Care Packs

Our pre-Christmas packing party was significantly smaller this year than in years past, but we know that the soldiers and Marines who receive the packages will be very grateful. I want to give a special thank you to the New Covenant Sunday school class from St. Luke's UMC who helps us year after year. We appreciate their faithful support.

Happy 235th Birthday Marines!

Get Ready for Christmas!

If you're like me and like to buy a new military Christmas ornament every year, you will love these. They also have stockings, candles and Christmas cards.

Veterans’ Reflections: Going to War in 1944

Unlike many of his fellow recruits at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in 1944, the 24-year-old Kushwara had volunteered to don the uniform and go to war. It was a choice, technically, but he didn’t consider it much of one. Though he had a perfectly good job at the time, he said, he knew his country needed him.

Continue reading here:

Smart Phone App Helps Track Post-Deployment Emotional Health

The National Center for Telehealth and Technology will release a smart phone application that will help service members track their emotional health after they've been deployed, according to a statement by the Department of Defense.


Click here to read about it.

Supporting Your Service Member with Psychological Health Concerns

American Soldiers

What can you do to support your service member?

Traumatic experiences — such as receiving incoming fire or knowing someone seriously injured or killed — are common among service members deployed to hostile environments. These experiences can impact the lives of service members and their families upon their return. If your family member had similar experiences while deployed, he or she is not alone.

Read here to find out what you can do to help.

Treats for Troops

WWII Posters

The members of Lubbock Marine Parents are getting ready to kick off our big care pack drive called Treats for Troops. We are inviting the public to help us collect care pack items to be sent to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during the month of October. We plan to have the packages in the hands of our troops for Veteran's Day. We are a small volunteer organization and we can't support our combat deployed troops without you!

If you know of a business, church or school that would like to be a drop off location for donated items, or if you are interested in collecting care pack items we would very much appreciate your help! Please leave a comment here or email semperfimomx2 @ yahoo.com for more information.

The items on our current "most wanted" list are:
beef jerky
peanuts
sunflower seeds
power bars
pop tarts
tuna lunch kits
snack crackers
pudding cups
small "pull-top" canned fruit
fruit snacks
hard candy
chunky soup or ravioli with pull top lid
chewing gum
Cookies (sorry, but we can't accept homemade cookies)
individually packaged Tylenol/Advil
razors
black socks
Chapstick
small bottles of sunscreen
money for shipping
cards and letters of support

Let's show them how much Lubbock cares!

September Meeting

Marine Corps War Memorial, Washington DC

If you are interested in supporting local troops and their families please join us for our September meeting on Saturday September 4th at 3:00pm. We will be meeting at Daybreak Coffee Roasters located at 4406 19th street.

We'll be discussing the next care package mail out.

Free Museum Admission for Military Families

For more information click here.

Memorial Day

"Let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died." --Ronald Reagan at Pointe du Hoc, 1984

Littlefield Junior High and High School Donate Parcels

Special thanks goes to Michelle Johnson and her students at the Littlefield Junior High and Littlefield High School for their generous donation of care packages and letters to the troops of West Texas. In early December, I was contacted by Michelle, the Youth Services Coordinator, regarding their donations, and she explained that the student councils of Littlefield were having a little competition to see who could arrange for the most donations. The turnout was awesome, as they made the largest donation to Lubbock Marine Parents of any school. The care packs filled the bed of my F-150 and then some.



I could tell that the students took great pride in their efforts, their letters were very warm and neat. The care packages were all carefully labeled.



I visited with them a little bit about what we did at Lubbock Marine Parents and how I was just like them, a concerned citizen who wants to help out in supplying our troops with needed supplies and little comforts from home. To the students of Littlefield, thank you so much for your support!



These supplies were re-packaged with other donated supplies at the Lubbock Marine Parents annual packing party that was held on January 24, rather during Christmas. These supplies will go to troops who are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shipment of the supplies and letters of support will be made during the week of Feb. 8.

The students of Littlefield's Junior high and High Schools, stepped up and donated much of their time and efforts to produce care packages for the troops. On behalf of the moms and dads of Lubbock Marine Parents, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! The troops will enjoy every bit of your hard work.

(In the top photo, Left (in uniform, Devane Amalla, a US Army combat medic who was recently deployed to Iraq; and the students of the Littlefield Junior High and high Schools who stayed after school in order to help load up the supplies.) Below: Letters from the students to the troops and the LMP Packing party in January.

Enter the Adopt A Medic Wii Raffle just in time for the Christmas! All funds go to medical care packs/or shipping of supplies to medics who are currently deployed.

