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Operation Honor our Heroes Exhibit To Be On National TV Sunday


DonRocks

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As some of you may have seen, the only charity that I'm currently working with - actively working with - is Operation Honor Our Heroes (please read that post).

Remember that Operation Honor Our Heroes is going to have a huge exhibit over Memorial Day Weekend, between the Korean War Memorial and the Reflecting Pool - a prime piece of real estate.

Here is the problem: 10,000 flags are being shipped up from Austin, Texas, and arriving at Dulles. There are also coolers, gas tanks, a generator, volunteers, soldiers' families, etc., that need to be shuttled to-and-from the Mall. A moving van is being rented to take care of the flags, but we need a pick-up truck (or, if we can't find one, a cargo van) for those five days. Can anybody spare one? It doesn't need to be nice (other than that soldiers' families will be in it); in fact, the bigger, and more beat up it is, the better. This shouldn't be someone's personal vehicle that will be sullied if it gets one small dent - it needs to be somewhat heavy duty.

Can anyone help?

American Airlines is being kind enough to transport the flags under what's known as a "Dignified Transport" - this is where an announcement is made to passengers, and water cannons salute the plane as it taxis to the runway: the very same level of honor as if the plane was transporting a deceased soldier (yes, they make that announcement to the passengers, about a fallen American hero accompanying them on the journey).  

To summarize:

1) Please read the Operation Honor Our Heroes post.

2) Can someone donate a pickup truck or cargo van, and *not* sue the organization if it gets a dent in it? I'm not saying it will; I'm just saying it will be heavily used during this five-day period, and doing good works the entire time. It is every bit as valuable a donation as if you wrote a check.

3) The organization is chronically underfunded - the founder has donated $15,000 of her own money this year (she has donated at least $100,000 over the past five years). If you wish to donate to the families of fallen American soldiers, please consider this a golden opportunity. I will be donating $200 today to help cover the cost of the moving van, or for whatever they need the money for the most. I have thoroughly vetted this organization, and 100% (yes, 100%) of your donations go *directly to operations*. There are no paid employees; only volunteers - your contribution will go directly towards funding this Memorial Day event - I hope everyone down on the mall this Memorial Day stops by to see it, and if Christi-Ana is working (she is my personal assistant), please tell her you're a friend of mine.

Here is the location of the display (keep in mind, this is during *THE* Memorial Day festivities, with Operation Rolling Thunder there, and everything):

Memorial Day Location.jpg

And here is a minute-by-minute schedule of activities:

MEMORIAL DAY VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE.pdf

And some more information for volunteers WHICH ARE STILL DESPERATELY NEEDED, ESPECIALLY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY:

OHOH Volunteers.pdf

Christi-Ana's phone number is (817) 995-9215, and her email is info@honorheroes.org - she urges everyone to call or write her, and in fact, you should contact her directly instead of going through me, as she's President of the organization (not the founder who has funded it, but the President who works around the clock - I have never met someone with more energy than Christi-Ana Crews).

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You know what? Even if you want nothing to do with donating money, or volunteering, even something as simple as tweeting about this post will help the message get in front of the right people, and will only take a moment of your time (thank you to ol_ironstomach, whose Facebook post helped the organization in a large, tangible way). There is *nothing whatsoever* in this for me, by the way (I hope I didn't need to say that).

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I want to thank ol_ironstomach for re-posting this on Facebook, and also give a HUGE thank you to Mike Collins, who has donated the use of an F-150 (with trailer) for the entire weekend. 

Christi-Ana has told me that because of Mike's donation, the organization has saved $1,500 in money that would have otherwise gone to a car-rental company.

Think about how significant an impact that is to a small, underfunded organization. Both Dave and Mike are directly responsible for this having happened. Now, there's one more thing that needs to be obtained in the next 24 hours or so: 

Here's the Facebook Post that Mike Collins made in the name of Meathead Racing. <--- Please read this!

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Needed: A small generator that will be used on The Mall all weekend for powering up small things such as phones, fans, display devices, an electric stapler, etc. The volunteers will be out there 12-16 hours a day without a break, and won't have a chance to get to any type of power outlets - they'll need to be contacted during their shifts (I brought up the idea of a small fan just for their comfort in case it's 90+ degrees). Christi-Ana said that she'll get a volunteer to come out and pick it up, and also to return it after the weekend is over, so if anyone reading this has a generator to spare (again, it can be very small), it would be a huge help.

I'm also very proud and honored that we've been named an official sponsor of the event along with some pretty big names (including Meathead Racing!)

OperationHOHSponsors.jpeg

 

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We *might* have a person who can donate a generator (which is $150/day to rent, or $400 to buy), but please assume we don't until someone confirms that we do - we have to get it today, and I'll be offline until around 1 PM, so please contact Christi-Ana directly (see the first post for her contact information). This all begins tomorrow, so today is the final day we have to prepare for it.

Here is the press release Christi-Ana has sent to the local media - please pass this around to anyone you think might benefit from it:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bhzp6ohse0yo3i9/PRESS%20RELEASE-Memorial%20Day%202016-Honor%20Heroes.pdf

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I'm proud to announce that the Operation Honor Our Heroes display will be on National TV this coming Sunday Morning: It will be featured as the closing segment of ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" with our own Jon Karl hosting the show. Christi-Ana will be featured in the piece - the show has a viewership of over 3 million people.

And thanks to Smokin' Jarhead - a former Marine turned pitmaster - for donating the generator.

I just "Boosted" this Twitter post, so if it shows up in your Facebook feed, have a look, and please pass it around.

Screenshot 2016-05-27 at 09.40.17.png

And here's a picture of the exhibit today. <--- Click for Instagram

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"10,000 Flags to Commemorate Our Nation's Heroes" by Joy Lin on abcnews.go.com

Don't forget to watch "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" today on ABC.

I don't like asking for retweets, but I'll make an exception here: https://goo.gl/zK1vdj

"10,000 Flags Planted on Mall to Commemorate our Nation's Heroes" on wbt.com

"American Airlines Cargo Transports 10,000 U.S. Flags for Memorial Day Event" on ajot.com

For those of you who didn't get to see the exhibit, here's the video of it on ABC:

"Honoring Our Fallen Soldiers with 10,000 Flags" on abcnews.go.com

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