Many troops who have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan severely burned, blinded or paralyzed are struggling just to feed their families. These brave men and women have made painful sacrifices for us (and our families).

And since you support patriotic causes, I wanted you to know about something special you can do for them in return this Easter.

The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes has just launched an Emergency Easter Meal Project. Our goal is to deliver $60 to hundreds of severely wounded troops so they can put Easter dinner on the table. Can I count on your financial support?
Please say yes.

My name is Major General John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army (Ret.), and I served our nation in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Now I am working with the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, which provides emergency financial aid for troops who have been severely wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Our generous supporters have already responded with emergency financial aid to more than 11,000 requests from America’s disabled GIs, and provided them with more than $22 million in emergency financial aid and other support services.

Please join our generous, patriotic family of supporters by making a special donation right now to the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes.

When America’s disabled GIs return home, out of the blue they are blindsided by another disaster – a disaster they never expected and couldn’t possibly plan for. A disaster most Americans don’t even know is happening.

The wounded GI’s disability check takes six months . . . nine months . . . even a year to arrive. He is wounded so badly he can’t take care of himself, so his wife quits her job to take care of him. Suddenly he is facing a financial catastrophe and has nowhere to turn.

You, and me, and other patriotic Americans must be there for them. Because they were there for us.

The Coalition's Emergency Easter Meal Project was created to help disabled troops like:

Blair William Didion Sr., who told us he sometimes relies on “food from public pantries” after suffering spinal fractures from a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Retired Army Sgt. Joshua Johnson of Colorado, who was injured in Iraq. After receiving emergency financial aid from Coalition supporters like you, Joshua wrote, “We were not going to be able to buy groceries for the month. The gratitude that my family and I have for the help you provided is hard to put into words.”

And Paul Thurman, whose wife had to resort to selling her blood plasma to buy food after he was injured in Iraq.

Emergency Easter donations can help the Coalition rescue our wounded heroes from having to get their Easter dinner from a public pantry, or (God forbid) from having to sell their blood plasma to buy groceries.
The severely wounded serviceman or woman who receives help might even live in your neighborhood, attend your church or shop at your grocery store. Or perhaps their parents do. So please send as generous an Easter gift as you can afford.

As you can imagine, the wives and mothers of our troops who have been blinded, badly burned or maybe even paralyzed are suffering as well. So instead of cooking Easter dinner at home, some families may decide to “give Mom a break,” and use their $60 to take her out to a restaurant on Easter Sunday.

That way they can enjoy Easter weekend with their family – just like you and I will.

Bear in mind: The Easter Season is the perfect time to thank these disabled heroes for the painful sacrifices they’ve made. After all, these brave men and women went to war to protect our freedom. Now many will never be able to see, or hear, or use their arms or legs again after being hit by a roadside bomb.

You and I can’t heal their physical injuries or make them whole again. (No one can.)

But helping to put Easter dinner on their table will let them know their fellow Americans appreciate the painful sacrifice they made for our country.

Finally, I’d like to show you what a difference your kindness can make. Kristi P. is a young servicewoman who suffered a devastating injury in Iraq. After receiving emergency financial aid from Coalition supporters like you, Kristi wrote back to say,

“Your gift brought tears of Thanksgiving to my eyes. . . . It felt like God was smiling upon me and reminding me what I gave really did matter.”

Please make the most generous Easter donation you can afford right now. And let me be the first to wish you and your family a Happy Easter.

With respect and gratitude,

Major General John K. Singlaub
U.S. Army (Ret.)

P.S. As I mentioned, some of our GIs have resorted to getting their food from public pantries, and others are selling their blood plasma to feed their children.

To help them the Coalition has just launched an Emergency Easter Meal Project. Our goal is to deliver $60 to as many severely wounded troops as possible so they can put Easter dinner on the table.

Remember, Easter is the perfect time to let a wounded hero know their fellow Americans understand the painful sacrifices they have made and are wishing their family well this Easter Season. Thank you for your generosity and your patriotism.

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From your MWSA blogger, Carolyn Howard-Johnon, award-winning poet and author of the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

New Book Release to Help MWSA Members with Tricky Homonyms



Yay! My new little help for writers is on Amazon in all its chartreuse, red, and yellow glory! I am Joyce Faulkner's trusted blog contributor and a member of MWSA, and know that all our members can benefit from this book.

Yep, you can now order a copy to put in your briefcase and read on the fly! It’s the Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers: The Ultimate Frugal Booklet for Avoiding Word Trippers and Crafting Gatekeeper-Perfect Copy.

This is a booklet. It isn’t intended to be a complete reference for every sneaky homonym in the English language. For one thing there is a nice list of those pesky guys in The Frugal Editor (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor). It’s small partly because it isn’t intended to be drudgery. It’s only 54 pages, so it’s a small, easy-to-read dose of some of the most difficult word trippers, not the ones you learned in the fourth grade. And it is written with a bit of humor to brighten the experience. If you don’t learn anything from it, send it back to me and I’ll refund your money.

Buy the paperback at www.budurl.com/WordTripperPB. It is only $6.95. You support a friend (me!) and you brush up on skills for your writing career. What could be better than that?

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A FREE Authors' Website Service Gets Even Better.

It's your frugal MWSA blogger here. I thought you'd like to see a new service that is coming to Authors Den in my recent post on SharingwithWriters. Perfect for the recession. Perfect for author support!

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Posted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL

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