Thank yous from military friends…
A thank you has come in from Bruce Dower, the Fort Bragg Hospitality House director near Fort Bragg and Pope AFB. Click here to read it as a PDF or read it below.
If you would like to submit your own thank you (for anything related to the military or KidsLink Downrange…), please do so here on the Community Forums and we will be sure to pass the thanks along!
Dear MOPS groups and KidsLink participants,
One of the things my father always told me is to never forget the people who show me kindness. The kindness you have shown our soldiers here at Fort Bragg has touched us beyond words.
My wife, Wendy, and I direct the Fort Bragg Hospitality House here in North Carolina. We started receiving the KidsLink Downrange packets you sent early last month. We arrived here in June of last year, and I can say this has been one of the most touching projects we’ve been a part of to date.
When Peter Remmes, our point of contact for this project in our home office, asked me late last year if we would be willing to take 1000 packets for the families of Ft. Bragg soldiers, although interested, my initial thought was, “wow, could we distribute that many here?” I knew we had a community of 45,000 soldiers but getting the word out to those families seemed a bit daunting to me. To make the people who attend our house aware of the project, we showed the KidsLink video on a Friday night during our main meeting of the week. We did this month’s before the packets started to arrive. Then as the packets arrived, we passed out samples to our folks, made them available to Family Readiness Groups of various units, and gave various chaplains samples. We also made them available to Protestant Women of the Chapel. Before long, the word was out and we couldn’t keep up with the demand.
Most of the packets were gone within a week or two of arrival. Groups that wanted 350 each only got 100 – and there were three different groups who fit that category. Other groups received their desired quantities but just as soon as we’d meet one need, we’d hear of another group who wanted more. You’ve tapped into a need and people have been touched. Thank you so much!
We have four soldiers from our own ministry here deployed to a combat zone. Only one of them is a father but each of them is special to us. Later this year we will say good-bye to another soldier who is especially dear to our own family. In fact, each of our soldiers is like family to us. Knowing where they are and the dangers they face would fill us with anxiety were it not for the confidence we have in entrusting them into God’s care – no matter what. Your part in ministering to the Bragg community warms our hearts and touches the families here in a very personal way. Thank you! I hope that when this project comes around next year that you will remember us here. Remember our soldiers; remember the spouses and the children left behind. They are a special group of people and we love them with all our hearts. Thank you for loving them too!
We wish you all God’s very best as you live for Him and serve the special people in your own community. Thanks for having eyes for those outside it, as well.
In His Grace,
Bruce E. Dower
217 Woodglen Dr. Fayetteville, NC 28314
