Click here to read thank you letters from our troops

When I was in the service far from home, we relied on mail for news about family and friends. Today our service men and women have e-mail and easy access to international calling. Unfortunately this access is often expensive.

Phone calls and Internet service in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming on line. MCI has been installing phone kiosks that US servicemen and women can use to call home. The call to the stateside operator is free –but then they must either call collect or have a calling card to connect from the gateway to their home number.

Even though the active war is over, our young men and women will be in Iraq (and Afghanistan) for some time. There are constant dangers, intolerable heat, miserable living conditions and, of course, the long separation from their families.

You can help our troops serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, those still in Afghanistan, and on our ships at sea by donating telephone calling cards.

In cooperation with the Defense Department's, Moral, Welfare and Recreation Office (MWR), The Auction Seller's Resource is buying telephone calling cards to send to our troops overseas. With your donations, we purchase the calling cards and send them either directly to unit commanders, or the MWR Group at various bases that have troops deployed.

You can help in two ways. You can purchase a telephone calling card and mail it to us at:

Vision-One Marketing
1004 Commercial Ave.
PMB 223
Anacortes, WA 98221

Or you may simply click on the PayPal button below to purchase a $10 or $20 calling card that will be sent to a service man or woman in the Middle East in your name.

We will send your note and your address (or email address) along with the calling card to the serviceman or woman who receives it, so they may respond if they wish.

We have collected over $12,000 so far. We have sent over $11,400 worth of cards to troops in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi, Afghanistan and Iraq and several ships at sea in the area. (This update was written in November 2005)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Auction Seller's Resource has set up a separate PayPal account for these transactions to assure that all funds will be used to purchase and send calling cards. 100% of the money collected is spent on cards --there are no administrative expenses. We use PayPal to process our payments and credit card orders. If you are not a member of PayPal, the buttons will take you to a link where you can place your donation using any major credit card.

Several people have collected money from friends and family and/or sent this page link to friends via email. If you wish to donate an amount greater than $10 or $20, please send it via PayPal to auction1@cnw.com. (This is the PayPal account specifically for the phone card program. Your funds are kept separate and used for the purchase of phone cards only.)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Why do our troops need calling cards? Can't they call home for free?

It all depends on where they are. Those stationed in places such as Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, get a free link to a military post in the US, where an operator connects them into the domestic phone system. At this point they need a phone card to complete their call. In some countries, the troops use public phones and must pay the international calling card rate.

Are you making any money on this?

We get this question once in a while. No. All proceeds go to the purchase of the cards and we are paying all the mailing charges. Our son served in the Gulf and we live in a neighborhood with other military families, two of whom also have children over there, and one pregnant wife whose husband is flying missions over Iraq.

We all get together every few weeks to make up packages for the various units, and to package each phone card in a separate envelope with a note from the donor (if provided). 100% of all money collected goes to the purchase of the phone cards.

Where do you get the cards?

We are purchasing the cards from Costco where we get a 600-minute card for $19.95 plus tax.

How are the cards distributed?

If we have the name of a unit commander we send them directly to a serving unit. If not, we send them to the Moral, Welfare and Recreation office at nearby military bases. (If you have the name and address of any unit commanders serving in the mid east, please send them to us and we will make sure they get a shipment of cards)

Navy & Marines - Whidbey Island Naval Air Station
Air Force - McCord Air Force Base
Army - Ft. Lewis Army Center

The MWR office sends them to their counterparts at various bases overseas and to Navy ships at sea in the region. Then they are delivered to the various unit commanders who distribute them to their troops.

How can I help you promote this program?

Please send the link to this page to your friends and relatives with a short note from you recommending they make a donation. Several of our readers have taken up donations in their office or neighborhood.

How do soldiers and Marines fighting in Iraq get cards?

Mail is better now, but still somewhat slow getting to the troops in the field, but this is changing rapidly. Once a unit settles in a fixed or semi-fixed position, the military sets up satellite phone banks where field soldiers and marines can get access to a phone for short periods of time. Fixing the phone system in Iraq and getting cell phone towers back on line is a high priority. As these systems come back on line the soldiers can use the phone cards to call through the public system. In Afghanistan, the phones are working and troops are using phone cards to call home through the public system.

I don't mind helping our troops – but how can I help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan?

The best organization working and delivering food and medicine to Iraq is Mercy Corps. You can donate online at MercyCorps.org

Click here to read thank you letters from our troops