If you are still considering joining this project, now is the time!  Pledge Here!

Pledges are now being accepted September 1, 2011 through November 1, 2011.

Here is how to participate:

1) Find out how to coordinate a group to make kits (it’s not too complicated): KidsLink Coordinator

2) Decide with your group how many kits you think you can make and how much donation money you can raise (only $1 per kit), then PLEDGE here: www.kidslinkonline.org/pledge
*Learn more about pledging & donations or find out how to donate.

3) Plan to make your kits in January-February of 2012. (See the full 2011-2012 Timeline below).

All card kits will need to be received by March 15, 2012. Locations of where to send your kits will be announced in December 2011 when pledges have come in and chaplains and military communities have requested your kits.

This year, along with the creation of kits, we are requesting donations for each kit. You’re already being creative in your creations; be creative in your donations too! You can get a local business, your church, or hold a fundraiser to raise these funds! For questions about these donations, please see this link: Donations for KidsLink.

Timeline for 2011/2012 Project

• September 1 – November 1, 2011:   Your group pledges desired amount of kits
• December 2011:   Your group coordinator is advised where to ship your finished kits (via email and on kidslinkonline.org)
• January-February 2012: Your group makes card kits
• 
February 15-March 15, 2012:  Your group ships your kits to the advised
 location (no earlier than Feb. 15 and no
 later than March 15)
• 
April-June 2012: Card kits are distributed to military kids

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have questions.

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