$10/ticket or $25/3 tickets

The drawing will be 11/27. These troops need our help now more than ever! We are currently in contact with 25 medics who are in Afghanistan right now. Your support would be much appreciated. If interested, please contact Trevor at advisor@premedicine.org. Thank you!

Congratulations and thanks go to Sandra Bagwell, who won the 2009 Wii Raffle! We would like to thank everyone who helped us in this endeavor in 2009. We will be looking into raffling something else in 2010.

Join us at Fuddruckers on October 17th

August Meeting

Please join us at our August meeting. We will be discussing our upcoming care package drive. This year we will be sending out care packages earlier than in previous years and it's already time to get started collecting items. Our Marines and soldiers in Afghanistan are in particular need of care packages this year. Many of them are in remote areas far from "chow halls" and established bases. Help us encourage them with support and care packages from home.

Date: Monday, August 10th

Time: 7:00pm

Place: Mamarita's Border Cafe 6602 Slide Road

See our list of needed care pack items here.

Adopt a Medic Raffle Kicks Off at 4th on Broadway

Come on out to the 4th on Broadway parade this Saturday, July 4, 2009 and see us! I wanted to remind everyone about the Adopt a Medic mission of the Lubbock Marine Parents Organization, and let everyone know that we will be at the parade raffling a Nintendo Wii all day. Raised funds go exclusively to medics who are from West Texas or who sustain Texas troops.

Our combat medics and corpsmen need our help! Many of our deployed troops require a boost in their inventory of supplies. We try to supply them with everything from general healthcare maintenance supplies, to gear for major wound care. This September, there will be a group of 30+ medics deploying from our reserve center, in Lubbock, to bases all over Afghanistan.

I visited with these troops a few weeks ago and let me just say that they were an awesome bunch. They were glad to know that our community stands ready to help. I would like to call on each of you to come on out and buy a raffle ticket. Price are $10/1 ticket or $25/3 tickets. The winner will be announced during the Thanksgiving holiday and will also receive an Adopt A Medic polo. Again, these funds will go to support combat medics who will be in Afghanistan by the end of the year.

4th on Broadway

Lubbock Marine Parents will have a booth again this year at Lubbock's 4th on Broadway Street Festival. If you can, please stop by and see us. We'll be selling our fantastic cookbooks (they make great gifts) and "support our troops" bracelets to fund the shipping of this year's care packages. 4th on Broadway is our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Also be sure and watch our Treasurer Tanya on TV Monday, June 29th. She'll be on noon notebook on Chanel 11.

June Meeting

Please join us for our June meeting on Thursday June 18th at 7:00pm. We will be meeting at Daybreak Coffee on 19th and Quaker.

We'll be making plans for the 4th on Broadway, which is always a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!

May Meeting

Please join us for a hamburger and a meeting at Fuddrucker's on Slide Road, Monday May 18th at 7:00PM. We have some great bumper stickers, magnets and posters to share. Look forward to seeing you!

February Meeting

Please join us for our February meeting. We will be discussing our next care package mail out and LMP t-shirts. We will be meeting February 9th at 7:00pm at the Home Plate Diner on 82nd and Slide. We look forward to seeing you there!

Adopt a Medic AeroCare Raffle

Hi all! The helicopter ride/raffle for the Adopt A Medic mission of Lubbock Marine Parents was a success in its first year. This wonderful opportunity was sponsored by the wonderful folks at AeroCare.


I'm proud to announce that the winners were Gary and Iris Caine of Lubbock. They purchased 3 raffle tickets at our 2008 4th on Broadway booth and were extremely excited to hear they had won. On Friday, December 19th, Gary and Iris had a blast taking the 45 minute helicopter ride over the Lubbock city limits, enjoying the Christmas lights. They even got to fly near their own house.


I have provided a few pics of them gearing up for their ride. Let me just say that the folks at AeroCare are extremely friendly and professional. They were very knowledgeable about their flight equipment and showed off their airplane which is used quite extensively, but doesn't quite get all of the glory that the helicopters get. These were great folks, indeed. I should mention that this would not have been possible if were not for the suggestion of Brad Bowser, an Adopt A Medic officer and former AeroCare flight medic.


Those of us with Adopt A Medic would also like to thank everyone who supported us by purchasing a new raffle ticket. For the folks who didn't win the helicopter ride please note that we will conduct this raffle again next year. Additionally, Adopt A Medic has future plans for more raffles in 2009, including a raffle for a rifle and Wii or a PSP. Be on the lookout for these raffles! Merry Christmas, all!